What is the best external flash for the Nikon D40 camera?
In fact, my usual advice around here, when people ask how best to improve their photography, is to tell them to tape over the built-in flash on their camera. The pop-up flash is unusable with the 18-200mm lens anyway: the lens is too long and throws a very visible shadow on the bottom part of the frame at pretty much any focal length.
Without a dedicated way to adjust both aperture and shutter speed at the same time, you can’t shoot manually very easily, so she’ll probably default to automatic mode. What. The D40 is a DSLR, of course you can shoot in manual mode and it is not difficult at all. Though I find that it easier to shoot in the aperture or shutter priority modes most of the time. It doesn’t seem like your girlfriend is going to be setting up shots that require a lot of difficult lighting. For simple shots using the SB-400 and bouncing it off the ceiling would be sufficient. To be honest, I doubt she will be using a flash very much at all and it might not be worth the extra hassle.
