A great article i found at "one light workshop " . 
We discussed offcamera flash before in posts like wireless trigerring , and umbrella and flash , and several others .
"If you are ready to start shooting off camera flash and you are needing to buy a flash, I’ll outline a few basic things to think about as you start the process of buying gear.
1. Budget. How much scratch do you have to drop on a flash?
2. Dedicated? Do you want a flash that will also perform dedicated functions such as TTL on your current camera body?
3. Power. How much light can you get out of it?
4. Manual Mode. This is non-negotiable for me. Any flash I have MUST have a manual mode with 4 or more stops of user adjustable power settings.
5. Accessories & Special Features. Do you want a flash with a zoom head? Bare bulb? External power sources? Etc.
I’ll break this 5 point list down and give you some information to consider. Then I’ll recommend specific flash units that I use on a regular basis. Most of what I recommend will be on the less expensive side of the spectrum of lights available on the market. I’m working on another article about higher end and more powerful lights.
1. Budget. There are many cases of “getting what you pay for” but I can think of a number of flash units where this universal statement doesn’t really apply. I have found that there are items that are cheap and items that are inexpensive. Inexpensive items are pieces of gear that don’t cost a lot of money but have a great reputation for being reliable. The Vivitar 285 flash is a great example of what I am talking about. You can buy them brand new for $89 from B&H. They have been around for 20+ years and are known to be reliable workhorses. When looking at your budget, remember to keep light stands, modifiers, triggers, batteries, and other accessories in mind.
2. Dedicated? - If you want a flash that will also perform dedicated tasks such as TTL, then your choices just narrowed quite a bit. I have always found TTL to be too inconsistent for my needs and purposes so TTL is never an issue for me when buying a flash since I don’t use it. The new Canon 580ex II is out and selling for $409 at B&H. I figured out what the “II” means in the name. It means, “Too” expensive. For $409 I would want a hot shoe flash that made my coffee and checked my voice mails.
While it is a great flash, it is not necessary for Canon users to have for off camera lighting situations. Same goes for the Nikon SB-800. I know you can use proprietary accessories to fire them off camera, but for the cost of another SB-600 / 800 for the Nikon CLS or the ST-E2 needed to go off camera in the Nikon and Canon line of cameras, you are nearly spending as much as you would on a set of Pocket Wizards.
All this to say, if you can learn basic gear and learn light, then you don’t need to be tied to $300 - $400 dedicated flash units. I have shot over 100 weddings and hundreds of portrait sessions in the last 3 years without ever needing or using TTL. I only say that to say it can be done without TTL.
3. Power - This is an important part of the purchase process. Ideally you want the highest guide number as possible from a flash but when it comes to small hotshoe flashes, there isn’t much difference in power at the top of the flash food chain. Comparing a flash with a guide number of 150 to a one with a GN of 180 is similar to comparing a Honda Civic at 150 HP and a Toyota at 180 HP. It is difficult to really trust the stated GN for a flash since manufactures have always been known to exaggerate the actual power output. To find more information about understanding GN’s, see this article at ShortCourses.com.
4. Manual Mode - Any flash I buy HAS to have a manual mode with more than 4 user selectable settings. I’ve seen some older units with only one or two manual settings. That’s useless to me. A Vivitar 285 has 4 settings. Full, 1/2, 1/4, and 1/16th power. A Nikon SB unit can be set in 1/3 increments from Full power to 1/128th power. That’s 7 stops of adjustment available to you. The more the merrier.
5. Accessories & Special Features. - Before you decide to start buying flashes, check out the accessories that are available from the manufacture and third party companies. The first thing I look for are external battery options. Can I get a high capacity battery for the flash? For a 120j, 285, or SB unit, the answer is yes. There are several battery options on the market for any of these flash units. You can also buy one battery to power them all if you buy the right cord for each flash.
Special features include being able to shoot bare bulb with a 120j. The only other flash that can shoot barebulb with for less than $500 is the..... The. Ummmmmm. Oh yeah. There isn’t one. You have to start shopping for used Q-flash units with battery packs to get a bare bulb flash anywhere near the price point of a $500 or less. New Q-flash units with a battery hover around the $1,000 mark. The Q-flash does have a good bit more power than a 120j BUT you can run a 120j on AA batteries, fit it in your current camera bag, and save enough to buy other items.
6. Conclusion. - There are three basic flashes that I have used A LOT and that I recommend. They are as follows.
• Sunpak 120j - I highly recommend these flash units. The problem is finding them. Sunpak recently discontinued production of this flash. I have been in contact with them and there is talk of a new model in the works but nothing is for sure. When they were still available you could buy a 120j with an external battery pack for about $289 from B&H. The 120j has 5 stops of manual power settings, has a parabolic reflector, and has the ability to be shot bare bulb by slipping the reflector off. They are powerful, inexpensive, and there are a number of accessories available for them. I have NO idea why they stopped making it. If you can find one, get one. Look for the non TTL version because the non TTL versions have a 1/4” thread on the bottom that make it easier to mount to am umbrella bracket.
• Vivitar 285 - Pros - Super affordable (especially if you find a good one used), Rugged, dependable, zoom head, multiple power options (AA, external battery packs), after market metal hotshoes available, very accurate auto modes for event shooting. Cons - Hard to fit in a pocket (it’s a bulky flash), proprietary sync connection that requires specific Vivitar to 1/8th” sync cords for use with PW’s (not always easy to find locally).
• Nikon SB26,27,28,80dx - Many older Nikon flash units make FANTASTIC off camera lighting rigs. Whether you shoot Canon, Nikon, or any other maker of camera bodies, you can still use a basic Nikon flash with any camera you throw at it. Pros - Affordable but you have to find them on the used market (You can find them used from $60 - $120), standard PC sync socket built in (can be used with the sync cord that comes with new Pocket Wizard), small and powerful (can fit in a pocket), 7 stops of manual power settings, zoom head. Cons - not many to list other than you have to find them used. The pro about this con though is they are easy to find unlike the 120j. Check out the used section of B&H or KEH for good prices on these.
If I had to choose just one? That’s tough. It would be either a 120j or an SB unit. I love the bare bulb option of the 120j but the SB80-DX I use on a regular basis can be powered down to 1/128th power, is very compact and is slightly more powerful than the 120j. I suppose my desert island hotshoe flash would be a used SB unit. "
Article and photo from http://www.onelightworkshop.com/OneLight/News_And_Articles/70875692-7555-44F2-BBE0-928DAF0E0916.html
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