SB-900 AF Speedlight Flash for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

Okay, here's the (long winded) truth about the flash and it's "thermal shutdown problem". First off, let me say that I have much experience in using different camera flashes and studio strobes as well as some repairing of them. I will start of by saying that this flash is the best portable camera flash in it's class that I have EVER used. Nikon knows what they are doing. They have an extremely high standard of quality and reliability. When they see a quality improvement / guarantee need, they will apply it. In the case of the SB-800 to the SB-900 one of the biggest and least appreciated quality assurance guarantees is the thermal cut off feature. Which, by the way, can be turned off or on. So all of those who are b****ing about it, just read your manual and turn it off! Okay, time for a cheesy quote: "With great power comes great responsibility". Nikon knew this. (speculation) They also knew the general public would not really understand the limitations of the flash in hand. So they incorporated a safety mechanism: "Thermal cut off", to prevent overheating due to extended maximum flash output. This sort of "circuit breaker" is also found in some pro studio strobes. Studio strobes usually use AC power and provide a much greater power output and are more likely to overheat and sometimes "blow out", so it is common to see some kind of safety mech built in to them. Portable camera flashes run off batteries and do not produce any where near the kind of power output than said strobes; so there is usually no critical need for such a safety. With the SB-900 however (and SB-800), Nikon has managed to build a very compact flash (yes, I mean compact if you consider it's power capability) that recharges very quickly and sustains a consistent powerful output. To do this, it requires a huge demand on the IGBT (like a capacitor) and sustained overheating would result in failure and eventually even damage to the flash. Of course they could have "pushed it" and programmed it to trigger at a much higher temp threshold or even eliminated the option all together. But it is good to have that feature. It's not that the flash overheats "easily", it's that the flash is offering more than maybe it should. With that much more power, comes that much more heat. (Especially from a compact unit without any cooling fans) Now for my silly analogy: "It's like the difference between driving a car that only goes 65mph (other flashes) and driving car that goes 100mph (SB-900 / 800). With the 65mph car, you can't get a speeding ticket (overheat / failure) on the freeway with the speed limit of 65mph. With the 100mph car you won't get a ticket either, until you start driving 100mph for an extended period of time on the same freeway. Then you will likely be stopped for speeding. Then, having a radar detector (thermal cut off feature) will warn you when a cop is around the corner and that you should slow down from 100mph to 65mph. You may ask yourself: why that speed limit? Of course, safety: limitations of the car and driver. Then you may ask: why make a car that goes 100mph if it is not safe to go that fast? (here is where my analogy doesn't follow exactly, but you get my point) You may have a need to go 100mph and it is good to have the ability. Often it may be fine to do so. Just know you are running the risks." If you really need to turn off the thermal feature and shoot at max output consistently, chances are it will function just fine. Yes, it will get hot, yes your batteries will drain faster, and yes you will wait longer for each subsequent recharge but nothing major will happen: because it's designed to do that and it's a Nikon made in Japan. Just know this: Nikon or not, all electronics still have to follow the basic laws of physics. It's not ultimately good for the IGBT and circuitry to sustain such powerful flash firing as some do. You run the risk of degradation and failure. I've seen it happen, albeit rare. Basically, you should feel confident about the performance and reliability of this flash. It doesn't get any better...yet.

I have several SB-800s and SB-600 so my primary basis for comparison is against those. Basically this strobe is excellent but some of the whistles and bells are of questionable utility. The things I really like about the strobe are pretty much the things that make the SB-800 great. - Remote capability via CLS system - Su-4 slave mode - External high voltage battery pack compatibility (plug on front) - Nice guide numbers for a battery unit. - Zoom that can be controlled manually or by the camera. - Selectable beep for when unit has recycled. - Can be used as a three channel master for Nikon's CLS system The things this unit does that are improvements compared to the SB600 and SB800 that I like and what motivated me to purchase it are: - Zoom to 200mm and not just 85 mm (600) or 105 mm (sb800). - Different beam patterns - Head rotates a full 180 degrees in both directions (requires a little surgery on an SB800 to fix this stupid problem on them) - Manual thumb switch for on/off and selecting remote and master modes instead of the slow menu system. These are what I wanted/liked and why I went for this strobe unit. The things I don't like or question the value of them: - I don't like the size. It is bigger than the SB800 some of which admittedly is needed for the zoom optics for the lamp itself but the lower body is bigger too. I can open SB800/600s straight out and stand them upright in a Think Tank camera pack but the 900 has to be folded 90 degrees and/or laid down and it takes up much more space. - The colored gel thing to automatically set the white balance with the camera is something I don't care for. I suppose some folks that want idiot-proof will like this but it is simply added cost with no benefit for most photographers who know enough to use gels. Much of the time we specifically don't want the camera to change white balance to tungsten if we put a CTO gel on the strobe. And the green gel to match the strobe to fluorescent lights is of little use because most fluorescent lights any more need more than just a green gel on the strobe to obtain an acceptable match. Green alone is ok for old fluorescent lights but most lights now need a green, full CTO and often a bit of yellow as well to make a decent match. So this feature adds cost but no value. - I have a real grudge against the 900 because it allowed Nikon to discontinue the 800. Bad move. I'll probably buy more 600s since you can get two of those for the price of one 900 and have more light to boot. - I have mixed reaction to the modeling light. I like that when you push the button it stays on for a couple seconds, kind of handy to let you use both hands for a brief moment to adjust things. However, with the 800 there were dedicated buttons, one to operate the modelling feature (it strobes at a fast rate and lower output so you can see how the light hits your subjects) and one to just trip the flash. The 900 has only one button and you have to select in the setup memu which function it will provide, flash or modelling light. That kinds of sucks. - The new Radio Poppers Jr Studio verson wireless triggers have a function and accessory (cube) that can provide manual control of the power for many TTL strobes. A thing called a "cube" makes the connection but electrically the 900 is different so it doesn't interface with the Radiopopper Jrs. like the 600 or 800 do. Sure the RadioPopper PX or older P1 system can provide manual control, sort of (its actually provided by the Nikon CLS), but the Jrs are less than half the price. Probably not significant for most photographers, just something a few will miss. Interestingly, the price of used SB800s are often, and most all old stock new ones are going for more than the new price for an SB900 so clearly the 900s aren't meeting some of the needs for many photographers. That is probably mostly the size thing, but many Nikon photogs have a collection of 800s and there is value in having stuff be the same, expecially with assistants helping you.

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当方の所有しているニコンの一眼レフに装着して試してみました。 全く問題なく使用できました。 中古でもこんなに安く値付けがされているものはなかなかありません。 箱や説明書はありませんが大変満足しています。

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Cumple sobradamente con todas las expectativas que se puede tener a nivel aficionado. A nivel profesional puede ser insuficiente en eventos sociales donde se necesitan muchas fotos seguidas a plena potencia, ya que tras varios disparos seguidos da una alarma de sobrecalentamiento y entra en suspensión. Esto me ha pasado en una boda, aunque por suerte solo era un invitado más. Para el resto de usos es magnífico, tiene una gran potencia y permite un control manual total. Viene con su funda, su pie, sus filtros y su difusor. La compra lógica hoy en día es el SB-910 (que no adolece del sobrecalentamiento rápido), pero me encontré este flash a 268€ y no desaproveché la oportunidad que me dio Amazon, un flash profesional a precio de flash de aficionado.