Double-check that it's fully compatible before you commit yourself, but the old rule still holds true - buy the most powerful gun you can afford.

You don't mention a budget. I can recommend many flashes, but most are even more expensive than the canon 600Rt. The Nissin 866 is their top of the line model, and costs about as much as a Canon 580EX II if you can find one. When prices are close to the same, the matching brand is going to be the better choice. Another option at this level is the Metz 58 for Canon. To trigger an off camera flash, you would need something on your camera to make it work. Cheap radio triggers off Ebay will work just fine, but you need to realize that you can only work in manual mode on both the camera and flash this way, you have no E-TTL automatic flash control. Triggers that do allow such control cost as much as the flash, and you need one for the camera and one for each flash. I would suggest that you not go to off-camera flash until you have had a chance to practice with it. That applies to flash in general, but even more so with off-camera work. A diffuser is a personal choice. All of them claim to be wonderful, but very few actually are. They just aren't big enough to do what they claim in most cases, although something like an Omnibounce from Stofen can be useful if you can't bounce off a ceiling. Avoid those "soft boxes" for shoe mount flash, waste of time. Update with a budget and we can go from there.

High speed sync can only be reliably done with Nikon brand speedlights such as the SB600 and higher (SB700, SB800, SB900/910). And you need a mid-level/advanced DSLR, such as a D90, D7000 or above (entry level D3xxx/D5xxx cameras will not work). Mid-leve/advancedl DSLRs have a function called "FP High Speed Sync" that allows you to use shutter speeds up to 1/4000th of a second. These cameras instruct the flash unit to fire for a longer duration. The flash output is less in this mode, so your range will be limited. the YN568 is the only 3rd party high speed option sync flash that I am aware of that will work with Nikons, so you will not find a cheaper alternative. But I always recommend camera-brand flash units as they are guaranteed to work 100%, and my experience has been that even the best 3rd party flash units (such as Metz) are not 100% compatible. You get what you pay for...

Don't let the numbers mess with your head. Any of the gear you list will work just fine, and I'll tell you why the flash duration doesn't matter in your case. Your camera has a maximum sync speed of 1/250th of a second. You may be able to squeeze another 1/3 or 1/2 stop of shutter speed out of that, but maybe not. the only way to know is to experiment with specific gear. Radio triggers also have a max sync speed, so pay attention to that as well. 1/250th shouldn't be a problem, but some triggers may not go any faster. Even the 1/600th duration of the B800 is still faster than your shutter. This is why it doesn't make a lot of difference. At lower power settings, the duration is also shortened, and you may not have to shoot at full power. With a B800, you almost certainly will be shooting at 1/2 or 1/4 power, giving you much shorter duration and even faster recycle time. There are several differences between a monolight like the Alien Bees and a shoe mount flash like the Yongnuo's. Recycle speed is much, much faster with monolights. Except for the very cheapest monolights, they are more powerful than a hot shoe flash. A high-end TTL unit, like say a Canon 600EX, is barely pushing the 150ws line, and even then only at full manual power. The monolight is throwing that power over a wider area, meaning you don't have to be quite so precise in how you aim the lights. The downside is that you need stands and power cables and all that rot to make them work. Look at a Vagabond battery/inverter system to run your AB lights... otherwise you need *long* extension cords. Flash sync is simply the camera and flash coordinating the timing between the shutter and the flash. The flash should fire when the shutter is fully open, otherwise part of the frame will be cut off and you get a black bar across the bottom (usually) of your picture. This is why your camera has a max sync speed, as that is the fastest time that the shutter and flash can coordinate this event. It is possible, with a Canon TTL flash, to use a higher shutter speed, but that has many drawbacks and limitations. You can use the same camera trigger and receivers for both hot shoe and monolights, IF the receiver has both hot shoe connection and a PC socket. I have found that you can actually fire both off of one trigger this way. I put a small hot shoe flash on the shoe, and connected a Metz 45 (potato masher flash) to the PC socket, and used the hot shoe light for fill and the Metz as main light bounced. A transceiver means it can do both transmit and receive. You don't need those. Any flash trigger system that has both hot shoe and PC (some call it sync) socket will work with both types of flash.

With that budget, the Sigma EF-630 Super would be a good choice. It does all the things the Canon 580EX flashes can do, and is much more powerful than the 430EX. Should run around $250, making it less expensive as well. Another option is the Metz 50 or 52, a little more powerful than the 430EX and about $250 as well. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the higher end models, but it matches the Canon 430 in features.

Sony makes 3 flash guns for their cameras. The 20, 43, and 58. The 20 costs too much for what it does, and isn't worth half of what it costs. It is a waste of time and money. The 43 (or the 42 which it replaced, if you can find one) are good general purpose flashes for Sony shooters. Cost is not out of line with other flashes in this range from the other makers. Not a super powerful flash, but enough for most users. The 58 is expensive, but again not out of line with this level of flash from the other makers. Plenty of power for most people, with all the usual bells and whistles from a top-of-the-line model. I don't know the current conversion rate, so not sure where these flashes fall into your budget. Another maker of excellent flash gear is Metz. Their flashes are as good as any on the market, and actually less expensive than many. They make dedicated flash units for Sony cameras, at several levels of cost. The current 50 model is probably the best bet, but there are lower cost options as well. Sigma also makes dedicated Sony units, their current series is the 630. There are 2 models, the ST and the Super. The ST is actually the most powerful flash you can get at the price level where it sits, which is actually very low. The Super model costs more, but has all the bells and whistles of the top flashes from the other makers. If budget is your main concern, the Sigma ST will probably be the way to go.

There is a lot of info here to cover so please bear with me. 1. the true macro lenses are those that have a life size magnification. These are expressed as having a Macro range of 1:1. What does life-size magnification mean. Well, if you sat a bug on your sensor, that would be life size magnification, so a photo of a bug with a 1:1 macro lens would be the same size as if the bug were sitting on the sensor. 2. The only 1:1 macro lenses are fixed focal length. As you found out with your Tamron, zoom lenses claim to be macro, but are more accurately a close-up lens. 3. the popular focal lengths of macro lenses range from 40mm (Nikon AF-S 40mm micro @$279) to 200mm (Nikon AF 200mm micro @ $1,800). Some of these lenses are AF-S, and some are AF. The AF versions mean they will not autofocus on your camera (the D5000 does not have an internal focus motor). However, that is not a big deal for macro use as you will be focusing in manual mode anyway (autofocus systems do not do that well at close range). 4. Aperture is not that important as you will never be using f/2.8 anyway. Since you are exceedingly close to your subject with a macro lens, the DoF is going to be wafer-thin, and some macro lenses go up to f/64 (Tokina 100mm f/2.8 macro). And even at that aperture, the DoF is barely an inch. So for macro use, the aperture is not an issue. 5. So what focal length is best? The shorter focal length lenses, such as the Nikon 40mm require you to be a lot closer to your subject, while the longer ones, like the 200mm lens allow you to step back to maybe 10" or more. This can be important if you are wanting to photograph bugs as they can be scared off if you get too close. So the advantage of a longer focal length lens is you don't have to get as close. However, the advantage of a shorter focal length lens is that while you have to get closer, the shorter focal length helps with the DoF, as shorter focal lengths have deeper DoF. And with a deeper DoF, you can shoot a photo with the camera at an angle and still be in focus. With a long focal length, you need to hold the camera just about parallel to the subject. So there are advantages to both short and long focal length macro lenses. I have both the Nikon 40mm f/2.8 and Tokina 100mm f/2.8 macro lenses as one may be preferred over the other, depending on the situation. 6. Macro flash. As I said earlier, you will probably be using a very tiny aperture for macro. This requires two things; a tripod, and a macro flash - even in the bright daylight. While a tripod will help with holding the camera steady, a flash will keep moving objects from becoming blurry. And a huge advantage of using a flash with an aperture of around f/22 or smaller, is you will get a great subject properly exposed, with a pitch black background. So with the DoF issue, you will likely be needing a macro flash more if you have a longer focal length macro lens. For the Nikon, there are three flashes that are worthy. The Nikon R1 (or in your case, you need the R1C1), the Metz MecaBlitz 15 (which your camera can only use in slave mode), or the Sigma EM-140. There are other macro flashes on the market, but they are junk. Unfortunately, the three flashes I mentioned cost from $400 to $800. Most macro lenses focus externally - that is, the barrel moves in and out as you focus. With these lenses, when you attach a macro flash to the front of them, the weight puts too much strain on them and you would burn out the focus motor if you did not use manual focus. But again - this is not usually a problem as you will probably be manually focusing the lens anyway. You can get by without a flash for starting out, but you will quickly realize you will need one, especially if you use a longer focal length lens. I use my Nikon R1 flash with my Tokina 100mm, but hardly ever with my Nikon 40mm. 7. Macro lenses also make great portrait lenses, especially with the fast f/2.8 aperture. Here is the only time that an AF vs AF-S lens will be important, as your camera will not be able to autofocus the AF version. 8. Finally, to wrap up your macro rig, you will need a tripod, a remote release, and at some point, perhaps a focusing rail. For expert tips on macro, google and read anything by Bryan Peterson. Here are a few macro shots I have done: Nikon D-90 with Tokina 100mm macro and Nikon R1 macro flash; f/64, ISO 200, 1/200th sec. http://www.althephoto.com/lenses/macro2.jpg Nikon D-90 with Tokina 100mNikon D-90 with Tokina 100mm macro and Nikon R1 macro flash; f/64, ISO 200, 1/200th sec.m macro, no flash; f/64, ISO200, 1/60th sec. http://www.boat-project.com/photos/macro1.jpg Nikon D-90 with Tokina 100mm macro and Nikon R1 macro flash; f/64, ISO 200, 1/200th sec. http://www.boat-project.com/photos/macro3.jpg Nikon D-90 with Nikon AF-S 40mm f/2.8 micro (cannot retrieve the settings). http://www.boat-project.com/photos/macro3.jpg

I have a Think Tank Speed Freak and it is the most versatile bag I have ever owned. Think Tank is not the cheapest, but they are the best. http://www.thinktankphoto.com/products/speed-freak-v2.aspx

i think you need to put one by one 2] you shoukld start a combined study with your classfelkows]

For questions 1 and 4, we here on Y/A cant see any of the 'following totals' those questions refer to, so we don't have enough information to answer those two. ---------------------- Question 2 is answer A Question 3 is answer D 104 1/4 = 104.25 A $1,000 bond selling at 104 1/4 would have a price of ($1,000 x 104.25) = $104,250 (Question 3 is a similar situation).