What's so special about Nikon's flash system?

I've read comments like "Nikon's flash walks all over Canon's" and "Nikon flash wins hands down". I wonder what's supposed to be Nikon's advantage here?

sounds more like a Nikon ad than a review from the quotes you posted...

Neil van Niekerk did a good comparison with the 580EX II and the SB-900:

http://neilvn.com …tl-flash-canon-and-nikon/

Good link where the bottom line is the system are different but non is really better
He does say that the wireless system Nikon provides is simpler to use - i did not find when it was written but oi think that since the 7D intro Canon made a lot of progress in adding wireless flash control to the camera body (and the 7d wireless control works nice for me - although i am not a "heavy user")

i think nikon flashes are a bit ahead of canon and are better... or were alot better... i think theyre still ahead.

nikon has had the wireless flash thing for a while and canon just introduced it with the 7d.

also after using both i noticed nikons ettl is more consistent than canon's. on hard lighting conditions the d700 and sb800 worked great and lit everything perfectly every time. my 5d2 with my 580ex2 would be overexposed and really dark everywhere else or completely underexposed all together.

i also really like how the sb900 and sb800 has the oem filter attachment with warming filters and such. this helps out a lot in places that use warm tungsten lighting... which seems to be a lot of places. i hate the orange background and bluish white foreground look

I tend to agree. Nikon seems to be more accurate in the Ettl area. I use both systems right now. They both work well, but I would give the edge to Nikon. Their ETTL accuracy is great and their wireless flash system is ahead of Canon. The ETTL range on their wireless flash is amazing. I watched Joe McNalley demo the range on the flashbus tour. He triggered the SB900 wirelessly from his popup flash at over 200 ft. Very impressive.

SU-4 mode (built in "dumb" optical slave mode). Getting an optical slave to work with a Canon EX isn't nearly as easy.

Also, both the top of the line and mid-range flashes (SB-700, SB-900) can be used as wireless masters and do the 360-degree swivel thing. 430EX II, last I checked, is still slave-only, and 270-degree swivel.

I think nikons system can do 2nd curtain wirelesly? Canons cant.

There isnt so much difference between them that its worth choosing one over the other, and lets face it most of us use manual and triggers more often than not anyhow...

inkista wrote in post #12774040
SU-4 mode (built in "dumb" optical slave mode). Getting an optical slave to work with a Canon EX isn't nearly as easy.
Also, both the top of the line and mid-range flashes (SB-700, SB-900) can be used as wireless masters and do the 360-degree swivel thing. 430EX II, last I checked, is still slave-only, and 270-degree swivel.

I've had no trouble with the CTR-301P's optical triggering on my 430EX/430EX II, but I will admit that having it built in to my Nikon SB-26's is a nice touch. I also like the button layout and large screens of the Nikon flashes better. They just seem easier to use to me. Nikon flashes just seem to be more well thought out than Canon's at this point. My old, old SB-26's have optical triggering capability, PC ports, large easy-to-read screens, etc. My brand new 430EX II has none of the above.

The new SB-900 also has different light distribution pattern capabilities and zooms to 200mm instead of being limited to 105mm like most flashes. I think it also has a built-in gel holder. Personally, I think Canon needs to step up in the flash department, or Nikon will soon be way ahead.

Canon is due a 580exII replacement soon, remember the SB900 is quite new. Canon has also released a nwe 430 and a few lower spec flashes recently.

Unless I am incorrect, both flashes were released in 2008. I think the 580EXII was early 08 and the SB-900 was mid 08.

In terms of wireless capabilities Nikon definitely excels. While the 7D, 60D, and T3i have wireless capabilities you can only use it below the cameras flash sync speed. So no HSS for Canon's with the wireless system. Nikon has always had HSS with their wireless system which does come in handy. I've used Nikons up to about 30ft in full sun with HSS and never had any misfires. Is that enough to make me switch to nikon... Nope. I have many other gripes about Nikon. I won't get into it here but I will say the company I work for uses them and I frequently have to train their photographers on how to use their cameras and other equipment (school photography company). They primarily use D700's with D300's as backups.

Thanks very much for all your comments. Very informative!

The Nikon's seem to have more features. What I liked the most was the gel holders (which also communicated the colour temperature change to the camera body), built-in optical slaves, and an option to add a 5th battery for a bit more capacity and quicker recycle (no longer present on the SB900 though). The recycle time is also faster on the Nikons. Looking purely at a spec sheet, the Nikon flashes had more to offer. Maybe that's why they say Nikon's system is superior.

But in terms of exposure? I found them different, but I wouldn't say one was better than the other. If you are extremely knowledgeable in flashes and how to properly control a flash to get consistent results in ettl/ittl then there is pretty much no difference. Otherwise, they still both screw up exposures, they just do it in different ways and situations. I really didn't find my Nikon setup to make my job any easier when using flash.