Any strobe is especially susceptible to heat damage when subjected by those who jack the Nikon SB-800 with five Kodak's and an accelerated flash battery.
The NiMH can produce extreme heat, up to 130 degrees when over accelerated in fast responses. Using an external 330 volt capacitor to four or five AA cells on the Nikon SB-800 and you will have hot NiMH enough to burn hands and carpet when you drop them and in some cases melt nylon carpet. Several cases of Mexican Hat dance with hot NiMH have been reported to me requiring the wasting of Good Corona beer to put the fire out. I prefer drinking it with lime.
The BLACK BOX has no internal batteries. Thus the slight edge the unit has with no hot batteries internally, and the door off for cooling, is the better way to go. The urge to shoot rapidly, too rapidly and not give the strobe tube a chance to cool is still the worst offender. Like reading those credit card statements?
The cable which we do not supply is the cable from the power pack to the flash. That is furnished by your major camera store, like the ABC's of online. A= Adorama B= B&H in NYC and C= Calumet. All three drop ship to me if you wish for a critical upgrade.
SB-600 SB-800: MOST STANDUP NIKON FLASHES
Most Nikon strobes from the SB-24 to the SB-800 use the most popular cable the MKZ3 which also fits METZ 54-58 comparable series.
The SB-s are very easy to use with the Q cable MKZ3. Especially the very popular Nikon SB-800.
The oddball is the 600 series which requires two cables from Quantum.
BUT WAIT ! We'll save you money, order today and you only need one cable from Quantum The XK6 and I'll gladly DIN the cable and add five feet to it, solder the two together into one cable without you ordering the extension and wire it correctly for the Black Box. Quantum Changed the wiring code and made the positive color the black and the negative color the yellow. Let us do it we do a good job. Also we have had problems with the orientation. People can't figure how it works. SO HERE IS THE PHOTO of the correct positioning if I maintain the integrity of what Quantum had in mind when they reversed the rules of logic and made BLACK the positive.
SPADES A SPADE: By the way, it's not a reduced version of the 800 as some buyers will testify. It's a nicely done less expensive CHINESE off shore price-point option well made for the following: amateur entry level buyer; those delving into multiple flash options; intelligent folks who carry a backup; frugalists.
I recommend the SB-800 for the advanced amateur / prosumer as the 100 dollar difference isn't that tough a mountain to climb. You'll get it back when you sell it. But the 600 is a well made lower cost alternative and in a pinch is the perfect backup. The 600 does not have any of the manual connections for synch if needed, thus you'll use the internal wireless for connectivity either a model with transmit or an SB-800 to send the signal.
For the Nikon SB-800 remove the door and place the MKZ3 module in place lock the retaining screw, connect to the battery pack and get to work. That's all folks. Takes eight seconds. On the SB-600 place the modules as the picture show and use the supplied clip as needed. The Canon strobes (580EX) are virtually identical. Total time about ten seconds.
SB-900 NIKON FLASH (LONG VERSION)
Note: Excerpts from a white paper Al wrote on this subject.
There are three issues here. The changes to the Nikon, compatibility with the Turbo 2+2, and Solutions. If you believe gossip, rumor and street BS read no further. You already got a fill.
I already received numerous emails wanting to know if I have a cable for the new SB-900. It is in testing and being developed. The very expensive SB-900 is a different generation from previous versions and has some inteesting changes. Here is what we know so far. It's running on a Black Box so far and we are working on the cable.
Let "Cool FLASH Heads" prevail.
The point I see looming at me every day is risk, these SB-900’s are not cheap. I have been designing my own cables for years and this is just another hill to climb. They did their best to bullet-proof it against anything other than Nikon accessories working with it.
NOTE: I have been working with a manufacturer on a new type of cord for the flashes plus a specific use pack. I want to make an advanced cable myself under my name and product umbrella using hi-tech XXXX - CCCC covered XXXXX and modular ends for Nikon and Canon only. (It will offer extreme low resistance, unbreakable and guaranteed). This takes time, but will make me totally independent. The last guy who rushed to make the super pack with milli-second speed blew half the new Canon 580's off the planet and we think he blew his company up too. All that's left is an old website. I won't succumb to that pressure. I don't want to hire his lawyers.
ISSUES:
It has an overheat module which is already making the forum rounds with the usual negative fervor with good reason! Consistent fast shooting, normal at weddings, will trigger the overheat shut-off. YES it has a shut-off! It will and has shut down at events and Weddings.
Present upgrades address other problems. I guess when the light shuts itself off in the middle of a shoot because it had a heat flash, you are glad it saved your gear. So is Nikon, no warrantee claim. The Bride will understand. Her Wedding wasn't that important. That's a deal buster for me in wedding and PJ work. Hate to say it BUT this is really not sitting well with shooters.
HERE ARE SOME SOLUTIONS:
The nine hundred dollar solution: One fellow bought two so they can cool down between shots. When one gets hot they switch to the other and run a small fan to cool down the hot one and then do it over again.
Another fellow with insight writes:"I had the insight not to upgrade and stole a few extra SB-800's so I don't have the problem".
The I don't care solution:You can disconnect the shut-off and just run it till it blows, that's a no-win situation. Most believe the parameters are too low.
Back to the future:Another advises going back to ALKALAI batteries as they do not get so hot as to trigger the overheat device. (This is not bad thinking if it works).
Quantum: They had to back off their voltage and amperage so the Turbo 2+2 won't shut down, it grabs so much voltage it actually kills the pack. Now that's a reversal!
RUMORS:
There are rumors of a forthcoming software upgrade in the works or completed to assist with this problem. Not true, the upgrade that had arrived, the 5.02 has nothing to do with the overheat problem.
TECHNICAL PROBLEMS
* The battery compartment may look similar to the 800 but the dimensions are different. Do not try to force an MKZ3 into it.
* The battery compartments are not open as before, they are narrower, higher sectors with different measurements.
* The front AC port has been changed slightly but does not nullify the CK CE-CKE series of cords from the Q folks.
* They have changed the removable battery door ( Damn, I loved that) and latch and that makes it more difficult to modify. It now copies the door design of the 600. This was done intentionally to seal better and seal out anything else.
* Other changes to the battery compartment were apparent and not so apparent. The two contacts are located at the top and at the bottom of the battery well. They both take a AA cells. The top one being the negative, the bottom being the positive or hot. If you look carefully you will note the anti- polarity CAP in the positive. This is spring loaded as found on some of the Canons. It prevents the wrong insertion of an AA batteries polarity and prevents some modules from working.
* Another plan they used to prevent anyone from using anything BUT their cheap AA battery pack was to raise the walls of the four compartments so there is no room to place the top cross structure like on the MKZ3 without binding the door.
NOTE: First let me say I do not wish to do any harm to your strobe. We will solve it for the Black Box Battery owners and hopefully in reasonable time with a viable solution for the Black Boxes and Tuxedos.
GOOD NEWS
I have a prototype that works. I know many of you are impatient. Now I will tell you ahead of time, these are my goals.
* Black Box or Tuxedo, compatible.
* It has to be as small as possible, low profile and few components with a tight fit in the battery compartment.
* No premature ejectulation.
* I do not wish to blow up any strobes with accelerated units so the AC port is out.
* My unit will not use AA cells in the pack or in the flash to run the thing. That cuts the heat in half.
* It has to be priced economically. Yet inexpensive to make but of great quality.
* We are testing it now. I think am working with the best cable maker in North America. I will probably have answers soon.
* Like some of the Canon models the door will be slightly ajar. Not a big deal. Better cooling. The door will close to about 90 %.
NOTE: Now if my solution doesn't work the simple answer is sell the 900's to the equipment nerds and get two METZ 58's which are wonderful strobes and do the damn job just as good and better with less headaches.