looking for a flash

[rweakins]

i'm looking at buying my first flash. I was wondering what would be a very versatile flash for outdoor, sports, and portrait type pictures. something not too expensive but versatile enough to handle all of those.

and i'm shooting with a canon rebel xt

 

[miloblithe]

I've been very happy with the Canon 430EX Speedlight. I don't think any of the third party ETTL offerings are significantly less expensive, and I figured I wanted a flash that communicated as well as possible with the camera. You're probably a way's away from needing the advantages of the 580EX. As far as I remember, the main differences are that it has a longer range and can control "slave" flashes--which is irrelevant if you only own the one flash.

 

[Cave Man]

Sunpak 383. No E-TTL, but has auto exposure on camera, manual fractional output, sync port (you'd need a $10 sync shoe for your Rebel to do off-camera work), and is an all-around good flash. US$80.