Originally posted by mcgregni Modifiers and diffusion will add to the power demands, and HSS is always a struggle, especially off-camera and diffused ...so the power can be needed . Depends on your own personal anticipated needs.
+1. The only possible draw back of higher power is that the flash may be too strong at the lowest setting. Since these go all the way down to 1/256 in manual mode (possible lower in pTTL?), it's a rare usage that it's an issue, and definitely not a problem when bouncing.
Originally posted by cyclone3d I think I will be able to use the extra power. With my current Nikon flash I pretty much only use it for helping indoors and as a fill flash... but that is because I have to set everything manually I almost always do a high angle bounce and use the built in white reflector. Comes out nice and smooth with no harsh shadows.
The cycle time on the old Nikon is not that great and I would like to be able to have more distance as well.
I'm sure you'll enjoy your new flash
, but have you tried your SB26 in auto-thyristor mode? I've found it to be pretty reliable for exposures when bouncing.
You probably already know, but as a bonus, your SB-26 has a built in optical slave that has a 'delay' mode to ignore the pre-flashes of pTTL systems, so you can integrate it into a multi-flash system. Exposures can be tricky if you're combining multiple methods (you can always go full manual when appropriate
), but it's an easy way to throw in a little accent light with the SB-26.