Toronto Photography Meetup Group

Hi TMPG,

I recently brought a SB-900 to go with my D700 and I notice that my SB-900 overheats (warning sound emits) when I continuously shoot 4-5 pictures. I have to wait for a short while before I can continue to use the flash. Do you think the flash is defective?

Thanks.

Sounds like it. I don't have a Nikon, but I can fire my Canon speedlite 420ex endlessly and never once have had it over heat.

Could this issue be your batteries? I have the SB-900 and after a quick 4-5 shots I would have to wait a second or two before the flash is ready again.

I don't think the flash is defective I think it is working as designed.

Do a google on SB-900 and over heating, you will find the over heating problem discussed at dpreview and on POTN.

You have to wait a second or two due to the protection circuit. I think I read that this explained in the sb-900 manual.

Steve

Thanks steve... i googled a bit more as per your instructions and i did find that many users have the same beef...

so if i do take the warning off, does it increases the likelihood of blowing the bulb?

My 2nd camera the 5D with the 420EX like the earlier post, does not have this warning and i can continuously shoot and flash no problems...

The newer Canon 580EXII suffers the same overheating issue but not as bad as your SB900. I've read that all the weather sealing reduces the units ability to "breathe" and cool down faster.

I remember there was a discussion on disabling the protection but I did not read the entire article. If you ignore the warning, you still can't use the flash, right? What good is that?

I have used my 580 EX II like a strobe light and have never had a problem with it over heating.

I wouldn't worry about it too much it appears to be working as designed.

Steve


BTW how do you like your D700?

The 580EXII overheating issue was discussed on the Fredmiranda and Modelmayhem forums to name a couple. While I've never run into the overheating problem myself (knock on wood) there were a number of folks who reported the EXII overheating while the EX kept on working.

Check out the notice in the Canon flash manual, page 7 and 25. Canon recommends no more than 20 continuous flashes or 10 continuous stroboscopic flashes at full power before letting it cool down for 8-15mins.

Sorry to digress, my bad. Back to the Nikon SB900 issue...

You mean after only 4 or 5 shots, the flash claims it is overheating? I can pull off much more than 5 shots in a row at full power on the SB-900, as fast as it can recycle (which is about 2 seconds with a fresh set of Eneloops). Are you sure that warning beep you hear isn't the underexposure warning?

Not just the Canon manual...most on-camera flashes are just not designed to machine gun...people ignore (or don't bother reading) the manual, fry their flashes (literally), and then complain about it.

Personally I use Vivitar 285HV's for that type of abuse since they can take it, or fan cooled strobes if I can if I'm taking a LOT of pictures.

The D700 is quite good... although I still think about the D3x...

Well it seems like the Larger more powerful flashes 580EXii and the SB-900 do suffer from the same heat issue (protected by thermal sensor)... I guess I will just have to limit my shots than rapid fire.

But it is weird where its limited to only just a few shots when the owners of this flash paid premiums....

It should be more like 10-12 full power shots before overheating, 4-5 is way too low.

Just found this item dated May 12th, 2009.

The Bottom Line
In my testing, the v. 5.0.2 firmware update for the SB-900 did make a big difference in how many times the flash fires before it reaches the thermal cut-off point and shuts down.

http://www.pdngearguide.com/gearguide/c ... 5fa34?pn=2

Try it the fireware update, let us know if it makes a difference.

Steve

fireware = firmware

so i checked the firmware, and its 5.02.. and changed a new set of batteries... and it does fire more than 4/5 shots... cuz its running off cold...

thanks for all that has commented in this thread =)

HAPPY SHOOTING PPL!

and this is why i could probably still get purchase price for my 800s
soooo glad i got them before they disappeared off the shelves