 Niknon Photography Discussion |
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Reviews
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Views
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Date of last review
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1
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3934
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Sat May 9, 2009
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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Average Rating
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100% of reviewers
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$450.00
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9.0
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supersize
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Description:
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- Nikon’s Flagship Creative Lighting System Speedlight: Powerful and versatile SB-900 works as a stand-alone flash, featuring wireless operation as a Commander or wireless remote light source.
- Control up to three remote Speedlight groups and an unlimited number of compatible Speedlights: The SB-900's Wireless Commander Mode offers wireless control at the master Speedlight position. Four wireless channel options allow you to manage wireless conflicts in multiple photographer environments.
- Streamlined controls and menus: The Rotary Select Dial sets key flash functions quickly—a prominent Master and Remote control switch simplifies wireless operation.
- FX/DX format identification: Automatic FX/DX switching optimizes light distribution angle.
- Expanded Auto Power Zoom Coverage: The SB-900 provides zoom coverage from 17-200mm in the FX-format and 12-200mm coverage in the DX-format.
- Choose from 3 light distribution patterns: Improve light quality by selecting Standard for general illumination, Center-weighted for portraits, or Even for groups or interiors.
- User-friendly firmware updating: Allows uploading of performance enhancement developments to the SB-900 with select Nikon digital SLR cameras.
- Color gel filter identification: The SB-900 automatically identifies mounted color gel filters and adjusts the camera’s auto white-balance setting with select Nikon digital SLR cameras.
- Flash Tube Overheat Protection: An added measure of safety is provided for sustained high-speed bursts.
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Keywords:
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Speedlight flash SB-900 Nikon CLS
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Author
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chimphappyhour
:p
Registered: November 2007
Location: KCMO
Posts: 1213
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Review Date: Sat May 9, 2009
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: $450.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Long zoom, easy to set up as remote/master
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Cons:
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It's big
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I needed more light and the SB-800's that I love are going for a mint. So, I picked up a 900. I have to say that watching these things being pressed into use by Joe McNally piqued my interest. He's putting these things to some very creative uses!
First off, let's get the size out of the way. It's big. The case that comes with the 900 doesn't make the situation any better either, it eats up space in my bag! It's the reason why this unit is so big that makes it worth it though, 200mm zoom! The SB-800 will get you to 105mm and the 600 will get you to 85mm. Add to that the new illumination patterns controlled by the tube's position in the flash head and you start to see why this thing needs to be so big.
This immediately brings me to another point I need to make right now, something I haven't seen mentioned anywhere else. It seems that the center-weighted illumination pattern restricts the flash zoom head to 85mm on DX format cameras. No mention is made of this in the manual. I suspect this has to do with the tube moving around to pull of the illumination trick and that restricts the zoom. So, I pretty much leave it in standard pattern now.
The controls are easier than they were on the 800. I no longer have to dig into the menus to switch it from on camera to remote, that's on the power switch now. There's also contextual buttons now for all the small adjustments as well as dedicated buttons for various functions.
So far, I've only done a couple of shoots with this flash. Up to this point, I have had no issues with it keeping up. I don't think I've heard the dreaded three beeps yet out of this thing. It seems to have plenty of power despite not actually being anymore powerful than the 800's.
This is one of those flashes that it is nice to have one of them. Since I already have a couple of 800's, I don't think I'll be building a herd of these. What if you don't have a herd started yet? That's a tough choice! The 600's have been known to not survive small falls and that makes me skiddish. Plus more power is always good. The 900 though just seems a bit big to have too many of them, not to mention they're about $100 more per unit than the old 800's were.
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My Flickr: Clicky
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