Evaluation:  
Conclusion: SB 900 - Not ready for Professional Use
Review: I am a wedding photographer. We have 3 Nikon SB 80's and 3-SB 800 units used weekly for the past 4 years. We also have 3 Canon 580 units which have worked flawlessly.
This year, I switched back from Canon to Nikon, and when the SB 900 appeared, I purchased it for my new Nikon D300 and D200 cameras. The first unit was Dead on Arrival. The replacement unit works well and has wonderful program and update capabilities. It is easy to use.
My only concern is the unit overheats very quickly when shooting wedding groups and bouncing the light off ceilings ect... This requires the strobe to do larger power dumps than would the flash if pointing directly at the subject....
My SB 900 shut down in the middle of Group photos, and I quickly pulled out my trusty SB 800 and completed the job.
Outdoors, using fill flash, the SB-900 works well. It does not work well in large halls, darkened receptions etc.
I turned off the Over Temp Shutdown feature, but the unit still squeals at me with every shot after 6-8 shots have been taken. I find myself blowing into the top of the unit, trying to cool it... but, it needs cooling holes or a fan... with the constant overheating problem.
I thought my flash was over -sensitive, until reading other reviews here... Now, I know, sadly, it is just part of this finicky $[...] beast.
Jim Jones
[...]
Evaluation:
Conclusion: Thermal Shutdown is for the Birds!
Review: Fellow Wedding Photographers! Please listen! The SB-900's thermal shutdown is a very serious problem for us. I received my SB-900 last Thursday and shot a wedding on Saturday. YES! The thermal shutdown Grinch got me! Even after I read the reviews complaining about the problem, I rationalized it by thinking, well I probably don't shoot as fast as they do. WRONG! It got me after just 6 full power exposures!
As background, I've used a SB-800 for a couple of years shooting fairly rapidly and never had a problem with overheating. I likely had overheating, but the SB-800 flash withstood the stress. Not so with the SB-900's thermal shutdown feature. Reluctantly, I'm turning "thermal shutdown" OFF in the setup menu. Why? Because I love the SB-900 otherwise! It's a wonderful step above the 800. But now I may risk warranty repair problems should something happen.
I hate being put into that position by Nikon! I've been loyal to the brand since 1964's Nikon F days. Hopefully Nikon will come up with a cure, especially since the 900 has the ability for it's software/parameters to be remotely updated.
In the meantime, wedding photographers, you're taking a big chance the unit will shut down just when important shots happen, unless you disable the thermal shutdown protection mode.
I'm still rating the SB-900 as 4 stars, since all else seems fantastic. ATTN: NIKON! Please fix this problem!
Evaluation:
Conclusion: Super happy with my decision
Review: I labored over the decision to pull the trigger on the 900 or to go with the "everybody loves" the 800. I never owned an 800 so have nothing to compare it to. Nevertheless, I am super happy with it. I dont know what other people are complaining about unless the guy who had the overheating problems got a bad apple. I shot my first wedding this weekend and took nearly 600 pictures on my Nikon D90, all with flash and had a wonderful experience. I used 4 regular duracell batteries and the thing was very fast and performed flawlessly. My pictures came out phenomenally and the thing never even though about overheating. The heat monitor stayed relatively low the entire wedding and I still had juice in my batteries when it was all over. I am super happy with my decision. It is quite large like people say, but if you are going to have a big flash hanging off the top of your camera, a little extra size is insignificant in my opinion. I think people are just naturally averse to change so it is hard for some long-time 800 users to get used to something new. I love it and think you will too.
Evaluation:
Conclusion: My 1st Pro Flash
Review: If you're the type who wants the latest gadgets, who wants it all kind of person then by all means go for it. I was considering the sb-800, but nikon has discontinued it's production therefore the sb-900 is the replacement. no doubt it's the biggest, baddest flash ever by nikon.
Evaluation:
Conclusion: OK flash
Review: SB-900 overheated during a 25th anniversary shooting, it overheated fairly quickly, and I had to go with my backup the SB-800.
I was very disappointed in how fast it overheated and shut down. Just the day before, I used the SB-900 at a high school football game, took 180 pictures and it worked great. I suppose it did not over heat because of the time between shots. The anniversary was lots of pictures one after another. Never the less Nikon should build their flag ship Flash to with stand more than their second in command the SB-800.
One thing about the SB-900, the multiple flash set up is very easy. I like the way it's built and the features, I just don't like the fact it overheated so fast.
|
