>Make sure that you read precisely what functionality your
>proposed flash will have for the camera that you intend to use
>it on.
>
>I, for instance, have a D200 camera and a SB80DX gun and,
>having now checked the Nikon site, have identified that the
>only functions available are 'A' and manual.
>Slightly more variations on my D100, but only slightly.
>
>I'm not sure precisely what flash gun Nikon actually recommend
>for the D200 camera.
>
>Singularly unimpressed.

All of the newer Nikon DSLRs work best with flashes that support Nikon CLS (Creative Lighting System), which is far more advanced than any of the older systems. These flashes include the SB400, SB600, SB800, and the new SB900(not out yet).

My main camera is a Nikon D200 and I have a D70 as a backup. I use SB800s and SB600s on both cameras.

Nikon CLS is a very advanced system that uses a series of preflashes to send commands to remotes as well as measure reflected energy from the subject in order to set flash power.

The reason the older TTL systems were abandoned is that they depended on a reflection of light energy from the film itself, during the exposure, to determine when the exposure was correct. In DSLRs the reflectivity idea was tried in the D100 and it didn't work so well. So, Nikon went an entirely different direction - CLS.

CLS works very well, but as you pointed out, it is not fully compatible with older cameras, and older flashes are not fully compatible with newer cameras.

I invite you to read my blogs about CLS.

Russ
http://russmacdonald.smugmug.com/
http://NikonCLSPracticalGuide.blogspot.com/