Nikon SB900 Review - Compare SB900 vs SB800

PopPhoto.com, a long running and beloved website for photography and imaging, posting up some of the internet’s most read and most useful articles, news, galleries, guides and message board discussions in the area of photography, has done a great article comparing the SB-900 vs the SB-800 and a review of Nikon’s new top-of-the-line flashgun. The article written at the beginning of November by Peter Kolonia is short and sweet, and is well written to help those familiar with the Nikon speed light line-up see what’s new and exciting about the new flagship SB-900 model:

Summary of PopPhoto’s SB-900 vs SB-800 Review

Peter took the Speedlight SB 900 on a 3 week shooting tour and reports back on what makes this a great product, what could be improved, and what is fresh and useful, noteable differences and upgrades Peter found and noted in his comparison of the SB-900 to the legendary sb-800 include:

Noted Differences when Comparing SB-800 vs SB-900

Dual Format capability between FX and DX: for the first time, Nikon’s flagship strobe will auto detect whether your shooting a FX full frame or DX lens, and compensate / adjust to expand or narrow the light throw to what your using

Hugely improved auto-zoom ranges: Now capable in the 17-200mm ranges, this has been majorly improved, compared vs. the SB-800’s limiting 24-105mm range.

Recycling Time much quicker: Although in a pure time sense it may not seem like a big diference in the SB900’s four second recycle compared to the SB800’s 6 seconds, it is a 35% decrease and that is pretty large of a jump.

Firmware now updateable: Allowing firmware updating will give Nikon’s engineers flexibility in constantly developing and tweaking the unit and you the user will be receiving upgrades to the firmware to consistently be upgraded your flashes performance/stability/features.

New Flash patterns: Many desired effects that photo g’s would have to try and engineer manually are now template automatic features.

Much More… Quite a few more from improved interface to larger and more readable LCD screen, check out the compare review below to continue reading comparisons and new features of the Speedlight SB900

3 Types of people that will love the SB-900 flash:

Mr. Kolonia gives 3 examples of people that will truly benefit and love the upgrade of the bigger and fuller featured new flash among them:

1. Heavy users – With many tweaks to controls and interface tweaks, alongside of things such as thermal cut-off which will prevent damage under strenuous usage, heavy user’s will greatly appreciate the Nikon SB-900
2. People that use both DX and FX lenses will absolutely love the instantaneous and automatic switching between the two types.
3. Newer DSLR owners (D3, D700, and D90) will definitely notice that the SB 900 just seems that much better looking than its counterpart, with firmware updating expanding the list and further intensifying this fact in the near future.

There are other types of people that will benefit greatly from taking the more expensive SB900 versus the SB800, but the average and casual photographer will probably enjoy the large price savings the SB 800, which is now very cheap because it is being discontinued and replaced, offers their wallets.