Third Party Flash Guns
 

So...

I'd love a Nikon SB900 but they're far to expensive at the moment. Does anyone have a recommendations of decent TTL compatible third party flash guns that aren't as horribly expensive as the SB900?

I use the Canon variant of a Nissin flash - fully TTL and am incredibly happy with it. Pretty sure they do a Nikon one too... It was priced at a smidgeon under 90 quid I think? 7dayshop.com stock them.

Yes they do have a Nikon one it can be found here and is 89 quid..
[url]http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=777_1&products_id=103969[/url]

Depends where you think you are goig wit your flash use though. When I bought flashes I had the same issue with SB800`s on their way out and priced really high even 2nd hand and SB900s expensive. I knew I wanted to get into off camera flash and wanted to keep TTL so went for 2 sb600`s at the price of 1x SB900. I`ve had great results with themthus far using Nikon CLS system. I have recently got hold of an SB800 for £170 2nd hand after loking out for months for them. I might yet get some ebay triggers for greater working distanc and arguably might as well have got cheaper flashes then but I use CLS whenever possible so am glad to have the chocie in theend if I go tha way. That said I have not done anything yet where I have exceeded CLS range as long as I take care in making the sensors on flashes ready available to signals directly or by reflection.
I do find that the SB800 is much better for on camera use than the SB600 so glad I have the range now and still so worried about the negative reports on SB900 re: overheating and failure rates - noticed Jonathan Ryan was bemoaning reliability of the 900 compared to his old 800s just recently.

Edit - meant to say - make sure the suppliers guarantee you the option of return if it is not TTL compatible with your camera. Third parties often claim to work with models but crucially do not deliver always on the TTL element despite indications to the contrary.

Cheers for the advice chaps.

I've never really had much experience with flash and it's something I want to get into as some of the shots I've seen are gorgeous (although many are **** as well!).