New SB-900 Has All the Angles
UPDATE: SB-900 full review now posted.Nikon has just announced a new flash: The Nikon SB-900 speedlight. From what I can see, it is quite a departure from the Nikon SB-800, and the feature list is as long as the price tag is big. Much more, after the jump.
Highlights:
• Rotates 180 degrees right or left. Sweet.
• Flash tube overheat protection, great for hi-power battery users
•
• Faster recycling - 4 secs w/Alkaline, 2.3 secs w/NiMH batts
• Tighter beam spread - up to 200mm throw
• Beam shaping - custom light patterns within the beam
• Faster CLS adjustments - physical dials.
• Upgradable firmware - sweet.
• One-second recycle w/new SD-9 Battery pack.
• Flash duration times: 1/880 (@full power) to 1/38,500 (@ 1/128 power)
• Has SU-4 setting, which presumably still means a great manual slave.
• It's a real honker. Ryan Brenizer has an animated .gif swapping out with the SB-800 here.
and...
It's five hundred smackers.
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I will probably get one, but I will definitely still be based on SB-800's for a while. In fact, this may well drive down the price of SB-800s. Not so much at retail -- Nikon has their price points distributed pretty well for the '600, '800 and '900. But there will be a lot of people who will unload '800's into the market when they get their new '900. (I mean, who needs more than one flash, right?)
And yes, this is probably the only photo site that cares more about the new strobe than the new D-700. If anyone gets hands-on time, please report in via the comments. Thanks!
More info at Nikon site.
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Full Press Release Text
NEW NIKON SB-900 SPEEDLIGHT ADVANCES FLASH TECHNOLOGY AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT WITH EXPANSIVE ZOOM AND INTELLIGENT FEATURES
Nikon’s Newest Flagship Speedlight Offers a Powerful Addition to the Versatile Nikon Creative Lighting System (CLS)
MELVILLE, N.Y. (July 1, 2008) – Nikon, Inc. today introduced the SB-900 Speedlight to provide Nikon digital SLR photographers with a flash capable of a wide zoom range, increased versatility, faster recycling time, and a wealth of intelligent features to enhance the already vast functionality of the Nikon Creative Lighting System (CLS). Building on the success of the popular SB-800 Speedlight, the SB-900 provides users with extensive creative lighting possibilities with a simplified interface and the ability to stay up to date with future technologies through user-applied firmware updates.*
The SB-900 offers unprecedented zoom range coverage from 17 to 200mm, to increase flexibility in a variety of shooting conditions, while automatically adapting itself to Nikon’s FX or DX-format cameras. Additionally, light output has been increased to a maximum guide number of 48/157.5 (ISO 200, meters/feet at 35mm FX-format and Standard). Photographers can now also select from three light patterns; “Center-weighted” provides the highest guide number and is suitable for images such as portraits, where light falloff at the image edges is of less importance. “Standard” provides a familiar pattern, similar to the SB-800, and is ideal for general photography and “Even” which delivers the most consistent edge-to-edge coverage, making it ideal for situations such as group photography. Additionally, Nikon’s newest flagship Speedlight provides photographers with advanced wireless i-TTL capabilities allowing the utilization of multiple Speedlights with ease and confidence on location or in the studio.
“Nikon is proud that its innovative leadership in flash technologies has been praised by photographers who have realized the versatility and power that the Nikon Creative Lighting System contributes to their photography,” said Edward Fasano, general manager for marketing, SLR System Products at Nikon, Inc. “The SB-900 Speedlight now provides photographers with a new level of portable lighting functionality, with performance and intelligent features that adapt to an even wider scope of lighting challenges.”
The SB-900 Speedlight is engineered to address the creative lighting challenges faced by today’s photographers including a need for fast, on-demand performance, and the ability to adapt seamlessly to nearly any lighting scenario. The SB-900’s innovative design has the Xenon flash tube and reflector system moving independently – allowing for a wider zoom range from an extreme wide angle of 17mm (FX) to the telephoto setting which reaches 200mm without the aid of accessories or as wide as 12mm in DX mode with the built-in wide-angle panel engaged.
The SB-900 offers a quick recycle time of 4.0 seconds (at full power) with four Alkaline AA batteries which drops to a mere 2.3 seconds (at full power) while using four rechargeable NiMH batteries—about 25 percent faster than the SB-800 with its fifth battery attachment.
While ease of use has always been a defining hallmark of the Nikon CLS System, the user interface has been even further refined to simplify control and offer faster operation. Controls for setting the wireless Master and Remote have been relocated to the outside of the unit for easier access and frequently used functions are easily adjusted with a new Rotary Select Dial. A larger LCD screen is easy to read, even in direct sunlight, and photographers can assign “My Menu” hotkeys for quicker access to commonly used functions. A new thermal cut-out protection system monitors conditions when the flash might overheat due to excessive rapid bursts. Helpful operating temperature information is provided to the photographer with an innovative temperature gauge displayed on the LCD screen.
For the first time, Nikon SB-900 Speedlight users will have the ability to take advantage of future performance advancements, by way of user-uploadable firmware. The user will be able to download the firmware onto a flash media card and upload it to the flash through select digital SLR cameras.*
The SB-900 Speedlight is Nikon’s most intelligent Speedlight ever, created in response to the needs of today’s digital photographic professionals. When using the included fluorescent or incandescent filters and adaptor, the flash automatically recognizes what filter is being used and automatically adjusts white balance accordingly on the latest Nikon D-SLRs.* Additionally, the SB-900 aids auto focus with a broader AF assist beam that covers a wide 20-105mm that is matched to all of the D3, D700 and D300’s 51 focus points. The bounce and swivel capability of the SB-900 has been expanded to include: tilt up to 90 degrees, down minus 11 degrees, and a full 180-degree swivel left or right, allowing more creativity for on or off camera use, or as a remote Speedlight.
The SB-900 serves as the new core for the Nikon Creative Lighting System when used in combination with Nikon SLRs, and supports Advanced Wireless Lighting as a master or a remote Speedlight, inviting photographers to discover endless creative possibilities. While using one or more Nikon Speedlights wirelessly, photographers can artistically use shadows, highlight details, and light complicated angles with ease. Along with the SB-900, the Nikon Creative Lighting System features a comprehensive assortment of personal lighting tools that include the agile SB-600 and SB-400, and the remarkable R1 and R1C1 Wireless Close-up Speedlight systems.
Available accessories
The SD9 Battery Pack boosts flash recycle time to a mere one second (at full power). For faster recycling or all-day shooting it accepts up to eight AA batteries. To enhance the weatherproof ability of Nikon D-SLRs, optional Water Guards will be available for select cameras to protect the connection between the flash and camera, allowing users to utilize the flash when weather conditions are less than ideal.
Price and availability
The new Nikon SB-900 Speedlight is scheduled to be available in August 2008, and will have an estimated selling price of $499.95.** The SB-900 will come packaged with the Speedlight Stand, Bounce Adapter, Color Filter Holder, Intelligent Color Filter Kit, Diffuser Dome and the Soft Case. The SD9 Battery Pack is also scheduled to be available in August 2008 with an estimated selling price of $230.00.
About Nikon
Nikon, At the Heart of the Image™. Nikon Inc. is the world leader in digital imaging, precision optics and photo imaging technology and is globally recognized for setting new standards in product design and performance for its award-winning consumer and professional photographic equipment. Nikon Inc. distributes consumer and professional digital SLR cameras, NIKKOR optics, Speedlights and system accessories; Nikon COOLPIX® compact digital cameras; COOLSCAN® digital film scanners; 35mm film SLR cameras; Nikon software products and Nikon sports and recreational optics. Nikon D Series digital SLR cameras are recognized as “Highest in Customer Satisfaction with digital SLR cameras,” according to the latest J.D. Power and Associates 2007 digital Camera Satisfaction Study. Nikon Corporation, the parent company of Nikon Inc., recently celebrated its 90th anniversary and announced the production of over 40 million NIKKOR SLR interchangeable lenses. For more information, dial (800) NIKON-UX or visit http://www.nikonusa.com, which links all levels of photographers to the Web's most comprehensive photo learning and sharing communities.
# # #
For J.D. Power and Associates award information go to jdpower.com
* With D3 and D700 Cameras only
** Estimated selling price listed is only an estimate. Actual prices are set by dealers and are subject to change at any time.
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by David, at 6:14 PM.
57 Comments:
Does it come with a new reset code?
I'm going to save my money by continuing to overclock my SB-800.
Does that mean you're going to give me your old, unused SB-800s?
No?
Damn!
a 200mm beam spread is the update? the only good news about it that the 800s price will drop.. and we can all continue to snoot..
more power i hope too!
Naturally, as soon as I give up waiting and get the 800 they finally announce the next week. Le sigh.
I was hoping it had a radio trigger built in.
Nikon UK - official release
http://www.europe-nikon.com/product/en_GB/products/broad/1632/overview.html
Nikon UK - Official release
http://www.europe-nikon.com/product/en_GB/products/broad/1632/overview.html
if it swivels all the way, I'm buying.
The UK site is too slow to get info at the moment, but the French Nikon site seems to indicate a new feature re ambient light measurement and white balance adjustments. Sounds interesting!
"All the angles" had me thinking the head would swivel 360 degrees. That would be a nice upgrade.
what it has is a 3 setting light beam in addition to zoom.
I wonder if it has SU-4 mode? Nikon has dropped it before between the SB26 and the SB28DX.
Is It really $200 better than SB-800?
- hope not, since I've got 2 weeks new SB-800 in my bag:)
Seems like it no longer have SU-4 mode built in. DPreview have a SU-4 controller listed as an optional accessory.
More power? Look twice - the SB-800 has more power.
SB-800 GN 38/ISO100/35mm,
SB-800 GN 34/ISO100/35mm,
SB-800 GN 48/ISO200/35mm.
Does is come in Pink? Can it baby sitt my kids?
Yay, I love the physical on/off/remote/master dial. It takes forever to switch to slave on SB800.
Does it have SU-4 mode? Didn't notice that anywhere. It is a for me.
does it have off-center AF TTL metering?
This may just make me cross over to the dark side!
After have a few moments witht the D3 and 400 2.8 lens. My Canon my look good up on ebay
Can someone make an informed guess as to when we might see built in wide range iTTL radio trigger in Nikon cameras as well as flashes?
It's interesting, isn't it, that just as soon as a new product is released, a whole raft of photogs rush out to buy it - as if their current gear suddenly isn't up to the job.
Sure, in some cases there is good argument for this, but remember what we're dealing with here - light. Plain and simple. And light hasn't changed for millennia! Learn how to harness it, think laterally, and you find that technology will only take you so far. Call me traditional, but there you go.
Certainly, my take on the SB-900 release is as follows: I'm going to wait a couple more months for the SB-800 to come down in price (and you know it will!) and then buy another 2, which is what I was planning to do anyway. That'll take my location strobe kit up to 6 units (currently 2x SB-800, 1x Vivitar 285, 1x Metz 45-CL4).
This is the same approach that David and others quite rightly advised in the past with regard to some of the older (SB-26, SB-28, SB-80DX etc) models - so long as you are taking control of the light, do you really need all the bells and whistles? I'm guessing not, and I feel so sorry for all those people who get caught up in the hype of a new release and who are all too quick to part with their hard-earned cash - all for the sake of very little advantage.
By far one of the greatest features of the SB-800 is the SU-4 hack (I gather Nikon have quite wisely integrated this feature in the new model). This works extremely well for all manner of work I do, and combined with the use of Pocket Wizards, I feel no desire to jump on the band wagon and... dare I say it... 'upgrade'. I just don't see the advantage for me personally.
Currently in the UK you can get SB-800s for around £175 per unit - that's about half what they were even a year ago.
So unless you reeeeeally feel that you need those extra bells and whistles that the SB-900 offers, my advice would be to cash in on other people's knee-jerk reactions.
according to nikonusa.com sb900 has less power than sb 800 (gn 34 vs. 38 at iso 100)
The good news is it does balance ambient light really, really easily. It makes the process almost as easy as using CLS. All you do is stick an appropriate gel over the flash head and it does all the rest. Woo-hoo.
Downside is, you have to use Nikon gels. It susses out which gel is which through bar codes printed on the gels. And the replacement gels cost £15 a pack in the UK. Of course, that's possibly what Sharpies are for.
Still, the 200mm zoom feature does work. In the launch, the Nikon bloke managed to direct-light a model standing on the stage of a 200 seat cinema, while he stood at the back with a 70-200. Cool!
Time to go find some cheapo SB-800's!
Is there a battery gauge yet? I'm not sure if that is it on the right side of the LCD.
I sincerely doubt the SB800 price is going south any time soon. You have SB600 at $180, SB800 at a tad over $300 and now SB900 at $500 - all nicely spaced out and that is where they will remain. Bodies go down in price not glass and strobes (at least not strobes that are still in production).
"all the angles"
Please tell me that the head can be rotated 360 degrees! I don't need more power, but a faster way to position the strobe head to bounce of off walls etc.
@ pixyst
All I know is that I paid about £300 for an SB-800 not 6 months ago and they are now averaging £175-200.
Joe McNally has a few and has reviewed them on his blog (go figure)
http://www.joemcnally.com/blog/
SB900. Chuck Norris has a new flashlight.
I think the analog on/off/master/slave dial is worth the price of admission.
This will mean that I can get 800's cheaper...dang...as if the D3 wasn't enough fodder to entice me to switch back to Nikon! Grrr...
"I'm going to wait a couple more months for the SB-800 to come down in price (and you know it will!) and then buy another 2, which is what I was planning to do anyway."
Here, Here. Now finally, I hope, the SB 24-28Dx will come back to earthly, 20 year old flash prices($68 again). Or even better, the ebay sector gets flooded with SB600s & 800s forcing those prices down even lower. Wishfull thinking, of course, but not out of the question. So when all you photogs are ready to sell those useless, behind the times, crappy (smirk) SB 24 - 800s at a truly used price, I'm your man.
FYI Dave,
Joe McNally has a brief report on how to break, I mean use the new SB900 on his blog.
http://www.joemcnally.com/blog/2008/07/01/just-when-we-figured-out-the-800/
500 dollars... holy crap. you can buy DSLR camera bodies new for less.
$500... $500... $500...
Holy... crap. It looks like a flash made of 100% win, but about $400 more than I could comfortably pay for a light-bulb (especially when I have to use multiple).
Once I'm done buying them, I'd almost have paid more than my entire setup (D80 + 18-200 VR).
The PDF brochure says:
40/56(ISO 100/200, m) (131.2/183.7, ft.) (At the 35mm zoom-head
position in Nikon FX-format at Normal light distribution, 20°C/68°F.)
The GN (in metres) is 38 for the SB-800 at ISO 100, 35 mm zoom head position, so it looks like the SB-900 is (a tiny bit) more powerful. Not really sure why FX vs DX would make a guide number difference so it's interesting that the specs specify FX format for the SB-900.
David,
Any word yet if these will work with the Radio Poppers?
Thanks
Monty
Well for $360 you can buy an AlienBees B1600. I'll take studio lights w/ power packs any day if we're in this price range anyway.
DX = 1.5 FX FOV, ergo 35mm FX setting = 52.5mm DX setting, GN decreasing proportionally
SWEET, barcode read AWB! Can the gel be fitted with the gel holder with the diffuser on top?
Also, will Strobist check out the Sony HVL-F58AM?
Because the SB-900 counts in the cropfactor, what the 800 doesn't. Therefore it zooms to 105 instead of 70 when you have a DX body with a 70mm lens.
So many features, and still no general attachment support for snoots, filters, etc?
I expect the same from Canon in due time.
sigh,
I think I now understand why format matters: it knows if it's on a DX or FX body so 35 mm zoom position on FX is a wider beam spread than on a DX body.
For $500 I believe I'll pass. Or shell out a bit more and pick up a studio strobe and a battery pack. That'd give me a significant performance increase from the SB800. I don't think the SB900 will.
Off/On/Remote/Master
It's about freakin time!!!!!!
That switch alone is worth the price of admission. What took Nikon so long to figure that one out?
I'll stick with my $89 Vivitar 285hv...
The remote/master physical switch is almost worth the price difference, but I think I will hold off spending $500 on a flash.
Maybe I can afford one of those once I get my Voice Activated Lightstand to work:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/charles_allen/2646287030/
David,
You've probably seen this one, but here's a heads up:
http://www.jmg-galleries.com/blog/2008/07/07/how-every-flickr-photo-ended-up-on-sale-this-weekend/
I've never quite trusted flickr, and now I'm even more suspicious
Dave Prelosky
I dont think the the switch is worth that much, you could by 2 SB800's and set one to master and one to slave for only $100 more and you get more versitilty.
FX / DX Hmmm I've been using an old SB-28 and ya know what, there's this SET button you can tap it - go to the zoom and urrr - ZOOM. Seriously thinking for yourself can save some serious $$. The factr is about 1.5x so if you've got a 50mm Zoom 70. 28? Zoom 50... not that hard.
I do need more strobes with more power for location work but If I'm shelling out real money I want a real POWER POP, like a Metz or a mono head with a portable pack and real accessories, grids, etc.
The real power of the SB-900 is to stimulate that gadget side of the photog cerebellum and gently numb the frugal lobe at the same time. ;-)
Right after i invest in 4 SB800s a new SB900.
Well i will take the plunge and buy one for my main on camera flash and buy the new D700 as well.
Should be a great combo.
Go Nikon...!!
I hope it has more power for outdoor bright day shooting.
it's worth "price of admission" for the remote/master switch? I believe that it would be nice, but I'll just keep switching it on the sb800, doesn't take more than 5 seconds!
Users are complaining that it makes so much noise when zooming in/out the flash head. Guess I'll still keep my SB-800's.
By the way, I've written a scientific paper about Flash photography Vs Available light... not to be taken seriously, really. You can read it here
http://light-painting-stories.blogspot.com/2008/08/flash-photography-vs-available-light.html
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