Cool Pix 990 best flash?? including D40..

Well I just got a SK 900 & AS-900 on eBay so I can use an external flash
on my 990. As I understand it my SB-15 has either too much voltage or
current and needs an interposing relay or other isolation device. I
kind of recall circuit diagrams for a homebrew device but don't remember
where. Are there commercial devices?
Next dream is: after I get tired of the 990 I'm thinking a D40 might be
the next step up, I've read some rave reviews in that it's the best bang
for the buck. Is the D40 a good step up and if so which Nikon flashes
are good candidates to consider for my 990 and future D40?
tnx

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73
Hank WD5JFR

In article , Henry Kolesnik
wrote:

Well I just got a SK 900 & AS-900 on eBay so I can use an external flash
on my 990. As I understand it my SB-15 has either too much voltage or
current and needs an interposing relay or other isolation device.

what ever gave you that idea? it will work fine.

I kind of recall circuit diagrams for a homebrew device but don't remember
where. Are there commercial devices?
Next dream is: after I get tired of the 990 I'm thinking a D40 might be
the next step up, I've read some rave reviews in that it's the best bang
for the buck. Is the D40 a good step up and if so which Nikon flashes
are good candidates to consider for my 990 and future D40?
tnx

the d40 is definitely a step up in image quality as well as size.
however, if you plan on using the same flash with a d40, your choices
for a flash are much smaller -- you will need something that does
i-ttl. although sunpak, sigma and metz make compatible units, they're
not 100% compatible, and they're not *that* much cheaper either.
therefore, your best bet are nikon's flashes: the sb400, sb600, sb800
and the new sb900. the sb400 is fairly low end (no swivel, no wireless
cls), while the other three are very capable units. the sb900 might be
overkill though, seeing that it costs more than the d40 does.

the coolpix 990 doesn't do i-ttl. it just does trigger and squelch, so
pretty much any nikon compatible flash works, including the sb-15
(although do check the voltage on older flashes, particularly non-nikon
units).