Nikon SB-900 AF Speedlight Flash for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

I am a wedding photographer. We have 3 Nikon SB 80's and 3-SB 800 units used weekly for the past 4 years. We also have 3 Canon 580 units which have worked flawlessly.

This year, I switched back from Canon to Nikon, and when the SB 900 appeared, I purchased it for my new Nikon D300 and D200 cameras. The first unit was Dead on Arrival. The replacement unit works well and has wonderful program and update capabilities. It is easy to use.

My only concern is the unit overheats very quickly when shooting wedding groups and bouncing the light off ceilings ect... This requires the strobe to do larger power dumps than would the flash if pointing directly at the subject....
My SB 900 shut down in the middle of Group photos, and I quickly pulled out my trusty SB 800 and completed the job.

Outdoors, using fill flash, the SB-900 works well. It does not work well in large halls, darkened receptions etc.

I turned off the Over Temp Shutdown feature, but the unit still squeals at me with every shot after 6-8 shots have been taken. I find myself blowing into the top of the unit, trying to cool it... but, it needs cooling holes or a fan... with the constant overheating problem.

I thought my flash was over -sensitive, until reading other reviews here... Now, I know, sadly, it is just part of this finicky $[...] beast.

Jim Jones
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