Stephen,


Here's what I did..........


8 months ago I discovered www.strobist.com. Even though I had used off-camera flash 2 or 3 times with good results, this guy Dave Hobby @ strobist opened up a whole new world for me.Some of the simplest things can be so easy and inexpensive to do. I now own 4 Vivitar 285HVs from Adoroma (post real Vivitar I guess, though the box says Vivitar) I have used these with Cactus triggers and they are wonderful!! I also have tried one mounted to the camera and used it's thyristor metering. Freaking unreal how perfect and consistent the exposures were. Very powerful but slow recycling when full power. I just ordered 6V lead acid batteries that will power these puppies for an upcoming shoot. < 2 sec recycle at full power. If I can get away with 1/2 power they'll do < .5 sec. I'll make the battery chords myself, but they can be purchased for a rather steep price from some online dealers. I'll let you know if they melt!!


Just recently, Dave showed use some new manual flashes that just came on the market. I wish I'd known about these 6-8 months ago. http://strobist.blogspot.com/2009/03/manual-flashes-two-debuts-and-adoption.html


I'mvery happy with the Vivitar's. I also have had no problem with the Cactus triggers.Shot a wedding just recently. During formals I used a Honel 8" snoot on the 285 for hair light. The main was umbrella'ed at 1/2 power. The snooted 285 was at 1/16th. It was also 30-40 ft away and never once miss-fired. Took shots of one to fifteen people at a time and it all worked well. Near the end I had to put new batteries in the main do to the recycling times going over 4 sec. Another plus for the 285's is the battery cartridge. I just took one loaded cartridge out of the backup unit and put that in the main. Easy-Peezy/Lemon Squeezy.


Anyway, Stephen I'll let you work up the pricing but I tell ya there's no less expensive way to get amazing studio quality photos than this.


Chuck