I have used the SB-900 for several events. I was at a wedding on Dec 31st when it overheated for the first time since I started using it, during the introductions, and Cake Cutting. As luck would have it, I used the Videographer's light for the cake cutting. I usually shoot the reception at ISO 1600. The only reason I can see had a problem is, I used a telephoto lens and I had the flash on camera and shot very rapidly. I usually shoot the SB-900/800 off camera, however, the DJ didn't prompt me, and I wasn't set. Tough wedding, when the DJ just moves on without any cue.

I shoot primarily weddings and always bounce, usually at half or full power. I used to over heat my units all the time. Before the firmware upgrades, I drilled two little holes on the side of the unit, where the diffuser clips in, and then used a baby aspirator to blow air into the unit (if I had the option of dumping the batteries and leaving the door open, I would do that as well).

Just drilling the holes made a noticeable difference. With the aspirator, I could cool a unit to operational temps (pre-firmware) in a matter of minutes. With fresh or iced batteries I could keep shooting for 30 minutes or so.

My advice is to have a backup flash. If that isn't possible switch to normal alkaline batteries leading up to important events. The normal batteries don't have the ability to push so much current and therefor heat into the unit. I have only had one sb900 over heat while using normal alkalines. If you're like me, the cost of the extra batteries is too expensive to justify them so modify your shooting technique.

Shoot at higher ISOs. That lowers the power that your unit has to put out and thus lowers the amount of energy that it needs to take in. At receptions, when I know I'll be shooting a lot, I never shoot lower that 800 iso. Shoot at wider apertures. I can shoot on one set of my rechargeables almost all night at 800 iso and f/2.8 in a room with 10ft ceilings.

It's a great unit. That said, I always carry backup because it fails so often. I will say that it has some 50k fires, mostly near full power and is still going strong. Then again, so does the sb800 and it has never overheated on me.

Funny, I've never once experienced an overheat warning and I keep the thermal shutdown option ON. My Sb-900 is fairly new, but even after 400 or so fast succession shots in the span of about an hour, the unit barely heated up according to the temp gauge. The batteries were pretty hot, but the unit stayed fairly cool. Maybe they made a design change recently? Firmware is V5.02.

I'm really impressed with this unit, honestly. It's a great speedlight, really. Love Nikon's CLS and i-TTL.

Hi,

I took the coward's way out. I have several and during events I have a spare on my person to switch out during failure. It's the 'sure thing.'

My best,

Mike

Mine has only overheated once (burning smell) and I just swapped the batteries for ones in a baggie with an ice pack. Gave about 3 mins and continues shooting... My overheat is disabled. I also seldom shoot at full power but rather use it as fill flash (M not I-TTL)

My SB900 overheated for me repeatedly over this last weekend while the Celebrant was cutting the cake. Now it looks my SB900 have blown out, as I can no longer switch on my SB900. My SB900 is still less than 3 months, since I bought it. I have taken it back to the shop, i bought if from and they are going to send it to NIKON for repair. What can I do now, can I exchange it to a SB800 or ask them to give me another SB900 that has the same problems of over heating?. What can I do in future to avoid SB900 overheating?

Regards
OTIS

given that i have a 17-70, both the 35 and 50 1.8 are redundant in my opinion. In a situation where anything can happen and you need the shot, a wide prime that duplicates a focal length you already have risks too much.

I would have preferred the 85 1.8, indeed i now feel more strongly that i must buy that lens, but like i said, they didn't rent it out anymore, so i figured the 105 was the second best choice as i had no telephoto option(no way i'd carry my 55-22 into a wedding)

Well it is a macro lens and it does macro work great. It can just double as a portrait/telephoto lens, but it was still intended as a macro lens. It obviously isn't the best focal length for portraits either. A 50 mm lens might have been a better option and given you an extra stop or two for low light. I have the lens, and I don't think I would have chose it as my secondary lens. I would have used the 35 f1.8 I have before I used the 105...at least in the wedding case.

Glad it worked out for you though and if you learned something then it is all good. Also if you found out that you would never want to spend $800+ on the 105 macro then that is good as well.

thanks for the comments, the event was yesterday, and i can relate some interesting experiences.

I went to a camera store to rent a 85 1.8, but it turned out they no longer rented that out, they had an outdated table on their site.

So i decided to try out the 105 2.8 Micro instead, a little more expensive, but hopefully fun and effective

And it really was! Macro was great and i got some really great portrait shots. Though it was a little too tele for many uses (157mm effective).

But it got me in a bit of a conundrum: its tele nature plus its very wide and slow focus range meant that it was useless on my D60 (always hunted for focus), it only made sense on the D7000. But that meant my "main" lens (Sigma 17-70) would end up on the D60, which also has a partially defective shutter. In the end i accepted these limitations and it performed well, but i find it humorous that my broken D60 became my primary camera for the night.

In the end, the high number of 5 star, out-of-the-park shots the 105 gave me made up for everything. I often found it to be a very uncomfortable lens to use, but when the focal length matched what i wanted, it was gold.

I can't share much, privacy and all that, but check this out:

Its the ring shot, i was actually aiming for the action on the left, but the AF chose the right, probably since its closer, but it ends up being a decent shot nonetheless.

And this one rocked my world too:

SO in the end, i tried out a lens i potentially considered buying and decided it will never be worth it, but its a wonderful rental.

monty11 said:
I'm pretty sure that the wedding you are replying to was held quite along time ago, it was started a year ago :) It was hijacked by a similar question yesterday.

Thanks

ProImages said:
4. I wouldn't take the D70s above ISO 400, I wouldn't take the D200 above ISO 640.

5. Have a system to separate used CF cards from unused. I have a CF card wallet to keep the used ones safe.

I'm pretty sure that the wedding you are replying to was held quite along time ago, it was started a year ago :) It was hijacked by a similar question yesterday.

gelu88 said:
i was more looking for some tips or gear beyond the basics.

Your gear should not be that important
Just make sure you are completely familiar with it and have spare everything
Do look at the LCD from time to time and check the results for sharpness etc
DSLRs have a lot of buttons, check you have not swtiched somthing on or off
but the most important thing to remember, "Its the brides day"
Talk to her well in advance, and find out what photos are important to her

Since you're not in a church things will be much easier and the rules much less stringent.
Just a few suggestions.

1. Go to the rehearsal, you only need to be there for an hour or so. Observe the practice and ask about the rules for photography. Also ask the venue planner about the best places to shoot indoors and out. Get a game plan for the next day.

2. Sync the time on all cameras. Simply have all cameras set to the same time and date. This will place the photos in order in a program like Lightroom.

3. Shoot RAW.

4. I wouldn't take the D70s above ISO 400, I wouldn't take the D200 above ISO 640.

5. Have a system to separate used CF cards from unused. I have a CF card wallet to keep the used ones safe.

6. Take five times more batteries than you expect to use.

7. Have more CF cards than you expect to use. 16gb per camera is probably safe.

8. Dress comfortably, especially good shoes. I used to wear a suit & tie. It's just not practical. All black with a black dress shirt is what most male wedding photographers wear.

Yeah, i know that thread. Lens discussions can only go so far, i was more looking for some tips or gear beyond the basics.

i like the idea of slow shutter sync flash+ high ISO, ill give it a try, with the D7000 i'm comfortable going to 3200

As the tread Niko has recommended suggests the 17 - 70 should be fine

but needles to say, if its a small venue, something wider might be useful

one tip, when using flash, crank up the ISO and use a slowish shutter speed, this will help stop the background going too dark

Do some practice shots, to see how far you can increase the ISO

But beware, high ISO values can degrade faces in large group photo

http://nikonrumors.com/forum/topic.php?id=2198

Hijacking this old thread for a similar issue.

I've been asked to shoot part of a wedding (south asian weddings can be comprised of as many as half a dozen separate events), this is more like an engagement party except hundreds of people will come.

i've been the "unofficial official" photographer at relatives weddings a number of times before, so the basics are clear enough. Re-reading this thread has helped immensely.

I've got a Sigma 17-70 with my D7000 plus a 35 1.8 on my D60, plus a SB-600 and 55-200(ughh). What im wondering is, what is my next step?

what extra can i add to add something special? i'm considering renting a 85 1.8, its only $25 for the weekend, and i'll most likely be compensated for it.

Anything else come to mind?

Mine actually overheated and shut down after shooting my cousin's wife throwing the bouquet at the reception. I suppose given the circumstances (rapid firing at a dark venue) it'd be quite common to overheat it.

I spoke to the professional photographer and he said his overheated all the time so he just disabled it.

I was only shooting casually so I didn't have the backup flash with me, but it was quite frustrating when it stopped working and all you could do was sit and wait for it to cool.

Mike Gunter said:
Hi Casper,

When it overheats, it stops.

I normally have backups (I have 6 flashes total, so backups aren't a problem), but not this time.

It wasn't critical, nothing but fill flash for outdoor shoots. I just moved the subjects. I hated that I had to do that.

As for turning off warning and cutoff switches, it seems unwise. I don't know anyone who has run into trouble doing it, at least I don't know anyone who has admitted it.

My best,

Mike

thanks Mike.

casperwb said:
Mike.
what did it do, just stopped working until it cooled down?

how long before you could use it again?

Hi Casper,

When it overheats, it stops.

I normally have backups (I have 6 flashes total, so backups aren't a problem), but not this time.

It wasn't critical, nothing but fill flash for outdoor shoots. I just moved the subjects. I hated that I had to do that.

As for turning off warning and cutoff switches, it seems unwise. I don't know anyone who has run into trouble doing it, at least I don't know anyone who has admitted it.

My best,

Mike

Easiest solution I found:

SD-9.

Takes heat draw away from body of flash, and of course gives you better recycling time. . ..a bit overkill, but has worked without flaw for me thus far.

I turned off the warning. I use it all day at weddings. I'm not worried about melting it. If I didn't melt the SB-800, I won't melt the 900.

Mike Gunter said:
Hi,

The SB900 overheated for me repeated for me over the weekend. Fortunately, nothing was critical.

My best,

Mike

Mike.
what did it do, just stopped working until it cooled down?

how long before you could use it again?

Hi,

The SB900 overheated for me repeated for me over the weekend. Fortunately, nothing was critical.

My best,

Mike

Ive never had the issue with my sb900 but I seldom shoot it at full power... I heard that the sb800's overheated too. They just wouldn't warn you and kept/keep on shooting...