SB900 replacement

Harvey_nikon

Harvey_nikon

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Hi all,

15 odd years ago when I started I purchased a couple of SB900 flashes, never had any issues with them so far, but my D700 took a tumble a couple of years ago and one of them flashes was attached.

The hotshoe is slightly bent and lose now, and now the wife is shooting with me, I've got through fine holding the flash in place slightly. Last wedding it decided to throw a fit so I'm in the market for a new one with the same functionality.

Obviously, it's not manufactured anymore and I'm not a fan of 2nd hand when it comes to work gear.

What are people using now?

I will be looking at getting some wireless triggers as well, as I don't use them off-camera a lot but would like to start.
 
Godox.
I would say the V860 III, for events/weddings it can be a bit more than needed and it's pretty heavy; but the SB900/910 is right there with it. The switch to lithium battery packs is a big plus IMO. Wireless receiver/transmitter(commander) built in.
 
I agree with Steven - go for the V860. The only thing the MKIII added was a pretty useless modelling light which doesn't point where the flash points unless its forwards so if you see cheap deals on MKII's they're also an option. The Nikon version of the V860 also understands the Nikon "Advanced Wireless Lighting" (AWL) optical flash control protocol so can be a drop-in replacement for your SB900 as long as your camera has a pop-up twinkle light to send the commands, and also supports AWL (your D7000 does this). However I would also buy the Godox X-Pro/N controller for using the flash off-camera - radio is much more reliable.
 
I agree, but Godox prices are now high and rising all the time, now that they have a monopoly position, and there are far cheaper alternatives. The (relatively) new kid on the block is Neewer, they have their own range and also re-brand other makes and sell them for a much lower price, which is why many of their products seem to be identical to better-known brands)

If you want a smaller, simpler and much cheaper option then there's this one at only £44 https://www.lencarta.com/neewer-tt560-speedlite-flash-for-dslr-cameras

Or spend £90 for something much more sophisticated, https://www.lencarta.com/neewer-nw620-speedlite-flash

Both also available from other sellers.

There are of course a load of other brands, available from the likes of Amazon and eBay, they may be perfectly OK but I don't know anything about most of those.
 
As SK66 if what you want is a solid speedlight with remote capabilities, the Godox system is the standard nowadays.
The Canon radio system is similar but expensive and the Nikon system is a joke*.

If money matters, you can probably save a bit going Yongnuo or Neewer, and if money is no object, Profoto.

In 2009 Pocketwizard managed to take Nikons CLS protocol, turn it into a working radio wireless system.
About 10 years later (after Godox and everyone else had jumped on the bandwagon), Nikon invented a dongle to attach to a new camera socket to enable their radio system to work. And were seemingly proud of the achievement
 
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Phil V said:
As SK66 if what you want is a solid speedlight with remote capabilities, the Godox system is the standard nowadays.
The Canon radio system is similar but expensive and the Nikon system is a joke.

If money matters, you can probably save a bit going Yongnuo or Neewer, and if money is no object, Profoto.
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Agreed. My point, badly expressed, is simply that there's no need to spend a lot of money if you don't need to.
 
still have the Sb 900 and now as well the Godox V860iii. expecting the godox trigger any minute for my Panasonic G9 camera
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Scooter said:
The only thing the MKIII added was a pretty useless modelling light which doesn't point where the flash points unless its forwards so if you see cheap deals on MKII's they're also an option.
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That modelling light seems pretty attractive to me with mirrorless (Z9) low light AF and green AF assist incompatibility issues... but I don't actually know how useful it is as I haven't used one.
 
sk66 said:
That modelling light seems pretty attractive to me with mirrorless (Z9) low light AF and green AF assist incompatibility issues... but I don't actually know how useful it is as I haven't used one.
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Its main problem is that it's mounted on the lower part of the light so it always points forwards, no matter where you aim the head. This is probably ok if you are using it off-camera and just want to tell if you're aiming it at your subject (I use the just-about-visible modelling light on the AD200 Fresnel head for this purpose)
 
Thanks for all the advice, ended up going for the V860III, a Godox X2T-N and a spare battery.

Hoping I can take the hotshoe off the SB900 and replace it after finding the service manual, just didn't fancy doing it 4 days before a wedding :D
 
sk66 said:
That modelling light seems pretty attractive to me with mirrorless (Z9) low light AF and green AF assist incompatibility issues... but I don't actually know how useful it is as I haven't used one.
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I've wondered the same but from what I've read it doesn't sound like it is that useful. I'd definitely be interested to hear if someone has found it useful for low light AF because I've been sticking to a D750 for flash use since it can instantly focus in low light whereas the Z8 can't.
Harvey_nikon said:
Thanks for all the advice, ended up going for the V860III, a Godox X2T-N and a spare battery.

Hoping I can take the hotshoe off the SB900 and replace it after finding the service manual, just didn't fancy doing it 4 days before a wedding :D
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I'm still on an SB900 so I'm curious to hear how you find the change to the new flash. The idea of a dedicated battery rather than juggling Eneloop AA's is definitely appealing.
 
JohnMcL7 said:
I've wondered the same but from what I've read it doesn't sound like it is that useful. I'd definitely be interested to hear if someone has found it useful for low light AF because I've been sticking to a D750 for flash use since it can instantly focus in low light whereas the Z8 can't.

I'm still on an SB900 so I'm curious to hear how you find the change to the new flash. The idea of a dedicated battery rather than juggling Eneloop AA's is definitely appealing.
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Honestly, we have 8 x Eneloop Pro's, the black ones and about 20 of the standard white ones. we'll shoot 2000 photos during the day, and I can't remember the last time we had to switch out the pros.

I did a wedding yesterday, and I had the V860 on the Z8, no off off-camera stuff just bouncing the light back, etc but had no issues with the single battery and the only issue I've had with it so far is the dial in the center doesn't seem that responsive. I needed to adjust the flash power quite a few times due to night do being in a teepee and it just didn't seem to want to play ball sometimes. It also seemed rather stuff when rotating the head, but that could just because it's new.

I am not sure if that's just mine or if they are all like that, I might have a go this week with it again, maybe have a go at off-camera lighting but it seems like a decent camera, especially as it's over 50% cheaper than the latest Nikon flash :D it doesn't feel as quality as the SB900, but, good enough.

I really need to sit down and go over all the options etc on it but overall, seems like a decent flash.
 
Harvey_nikon said:
Hoping I can take the hotshoe off the SB900 and replace it after finding the service manual, just didn't fancy doing it 4 days before a wedding :D
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Pretty easy to do from memory. Four wee screws, and the foot comes off, and then there a little connector that need unplugging and you're done.
 
Regarding a replacement to the SB900, I would like to here what the SB5000 is like. I previously had two SB910s, using them for both on camera and off camera jobs.

The off camera stuff became difficult because the connection to the pocket wizard unit got worse and worse, no matter what I tried. And for on camera I needed something like a fast recycle and good metering. Work then started to introduce the ProFoto A10 flash, which is great for recycle times, but it's TTL metering is absolutely awful. Have taken to shooting on manual power and adjusting in camera, which takes a lot of brain power.

We tend to use out speedlights for fast post-match celebrations so need both fast recycling times and good metering. Our off camera flashes have progressed to Godox AD 200/300s which are great,
 
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