Flashgun for D80/D90

<p>Hi, guys. Thinking about getting a flash for my D80/D90. Naturally I am looking forward to buying in to the Nikon CLS system so my question is this...do I stick with the "obvious" choice, i.e. the SB900, or can I consider something like the Metz 58 which is cheaper and more powerful? Would buying a third party flash mean that I lose out on the features, functionality, wireless communication etc of the CLS system? And is the extra power of the Metz really necessary?</p>

<p>Do you really need the extra power (regularly)? Since you seemed to have worked with pop-up only so far (if I read correctly), the obvious choice is the SB600, with which you are sure all features of the Nikon flash system will work, and which delivers enough power for most circumstances.</p>

<p>SB600 is really quite good or a used SB800 if you can find one. Too bad Nikon discontinued the SB800. Now many sell used for the new price. If you buy third party let us know how you make out.</p>

<p>you might not need the sb-900 to really enjoy the world of nikon's CLS. the sb-600 will suit your needs fine. for the price of the sb-900 you can get the sb-600 (around $200) and a very good long zomm. if you get the latter at a good price you might even have extra to spare for the 35mm f/1.8 (if you don't have other lenses, yet).</p>

<p>Between the Metz 58 and the Nikon SB900, I would choose the SB900. One reviewer @ B&H claimed the Metz didn't work with the off shoe cord. That seems funny to me but then again anything is possible and I would rather have the peace of mind that the flash will simply work the way I think it should work in a variety of situations. The SB800 is also a good unit (though I do prefer the 900) but it is hard to find a reasonably priced SB800. The SB800 is the flagship model for film camera which elevates the used price. The SB600 is an OK flash. For me, I prefer to bounce flash so the more power the better. And the SB800/900 can use an external battery pack for fast (near instant) recycle times or for all day shooting. I much prefer the dial/menu system of the SB900 over both the SB600 & SB800.</p>

<p>Between the Metz 58 and the Nikon SB900, I would choose the SB900. One reviewer @ B&H claimed the Metz didn't work with the off shoe cord. That seems funny to me but then again anything is possible and I would rather have the peace of mind that the flash will simply work the way I think it should work in a variety of situations. The SB800 is also a good unit (though I do prefer the 900) but it is hard to find a reasonably priced SB800. The SB800 is the flagship model for film camera which elevates the used price. The SB600 is an OK flash. For me, I prefer to bounce flash so the more power the better. And the SB800/900 can use an external battery pack for fast (near instant) recycle times or for all day shooting. I much prefer the dial/menu system of the SB900 over both the SB600 & SB800.</p>

<p>Download the manuals for both the SB-900 and the 58AF-1, and you'll find that the power is only a couple of percent different. Their power is the same, by any reasonable standards, when the flashes are used on full frame or film cameras. But you've got a D80 and D90. The Nikon has a feature where it zooms to the "effective" focal length of a lens. Metz at 50mm has a GN=42m. Nikon with a 50mm uses the 70mm GN=44m setting instead of the 50mm GN=40mm setting. So, while the difference is still too small to make any noticeable difference in actual photography, it does come out in Nikon's favor.</p>

<p>That aside, on to the real differences.</p>

<ul>

<li>The Nikon recycles faster with NiMH batteries in the flash, 4 seconds vs 5.</li>

<li>The Nikon recycles over twice as fast as the Metz when you use them with external battery packs (1.1 seconds for SB-800 with SD-9 battery pack, 2.5 seconds for 58AF-1 with P76 battery pack).</li>

<li>Testing side by side, the Nikon appears to have better UV filtering on its tube, there's less "popping" white fabrics into light blue.</li>

<li>The Metz has a higher color temperature than the Nikon (5600K vs 5400K) that I've found doesn't blend as well with daylight. (that might be explained by the filtering issue). </li>

<li>And compare the two manuals. The Nikon has 142 pages of decent English (and I'm sure the other language versions are pretty good, too). The Metz manual is 184 pages for six languages (about 30 pages each) and it's near incomprehensible, with weird "flow charts" for the menus.</li>

<li>For high-speed photography, Nikon is much more useful. At the same power settings, the the Metz has about twice the flash duration of the Nikon (or if you pick a power setting to get a particular flash duration, you get half the power from a Metz).</li>

</ul>

<p>Aside from performance, there's the little issue of actually being able to use the flashes. there's one thing that hasn't changed in decades...</p>

<p>Nikon is "the" ergonomics company. From cameras to flashes, their gear pretty much outhandles anything else on the market. A while back, I did a pretty detailed comparison of 58AF-1 vs. the SB-800. (The SB-900 has improved upon the excellent SB-800, it has more dedicated controls and bigger readouts. Whatever you can do on an 800, you can do on a 900 in even less button presses).</p>

<p>The Nikon displays as much useful information as possible, and it is always ready to let you change the most frequently adjusted settings. If you're in manual mode, you've got buttons for zoom (left and right on the 4 way pad) and power (up and down on the 4-way). In any auto mode (TTL BL, GN, AA) the up and down arrows are flash exposure compensation.</p>

<p>The Metz just sits there displaying the "mode", "para", "sel", [zap] icons and some parameter settings. They always take up 1/3 of the display to let you know what the four "soft" keys are doing at any given time. That's just one of the many weaknesses of a highly modal interface.</p>

<ul>

<li>Flash power in manual? para, para, para, up or down, return</li>

<li>Exposure compensation in TTL, same thing: para, para, para, up or down, return</li>

</ul>

<p>Sometimes you need to change more things. On a Nikon, that's one more button press. If you're using old MF lenses, or the flash is wireless off the camera, press the "sel" hard key in the center of the pad, and up and down now become the aperture adjuster for the distance display.</p>

<p>In a complex mode like repeating flash mode, "sel" toggles you between power, rate, number of flashes, and aperture (again, if you're off flash and it can't get aperture from the camera).</p>

<ul>

<li>Set a Nikon as a CLS remote, and the "up" and "down" keys toggle the channel. Press "sel" and they toggle the group. </li>

<li>For CLS master, "up" and "down" default to local exposure compensation. Press "sel" to select compensation for group A, B, C, or to change the channel. </li>

</ul>

<p>On the Metz, that's all "sel" for one group of menus, "para" for another, <strong>and a return key that often moves from one end of the row of soft keys to the other end, depending on what menu you're in.</strong> That's just plain poor design.</p>

<p>Oh, the Nikon has menus, but they're considerably more organized, and only needed for less frequently used functions.<br>

wizfaq</p>

<p>Thank you, gentlemen. Looks like the SB900 then. I'm ok for lenses. A special thanks to Joseph for your (comprehensive!) response. I really appreciate the time you took to assist. Happy shooting to you all...love from Downunder, Mark</p>