SB-900 or SB-600

Barney12

Barney12

I like Sailors
Messages
1,489
Edit My Images
Yes
As mentioned in another thread my recently acquired SB-600 has gone to flash heaven. Now I have a small amount of Xmas money burning a hole in my pocket I'm wondering if I should consider stepping up to the SB-900?

I've read the specs etc but just can't really decide if I need the extra functions/power? Half the time I have my two flashes set to manual anyway so do I really need all the wizzo functionality on the SB-900?

Barney
 
I had 2 x SB-600, sold them (on here) and replaced them with one shiny new SB-900, don't regret it for a moment. The 900 is just so much more of a flashgun, the controls are much quicker/easier to use too.
 
If you've got the cash, you wont regret getting the SB900. Excellent gun.

Kev.
 
I agree, its pricey but a really nice bit of kit and I've never regretted my choice - which I probably would have done with the smaller Nikon flashes.
 
Oh I how I love TP, its like feeding a habit :-) Not one "stick with the SB-600", just what I wanted :clap:

Barney
 
I'm going to disagree with the above - I've got a 800 and a 600 - and have not yet found a situation where I couldn't have used 2 x 600s. It depends what you want the flash for - if you want the gimmicks like repeat/stroboscopic modes, then the 900 is the way to go. However for the money I'd rather get 2 600s, way more creative potential (in commander mode/CLS).
 
And how many times have you ever had to fire on full power? If you did need the extra oomph, you could always fire both sb 600s at the subject in one go - I would have thought that would nuke them pretty well!
 
Cheng said:
And how many times have you ever had to fire on full power? If you did need the extra oomph, you could always fire both sb 600s at the subject in one go - I would have thought that would nuke them pretty well!
Click to expand...


Conversely,how many times have you used your SB-600 at 1/128th power? Sometimes less is more......;)
 
Cheng said:
And how many times have you ever had to fire on full power? If you did need the extra oomph, you could always fire both sb 600s at the subject in one go - I would have thought that would nuke them pretty well!
Click to expand...

Depends if you are taking flash photos at 200mm or not I guess :D

Its all well and good if your subject is sat in front of you and you have time to stick out a pile of lighting... if your subject is fleeting and distant, then the SB900 is the beast you need.
 
Flash In The Pan said:
Conversely,how many times have you used your SB-600 at 1/128th power? Sometimes less is more......;)
Click to expand...

Haha....well, I've never needed to, on camera anyway. But it is selectable as an option via commander modes (if I recall), so the potential is there and you don't lose out on CLS, which is what I use the most! :p

If less is more, then only use a single SB 600 ;). Generally you'll find though, more flashes = more creativity options. Background lighting, hair light, fill light...try doing any of these with a single 900 as your key!


desantnik said:
Depends if you are taking flash photos at 200mm or not I guess :D

Its all well and good if your subject is sat in front of you and you have time to stick out a pile of lighting... if your subject is fleeting and distant, then the SB900 is the beast you need.
Click to expand...

I've done very very little wildlife / paparazzi shooting, so I couldn't possibly comment! But I suspect in this case the 900 won't give you significantly more range (inverse square and all that) ... plus, on camera flash flatness (!)....acceptable as paparazzi shots only I suspect!
 
The SB-900 does have a little design flaw IMO, the sensor which stops it overheating is a little too sensitive so when you are flashing away during a critical event the flash decides it's a bit warm and stops working for a minute or two to cool down. Yes I know you can switch this overheat protection off (and I have done), but would you be prepared to take the risk of damaging your flash (IMO very small).

The SB600 / SB800 doesn't appear to be affected in the same way (I have all 3 BTW) so where as the SB-900 is a whole heap better in terms of handling and great for easy switching between normal and CLS modes can you live with it's foibles?

BTW the flash I pull first out the bag is the SB900, followed by the SB800 and then SB600 if that helps in your decision making.
 
Cheng said:
Haha....well, I've never needed to, on camera anyway. But it is selectable as an option via commander modes (if I recall), so the potential is there and you don't lose out on CLS, which is what I use the most! :p
Click to expand...

I'd still like to see you try......the 600 doesn't go as low as 1/128th ;)
 
The most excellent controls on the SB-900 makes it worth every penny. So easy to use and set up. Worth the extra just for that. I've got 3 and would not go back to the 800.
 
SimonTALM said:
I concur the SB900 is most certainly totally bodacious :p
Click to expand...

And any reference to 'Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure' is praise enough indeed. :thumbs::clap::thumbs::clap::thumbs:
 
I'm certainly not saying that a SB600 is anyway better than a SB900 - this would be impossible. *BUT* if I had no flashes and had to choose between one sb900 and two 600s, it'd be the 600s!
 
Cheng said:
I'm certainly not saying that a SB600 is anyway better than a SB900 - this would be impossible. *BUT* if I had no flashes and had to choose between one sb900 and two 600s, it'd be the 600s!
Click to expand...

BUT.... you could buy one 900 :thinking: then save a little and have two 900's which is much better that two ancient 600's :thumbs:

wilky
 
Wilky said:
BUT.... you could buy one 900 :thinking: then save a little and have two 900's which is much better that two ancient 600's :thumbs:

wilky
Click to expand...

You could say that about anything! ....'save a little' more for the D3x... :shrug:

Pound for pound, I'd take SB600s anyday. Only exception would possibly be to use the 800/900 as a commander. This way, all your slaved SB600s get stroboscopic mode too! (IMO) SB 900 for the gear heads. 2 x SB600s if you want to take some photos... They are superb value for money, you could get two used for around the same price as a new SB 900 if you're lucky.

BTW, this is all assuming you have 2 channels on your CLS enabled body. If you don't have a CLS commander (D40/60/3000/70 (1 channel) ) I wouldn't recommend the SB600 yet.
 
Barney, you say you have two flashes - would that have been 2 SB 600s? (assuming one is dead?)

In this case if think you might consider adding more flashes in the future and as you've maxed out the available groups for CLS, I'd get a 900 as then it could be used as a commander for group C. Unless you're going to go down the pocket wizard route, in which case 600 should be fine for now!
 
Flash In The Pan said:
The SB-800 goes to 1/128, the SB-600 only goes down to 1/64
Click to expand...

Unless you attach a Lumiquest FXtra and a cut of Cinegel #3762: Roscolex N.3 onto the end of it. But that would probably be considered cheating, so I guess I don't win a softbox. ;)

I initially picked up an SB-600 flash as it was cheap (relatively speaking), and I'd never really messed with a real flash unit before (the SB-50DX doesn't count, as D-TTL sucked).

Since then I've picked up 2 SB-900s and Nikon will be mailing me a 3rd one as soon as I can be bothered braving the cold to head down to the post office and mail all the stuff to them. I don't regret the purchase of the SB-900s for an instant.

The only time I really even use my SB-600 any more is as a background light, or to fill a shaded corner of a room on interior shots, or to project a light pattern through a gobo or other medium. It's quicker and more convenient to operate the SB-900.

Also bear in mind that the SB-900 can be used as a CLS commander where the SB-600 cannot (although obviously it will act as a remote receiver), just in case you ever decide to add to your flash collection.
 
Flash In The Pan said:
Yes, I'll bet a softbox on it.......

The SB-800 goes to 1/128, the SB-600 only goes down to 1/64

Proof here here here here here and here

Still want to bet? ;)
Click to expand...

:lol:

In MANUAL mode. NOT in CLS. :p

And the fraction is of MAX POWER. 1/128th on one flash with one guide number will be different from 1/128th of a different guide numbered flash.


According to this thread here that makes 1/64th on a 600 the same as 1/128th on a 900. Also in the same thread (and by my own testing) you can throttle down to 1/128th on a SB600 by CLS. There is a visible difference between 1/128th and 1/64th on manual mode, same settings except flash power. So by my reckoning, the SB600 can go even lower than the mighty SB900. So you were saying about less being more :p ?
 
Cheng said:
:lol:

In MANUAL mode. NOT in CLS.

And the fraction is of MAX POWER. 1/128th on one flash with one guide number will be different from 1/128th of a different guide numbered flash.


According to this thread here that makes 1/64th on a 600 the same as 1/128th on a 900. Also in the same thread (and by my own testing) you can throttle down to 1/128th on a SB600 by CLS. There is a visible difference between 1/128th and 1/64th on manual mode, same settings except flash power. So by my reckoning, the SB600 can go even lower than the mighty SB900. So you were saying about less being more :p ?
Click to expand...

When was CLS mentioned? My point was that the SB-900 allows for more adjustment/fine tuning of the power output (or do you want to argue that point as well? ;))

Oh and that link....

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]given that the SB900 is about 1 stop more powerful than the SB900[/FONT]
Click to expand...

Eh? :lol:
 
Just to double check, I've just taken 4 test shots - ranging from 1/128th to 1/64th with the 600. You can visibly see the area of illumination increasing from 1/128th, 1/100th, 1/80th and 1/64th! Of course there's no way for me to prove it that I'm not using a different flash, but I'm happy to provide any evidence you'd like :) :D

It's all very well providing the quoted specification, but when I've got a 600 and 800 in hand, I know who I'm believing!
 
Cheng said:
Just to double check, I've just taken 4 test shots - ranging from 1/128th to 1/64th with the 600. You can visibly see the area of illumination increasing from 1/128th, 1/100th, 1/80th and 1/64th! Of course there's no way for me to prove it that I'm not using a different flash, but I'm happy to provide any evidence you'd like :) :D

It's all very well providing the quoted specification, but when I've got a 600 and 800 in hand, I know who I'm believing!
Click to expand...


When was the 800 mentioned?
 
Flash In The Pan said:
When was CLS mentioned?
Click to expand...

Flash In The Pan said:
Conversely,how many times have you used your SB-600 at 1/128th power? Sometimes less is more......;)
Click to expand...

Cheng said:
Haha....well, I've never needed to, on camera anyway. But it is selectable as an option via commander modes (if I recall), so the potential is there and you don't lose out on CLS, which is what I use the most! :p
Click to expand...

:)

I totally agree - the 900 allows for greater tuning when attached to the camera...but once you go CLS it's all the same to me! And I rarely use on camera flash, so I couldn't care really what slaves I use, once they're set in remote mode, fancy menus and strobe modes don't do a great deal ;)
 
Flash In The Pan said:
When was CLS mentioned?
Click to expand...

That's another good point though, power output aside. The SB-600 does not support optical triggering without the SU-4 adapter (an extra expense). The SB-900 has this ability built in.

So if you're using a flash to trigger multiple non-CLS flashes (studio strobes or generic brand optical slaves), the SB-900 has the edge.
 
Kaouthia said:
That's another good point though, power output aside. The SB-600 does not support optical triggering without the SU-4 adapter (an extra expense). The SB-900 has this ability built in.

So if you're using a flash to trigger multiple non-CLS flashes (studio strobes or generic brand optical slaves), the SB-900 has the edge.
Click to expand...

Without CLS/TTL, the SU-4 is a glammed up expensive optical trigger..available from ebay for £4 :D
 
Another vote for the SB 900, the menu system is much easier to use.
 
Cheng said:
Without CLS/TTL, the SU-4 is a glammed up expensive optical trigger..available from ebay for £4 :D
Click to expand...

For the most part I agree, but I've read that there are some brands out there that are incompatible with the SB-600 (I would assume they're incompatible with the 800 & 900 too, but there's no need to get one with those anyway).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top