Nikon Speedlight SB-900

Photo answers review

Photo answers rating

Features  & handling

Nikon has wisely listened to its SB-800 customers and made several improvements to the design. The first change is a simple one, but makes life so much easier for the user: the new SB-900 flash head can rotate 180° in either direction – ideal for bounce-flash applications. The SB-800 could rotate 180º in one direction but only 90º in the other, making it rather annoying for certain setups.
Nikon has also made some clever adjustments to the design of the head itself and it can now offer flash coverage from 17mm right up to a massive 200mm. Most flashes, including the SB-800, only go up to 105mm so this is a fairly significant change and a useful one too.
Another really smart feature is the new temperature gauge. When a flashgun fires it emits heat. Naturally, if it gets too hot, it breaks. So on the SB-900, Nikon has introduced a feature which actually prevents the flash from firing if the temperature is too high. You can of course turn this off if you find yourself in a situation where the shot is more important than your flashgun.
The handling experience has improved too. There’s a new input dial that allows you to scroll through the settings much more easily and make fast adjustments, plus there’s a range of useful shortcut buttons.
One of the major problems using the SB-800 was that trying to switch the unit into wireless mode could be fiddly when you were in a hurry. The SB-900 makes up for this by having a simple on/off switch with Remote and Master options too.
On the downside, the flashgun itself is much bigger than its predecessor, and now there’s an extra zip compartment on the bottom of the supplied pouch, you’ll have to make considerably more room for it in your camera bag and take time to dismantle the diffuser head to fit the gun into the pouch.

Verdict

There’s no denying that the SB-900 is an expensive flashgun, at £325. But in our view it’s also the best on the market and is worth every penny for flash enthusiasts.
However, if you don’t demand quite so much from a flashgun, the SB-800 is still the better option as it’s smaller and costs less at £230. You get a lot more for your money with the SB-900, but sadly most photographers simply don’t need the extra features it provides.

Specification

Guide number at ISO 100 (m/ft) 34/111.5
Weight/size (WxHxD) 415g/78x146x119mm
Power source 4x AA batteries
Available fittings Nikon
Supplied accessories Speedlight Stand AS-21, Nikon Diffusion Dome SW-13H, Colour Filter Set SJ-900, Colour Filter Holder SZ-2, Soft Case SS-900