What to do, what to do.

Santa was good to me this year, and I've got about $250 extra to spend on some flashes/camera gear.

Some basic info to start here, I shoot a lot of sports and a the occansional senior portrait (hopefully doing more this spring/summer).

I've got an couple of ideas what I'd like to get..

1)Yongnuo yn460's, rf602 and the impact umbrella/stand kit. ~$250
Pros- off camera flash (2 of them), wireless, umbrellas for shaping light. Would be good for senior portraits.
Cons-Limited by the 1/200 sec sync, manual, no ettl/hss (which would be great to have for shooting skiing or whatever at night)

I've never really shot sports with flash or at night, but do you find the 1/200 to be fast enough to stop motion?

2) buy a used 430ex (I/II) off here. no idea of there going rate now
Pros- HSS and ettl, zoom. HSS would be excellent for sports.
Cons- would be stuck on camera or on a bracket with an ettl cord. No wireless ettl/hss w/o st-e2, PW, sync cord, etc, so i'd have to rely on the swivel/tilt, which reduces options. If I did want off camera with it, I'd also have to go buy a stand

Is it worth giving up the moveability, OCF, stands and multiple speedlights for ETTL and HSS?

Any opinions or suggestions?

Thanks in advanced.
-Cody

Cody,
I'm in favor of option 1. its a full off camera setup, good for portraits. Second, for shooting things that move you let the flash duration freeze motion rather than shutter speed (the flash only fires for 1/800 of a second so high shutter speed doesn't matter). Ettl is great for working on camera where your subject changes from shot to shot but for off camera work you want consistent power which is what you get from a manual flash. I vote for the full setup and the idea of picking up a used ettl flash for on camera work at a later date.

so even with a 1/200 shutter, the object will be frozen like if shot at 1/800, because that's how long the subject is lit by the flash?

only thing I really know about flashes is shutter speed controls ambient light, aperture controls flash, but I'm learning.

unchman14 wrote in post #9271542
so even with a 1/200 shutter, the object will be frozen like if shot at 1/800, because that's how long the subject is lit by the flash?

only thing I really know about flashes is shutter speed controls ambient light, aperture controls flash, but I'm learning.

Yes, thats how it works.. The flash exposure needs to be about 3 stops brighter than your ambient or you might get some ghosting. If you look at the classic stop action photos they were often shot with a wide open shutter in a totally dark room, with a short duration of flash providing the motion stopping.

great. looks like i'll go for the first option. thanks for your help!

-Cody