NIkon D700 and SB900 overheating?

[blog2]

<p>Hi</p>

<p>I am currently a wedding photographe rin Cheshire - UK and am using a Nikon D300 with Sb800 flash. The equipment is 2 years old and so am planning on replacing it with a Nikon D700 and SB900.</p>

<p>I have heard that there are problems with this combination relating to a) overheating of the SB900 and b) the flash shoe coming loose on the camera.<br>

Has anyone experienced theese issues?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<p>Mike McCann<br>

[schroeder]

<p>Hi Mike,<br>

I'm using the D700 plus SB900 and all i can say is, the SB900 fits perfectly on the D700 body.<br />I can't say much about overheating, as so far, I never used my SB 900 fr more then 20 on 30 pics in one go.<br>

Hope this might help<br>

Andreas</p>

[mark_harrington1]

<p>I've have 2 SB900's the first I returned because it would overheat and shut down within 10-15 1/4 - 1/2 power shots. The second two do marginally better. I do not have this problem with my SB 800's. I've updated the SB900 Firmware which I'm told will do a better job managing the overheat protection, but I'm still noticing an occaisional shut down (although much better). You can turn the thermal protection off, which is what I'll do this weekend when I shoot my next wedding.<br>

Mark</p>

[c._f.]

<blockquote>

<p>You can turn the thermal protection off, which is what I'll do this weekend when I shoot my next wedding.</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>Can you report back on how SB900 works when thermal protection is off? I'm looking into it but this overheating reviews are keeping me from it. Well that and $500 price sticker.<br>

Thanks<br>

Adam</p>

 

[xavier farre]

<p>I never had any problem.</p>

[ken_i_h]

<p>I have never had overhear problem from that combo. Maybe firmware upgrade is needed?<br />Although not surprising, I can say that SB900 eats battery MUCH faster than SB600 (which I still own and use soemtimes together with SB900).</p>

[ilkka_nissila]

<p><em>it would overheat and shut down within 10-15 1/4 - 1/2 power shots.</em><br>

<em></em><br>

How long is the time within which you took those 10-15 shots? Are we talking about an hour, or 30 seconds?</p>

[wpahnelas]

<p>i shot a wedding last month using a SB-900 on a D700. i shot several hundred shots, at a steady pace, and did not have any problems whatsover for the entire 8.5 hours. i too have heard these stories, but my experience doesn't come close to matching them.</p>

[paul_b.1]

<p>I noticed this flaw in design of the SB900 , only in bright sunny days, when I use it as a fill flash (with my D3 at ASA 200). If you take a picture every 5 sec (aprox), the overheating will occure after 20-30 shots. As a wedding photographer , I was forced to carry with me a second flash (the SB800), and to use the SB800 outside and the SB900 inside... The reason I haven't renounced using my SB900 is that the picures taken with this unit , are better exposed... I'm hoping that Nikon will soon replace this defective product !</p>

[paul_b.1]

<p>There is also another major flaw of the Nikon flash system : in fill flash mode, the WB will jump automaticaly to "flash" and as a result , every picture taken outside (sunny day+fill flash) will have a yellowish cast . So, the only solution is to change manually the WB to "sunny" (if you remember and have enough time to do it)</p>

[mark_harrington1]

<p>The flash seems to shut down after taking say 20 pictures in 5 minutes or less, but keep in mind my 800's don't shut down or burn out. As a wedding photographer, you have no choice but to get the shot, there's no such thing as waiting for the equipment to cool down. I know the book on the 900's says you have to space out the shots over a period of time (vaiable depending on power, iso etc) but this flash is supposed to out perform earlier versions. I did upgrade the firmware as I stated and it does help. My suggestion is to stick with the 800's or something similar if you need lots of flash in a compressed period of time, or make the 900 behave (and take your chances with burnout) by turning off the thermal protection. Other than that issue, I love the flash and like the features it has over earlier versions. BTW, if I do burn out the flash, can you change the flash tube?</p>

[dwight200]

<p>I don't have a SB900, but I have heard that the batteries are a significant contributor to the overheating problem.</p>

<p>I was at a wedding last summer and a friend was the photographer. He had a new D700 and SB900. About 20 minutes into the reception his SB900 shut down. He was going to try to run bare for the rest of the reception. He was using alkaline batteries. I loaned him a set of Eneloops batteries and he was able to run the rest of the reception (~3 hours) without any overheating shutdowns. The Eneloops are supposed to have lower internal resistance so that they don't heat up as much as other batteries during use.</p>

<p>Unfortunately the SB800 is no longer in production, so it's not really a viable alternative.</p>

[elliot1]

<p>SB-900 + thermal protection off = unlimited shooting ability like any other flash.</p>

 

[photos by kiem]

<p>This happened to me as well, then when I bumped the ISO to 800, I was able to shoot longer.</p>

[clivefox]

<p>I use SB800's and have recently started using rechargeable batteries, up until that point I have never expereinced my flash shutting down and at an event recently shooting two cameras both flash's shut down. I found an article in a UK magazine where someone was also experiencing similar problems. The link seems to be the use of rechargeable batteries that only output 1.2 volts V a AAA that outputs the full 1.5V, this causes the flash to overheat. I have returned to AAA's and no problem</p>

[ilkka_nissila]

<p><em> The flash seems to shut down after taking say</em> <em>20 pictures in 5 minutes or less</em><br>

<em></em><br>

What is the ambient temperature when this has happened? Indoors or outdoors (was the flash in direct sunlight)? With what kind of batteries? I tried firing 20 flashes at 1/1 separated by only the recharge time, and nothing happened to the temperature indicator. I was at indoors in 20 C temperature and used Energize Lithium batteries in the flash. Now, is it a matter of different shooting conditions or manufacturing variabilities in the flash?</p>

<p><em>As a wedding photographer, you have no choice but to get the shot</em><br>

<em></em><br>

Hmm. How about a Quantum flash? They can withstand higher rates of shooting though they're more expensive.</p>

 

[dpbours]

<p>The SB900 is overheating quickly. You can turn off the overheat protection in the menu.</p>

<p>I did, because it would lock up after 50 shots in a hot and sweaty inside environment. Then again, it won't be good for the lifetime of your camera...</p>

[ronald_smith6]

<p>It's not the D700 that is the culprit, the SB-900 is the problem. In the quest for Nikon to give us a faster-recycling flash, more heat is now generated when you use NiMH cells. I have heard the use of an external battery pack will alleviate this annoying problem.</p>

<p>Thus, the SB-800 has become a much sought after flash, used ones are selling for more than they did brand-new. I am glad I have one, I'd still like to get a second one.</p>

<p> </p>

[picturesque]

<p>The Canon 580EX II also has a thermal switch, which is non user selectable, so be glad you have a choice. However, I would not merrily just turn the switch off and continue. There is a reason that manufacturers are putting this switch in place. With digital shooting, the number of shots taken at a wedding is rising and continues to do so. Flashes are just not equipped to take the abuse. I know, because I've blown several of my flashes several times. Unless you want to keep paying to repair blown flashes (which is a viable option), a reasonable thing to do is to turn the switch off for sessions where you know you just cannot afford to miss a shot, and then turn it back on when you are back to less intensive activities.</p>

<p>In addition to the above, Dwight is right, in my experience. I have a 580EX II, and experienced the shut down several times immediately after getting the flash. I got the flash because my 580EX blew up and was 'in the shop'. I asked on these forums, whether Eneloops are cooler running. There is some reason to think so, and since I've been using Eneloops, I have not experienced the shut down, but I also sometimes use an external battery pack and have the flash set to use only the pack when it is attached. Another thing that works is to turn the flash off and put in fresh, <strong>cool</strong> batteries when you have the shut down. Turn the flash back on and you are back in business. I did it once, it worked. Of course, the few seconds of doing this can still make you lose shots.</p>

<p>Getting the older, non thermal switch model is still a good option, but keep in mind that you still should make some effort to not abuse the flash, unless you want to keep paying for repairs. Or, you could consider the blown flashes a necessary ill.</p>

[oskar_ojala]

<p>A closed plastic casing like that on a nikon flash can only dissipate a couple of watts of heat, so there needs to be some sort of thermal limit on the flash. Now it can be assumed that Nikon was conservative with the limit and the flash can be pushed harderwithout breaking, but it's hard to tell without precise data.<br>

The batteries used will most certainly affect the heat, batteries do warm up at a rapid discharge.<br>

Maybe the black color isn't so good for the flashes? Heats up too much in the sun...<br>

And yes, I use the SB-800 and SB-600 due to size and price.</p>

[mark_harrington1]

<p>Ok, so I shot the wedding and had no problems. Here's what I've realized. I used Costco AA batteries inside the flash unit and a Quantum SC battery to power the flash. I typically used the flash on TTL, but this time shot manual 1/8 - 1/4 power and save for a few short bursts didn't have too much recycle time to worry about. I didn't use the Quantum battery this time because I wanted to eleminate that issue. So where does that leave me? I don't know, but its an update for you.</p>