Gentlemen, 3 weeks ago i took the plunge and decided to get myself the SB-900. Originally i was more inclined to get the SB-800 or perhaps a lower end model. But having read the good reviews of SB-900, i decided that this was it. the only thing was the cost.
I did a search and found the SB-800s (pre-owned) to be selling for around £220 on ebay and SB-900s (brand new) to be around £320. I decided I could make do with the more advanced features that SB-900 offered and went for it.
Having used (my last flash was the SB-22) Nikon flashes before, the SB-900 seamlessly links up with my D-300 (of course) and it intelligently controls the flash output by knowing which lens and what focal length you are at. the internal flash head itself moves forward or back in response to your wide angle or tele lens. whats more, the D-TTL works very well and most shots came in well in general.
The batteries lasted very well (4 AAs) for a days solid shoot.
Controls very easy to use with the 'jog-dial' feature on the SB-900s.
Up to today, i am inclined to think that its money well spent!
kudos Nikon.
It's too bad my SB-800 recently survived a fall into a lake... Shook the water off and it still works. The back screen is cracked, gonna have to replace that. Damn thing still works though. They make it hard to 'upgrade'...
Yeah waiting for my sb800 to have problems too. Only thing I don't like about the 800 is the diffuser limits range. But that is a v-cut into the diffuser 5 minute fix I'll get to at some point .
SB-900 have that same thing where there is a switch that gets triggered when a diffuser on that limits range to 24mm (think its 24 anyway) ?
Was this trial with the new firmware as well? And did you push it? Seem to recall the thermal cutoff was kind of conservative on the sb-900 with original firmware at shipping. New firmware was supposed to give it more room to fire up iirc. Not looking to fry a flash....but like having the option to push that envelope.
Dumb question (and I really don“t mean to flame or anything): What does the SB900 do that the SB600 doesn“t do and you guys use regularly? I just switched back from Canon and I have to say the Nikon flash system is plain awesome. I use a SB600 and my D700 works as controller without me having to fire the pop-up flash - just genius. I understand that the SB600 has a strange menu, but I can live with that if that safes me $200 or so... But I wouldn“t be surprised if I were missing something.
as far as i used the SB-900, no thermal cutoff problem. it didnt overheat. i think my firmware is not the latest, but just a step older. i was told by the retailer that mine would be with the latest firmware, but seems it wasnt. anyway i had a full day of photoshoot and no thermal cutoff problems. You can turn off the thermal cutoff thing anyway, so no problems to that.
What i really had problems was to find diffusers or bounce cards to go with the SB-900. I wanted the Stofen Omni-bounce, but i felt the nikon supplied diffuser would do the job. In the end, i purchased 2 diffusers - The Lumiquest Ultrasoft and Lumiquest Softbox. I didnt like both at all. The result didnt really do wonders indoors and outdoors and the material that both had were flimsy and tacky.
In the end, for indoor and outdoor shots, the built-in bounce card worked best for me (not the diffuser). I am now thinking of getting the Joe Demb Flip-It. but its pricey. What are your thoughts on flash accessories?
I am debating the move from a 600 to a 900 and Id really love to know how much further reach the 900 will provide vs the 600. I find that when Im at the long end of my 70-200vr, my 600 doesnt quite make it.
Get a Flip it. They are great. The smallest or middle sized one are the ones to get. Don't bother using a bounce card outdoors, there's nothing to bounce off of
As unlikely as it sounds I managed to upgrade my five year old SB-800 to a new SB-900 for -1$. My SB-800 sold on ebay for $425 and I just bought a replacement SB-900 on ebay for $464 shipped, which after bing.com/Microsoft cashback of 8% comes down to $424. Of course I now owe about $25 in ebay/paypal fees but that's still a pretty cheap upgrade, and of course the new unit is a tax writeoff too.
This is the second time I've done this, the first time cost a lot more. I got $300 for the SB-800 and got an SB-900 from Amazon for $415 (that was before the Nikon price rise). So far been very happy with the 900 to the point that I decided to upgrade my second unit as well.
Jammy Straub wrote:
It's too bad my SB-800 recently survived a fall into a lake... Shook the water off and it still works. The back screen is cracked, gonna have to replace that. Damn thing still works though. They make it hard to 'upgrade'...
Yes, but Jammy, it fell and is now "unreliable". I think you need to get a back-up post haste.
Hi Jammy, Your opinion that bounce cards are not useful outdoors because there is nothing to bounce of of is one I hear a lot. While I respect the opinions of others, I disagree and would like to offer an outdoor flash example. Perhaps it will encourage someone else to try it, particularly as the examples of vendors are often discounted :>) I asked my wife, Sue, to pose for me for 3 shots in an area of my back yard where the sky behind me was largely blocked by trees and where the sun was coming over her shoulder. The no flash example looks like a snap shot. The direct flash one has the typical flat rendition of facial contours. Check out the shadowing around the nose, chin, and nostrils, which look like they have been cut out with scissors. To me, the Flip-it shot has the portrait look that I prefer. Of course, you are certainly free to prefer one of the other shots. However, I hope you'll concede that the bounce card is not useless. By the way, Sue recently celebrated her 68th birthday. Happy Birthday, Sue!
Shook the water off and it still works. The back screen is cracked, gonna have to replace that. Damn thing still works though. They make it hard to 'upgrade'...
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Then it's as good as a Sto-fen for my purposes! 
) I asked my wife, Sue, to pose for me for 3 shots in an area of my back yard where the sky behind me was largely blocked by trees and where the sun was coming over her shoulder. The no flash example looks like a snap shot. The direct flash one has the typical flat rendition of facial contours. Check out the shadowing around the nose, chin, and nostrils, which look like they have been cut out with scissors. To me, the Flip-it shot has the portrait look that I prefer. Of course, you are certainly free to prefer one of the other shots. However, I hope you'll concede that the bounce card is not useless. By the way, Sue recently celebrated her 68th birthday. Happy Birthday, Sue!