Thomas, I think the N90s is your best choice. It not only syncs at 1/250, but it's significantly faster both in focusing and motor drive. In addition, since you mention climate as a consideration, it is significantly better protected against moisture than the N70. It also has the advantage of using AA batteries, which will last longer and are cheaper to replace than the N70's lithiums. The only one of your requisites that it does not have is the pop-up flash--but adding the SB28 should give you better results than any pop-up. There are at least two good reasons why Nikon has not put pop-up flash on its "pro" models. The first is that it weakens the prism housing. The second is that unless you are just using a pop-up as fill, it's too close to the lens axis, giving you problems with "red-eye" and flattening out your subjects. My impression is that Nikon's primary concern was with weakening the prism; that's why the F, F2, and F3 (except for the F3P) all have non-ISO shoes, located over the rewind crank. Although many people complained about that, leading Nikon to move the hot shoe to the prism for the F3P and later models, there was a sound basis for that concern, as shown by the complaints of list members who have noted cracks in the prism housings on models such as the N8008s, N90, and N90s. Another, more recent consideration also supports using a separate flash rather than a pop-up: battery conservation. Pop-ups get their power from the camera batteries--and we have had enough complaints about running through batteries quickly even without having them power a flash! Hope this helps, Richard Mendales University of Miami
