SB900 how much better

cowasaki

cowasaki

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I have a £50 voucher towards a SB900 so this brings it down to about £289. Now if I sell my SB600 which is perfect with case and diffuser for about £175 I could upgrade the SB600 to an SB900 for £114 giving me an SB800 & SB900.

Is the SB900 worth the upgrade or should I just keep what I've got. The SB900 looks particularly easy to use and will be stuck with the D700 with the SB800 mainly on the D200.

Any views? Is it worth upgrading? Tried to check one out but local Jessops didn't have one in to have a play with.
 
I've owned pretty much all the speedlights - 400, 600, 800 and 900. The 900, by a long way, is the most user friendly of the lot. The interface is very nice and I found it better than the 800 in pretty much all respects. Just my opinion though. :)
 
The SB900 is a very good piece of kit, it is much more user friendly than any other Nikon flash I've owned (SB600 & SB900).

However, there is a slight problem with overheating and the flash shutting off if you use it alot in a shot space of time (which can get very frustrating at a wedding or other event).
 
I don't want to turn this into a for sale thread cos thats not allowed and I wont be selling it until the end of Sept so I'll set the price then £160-170 or whatever is appropriate. I was just after some views about the difference.
 
cowasaki said:
I don't want to turn this into a for sale thread cos thats not allowed and I wont be selling it until the end of Sept so I'll set the price then £160-170 or whatever is appropriate. I was just after some views about the difference.
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Understood
 
if you use voucher code summer20 when you order at jessops you'll save another £20

Hugh
 
The 900 is a huge step up from the 600. Remember I had the two 600s and sold them, then I bought a 900 thinking it would be a huge disappointment (having cost me more than I got for both 600s...... but I went out and bought another the next week :thumbs:
 
Bought a few 900s - kept the 800s to use with them.

The 900 is worth every penny BUT, be aware it is about 30% bigger than an 800 and that is slightly bigger itself than the 600 - so you are probably looking at 50% increase in size over an SB600 - bulky in the bag but a joy to use an dnot bulky when you are using it. Just something to think about if your bag is not big enough to take the increase in size.
A funny thing to thnk of, I know - but you would hate it if you swapped without taking the portability into account and then found the 900 won't fit into your bag.:thumbs:

While you are at it, get an off camera cable too - £50 well spent.
 
SimonTALM said:
However, there is a slight problem with overheating and the flash shutting off if you use it alot in a shot space of time (which can get very frustrating at a wedding or other event).
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You can turn that "feature" off.
 
I hate to tell you but you can find sb600 for a £169 new, a used ones going to have to be a bit cheaper.
 
swanseamale47 said:
I hate to tell you but you can find sb600 for a £169 new, a used ones going to have to be a bit cheaper.
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I have not looked at the SB600 price yet I will set that at the time at whatever is reasonable, I don't want this turning into a for sale thread I am just wanting to know what peoples experiences are with the SB900 over the SB600 / 800. If it is £140 or £150 then so be it.

Much less than that and I would probably keep it for the film cameras or to give me three flashes. I like the idea of a manual switch to select mode etc.
 
cowasaki said:
I have not looked at the SB600 price yet I will set that at the time at whatever is reasonable, I don't want this turning into a for sale thread.
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I don't think there's any danger of that. :shrug: I'm just reading it as people letting you know the price differential so you may have to make up more cost than you originally anticipated. :)
 
I was pleased with my purchase of the SB900, its got a lot of power, great zoom range (200mm!!) recharges quite quickly between shots, the menus are easy to understand and there are some neat tricks it can do

Negatives are the its a lot heavier and bulkier than the SB800 of Gribbsy's that I used and MOST ANNOYING THING OF ALL is that the little wheel you use to change things in the menus has ridges on it to increase grip but these are really abrasive and rub against my forehead when I use the camera in landscape orientation. Its really f'ing annoying actually.
 
It's a lot easier to get to the setup functions than the SB800 so I can't see you would be disappointed with the SB900. I think it's a great bit of kit I just need to understand how to get it to work in the way I want not what it wants. Too damm clever these gadgets these days.......

Paul
 
Thanks. There is some really useful stuff here. I might well see if I can afford the 900 anyway and give the 600 to Helen as she is getting more into photography now too. As the 600 is going down in price this might well be the best idea!

Does the 900 have a fifth battery option like the 800 and can they share the same external power supply pack?
 
cowasaki said:
Does the 900 have a fifth battery option like the 800 and can they share the same external power supply pack?
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No to the first and I'm pretty sure no to the second too (though you'd have to Google to make sure).
 
I've also found the SB-900 can be switched on accidentally - couldn't do that with the SB-800 which is still a great flash.
You have to buy a new battery pack for the 900!
 
I now have four SB 900's and a commander unit - the '800s are now consigned to the spares box...

I love them, even though it's a bulkier unit and the menu wheel is a pain...
My Bowens kit is now fully redundant because of these, though I'm still getting to grips with the whole off-camera/multi-flash thing...
It seemed a bit easier with big lights and umbrellas - modelling lights make things easier to figure out...lol
I just have to think a bit harder when positioning them and working out the various output levels...
 
cowasaki said:
Does the 900 have a fifth battery option like the 800 and can they share the same external power supply pack?
Click to expand...

No it doesn't need a fith battery, it can do from four what the SB800 needed five for.

As for the power supply, its the SD-9 for the SB900, no idea for others.

I've never used the SD-9 as when I asked before nobody could give me an opinion on it.

BTW there are cheaper alternatives to the SD-9 on Ebay from China - and all it is is a battery box and a cable!
 
Cheers, I have definitely decided to get a SB900 for the D700 and keep the SB800 with the D200 then give the SB600 to Helen.
 
Arkady said:
I now have four SB 900's and a commander unit - the '800s are now consigned to the spares box...

I love them, even though it's a bulkier unit and the menu wheel is a pain...
My Bowens kit is now fully redundant because of these, though I'm still getting to grips with the whole off-camera/multi-flash thing...
It seemed a bit easier with big lights and umbrellas - modelling lights make things easier to figure out...lol
I just have to think a bit harder when positioning them and working out the various output levels...
Click to expand...

if you ever feel the need to make your spares box a bit lighter, I'd happily swop for sb600s... :P

Perhaps a bigger question..... would you expect an sb900 to last twice as long as a sb600?... that's how the price is looking atm (sb600 = 166, sb900 = £300), and if just using them as CLS slaves or on camera ttl, it doesn't matter _so_ much... and until the first one bites the dust, you've got 2 lights for the price of one :P

Or is the difference between the 600 and the 8/900s THAT profound? my wallet still doesn't want to believe it :(
 
Just picked up another SB900 which takes me up to three flashes now, and I must say that I'm loving these units! :)

The extra zoom range on the 900 is especially useful along with the gel holder gizmo. Kind of nice that is already comes with a 'stofen' style diffuser too.

The only downside is the increased size which isn't really a hinderance but does make you stand out even more! lol.
 
kalibre said:
The extra zoom range on the 900 is especially useful along with the gel holder gizmo. Kind of nice that is already comes with a 'stofen' style diffuser too.
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And from what I've read it works just as well too, which is why I didn't bother in the end to buy one of those "sea cucumber" type things to go on my flash :D
 
itsdavedotnet said:
if you ever feel the need to make your spares box a bit lighter, I'd happily swop for sb600s... :P

Perhaps a bigger question..... would you expect an sb900 to last twice as long as a sb600?... that's how the price is looking atm (sb600 = 166, sb900 = £300), and if just using them as CLS slaves or on camera ttl, it doesn't matter _so_ much... and until the first one bites the dust, you've got 2 lights for the price of one :P

Or is the difference between the 600 and the 8/900s THAT profound? my wallet still doesn't want to believe it :(
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I can't really say as I've never even seen a '600, let alone used one...I would imagine that it'd be fine as a first, second or third light in a multi-flash set-up, since the commander-module is doing all the work if you don't want a light placed on the camera itself...
 
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