S. Charlston Reviews the Nikon SB900:
Nikon SB900 Review & Compared vs Speedlite 580EX II
I’ve been thinking about it for a long time and I finally came to the decision that Nikon has come to be the superior brand in the camera world, surpassing my personal choice, Canon. Looking back on what I did it may have been a bit drastic but I sold my Canon EOS 30D with a Canon Speedlite 580EX II and bought a Nikon D3 with a SB 900 Speedlight flash. My only regret is not waiting for a D700 but we’ll see what happens as they become more available. As for the Nikon SB900, the big N seems to be light-years ahead of Canon in the flash game. Not saying the 580EX II wasn’t a well built flash but the features of the Nikon put it to shame. The 580EX is still working in E-TTL II mode while the SB-900 has the newest i-TTL. What I hated about the Canon 580EX II compared vs Nikon’s SB900 is that they took a step backwards not having the master and remote modes on a switch. I’m glad to see that Nikon is taking steps forward adding in a dial to control this since the last Speedlight, the SB-800. They also have added interesting new things like the light pattern changing, very nice for portraits. So overall they are very similar as far as size, power, and recycle time but the SB-900 to me is easier to use and more functional.