What determines sb-800 burst performance ?

mikeyw

mikeyw

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Hi,

Tonight i did a shoot with Lesley Garrett and some local children, we only had 5mins so i was banking on the flash perfoming well in burst mode. At first it was fine and i was getting 3 flash shots in quick succession, however after only about 25shots in total the recharge time started to slow and before long my 3 shots were 1 flash and 2 non flash where it hadn't fired. As it was i still got some good results but the failing flash really worried me.

I Believe the flash is ok and im using the extra batt compartment to improve power so i can only assume its the batteries ?

Im using some 3000 mah batts i purchased from Ebay.

Is what i experienced symptomatic of poor batteries ? I was expecting to get 100+ shots before i'd see and degredation in the flash.

any advice here and if the batteries are the problem which are renowed as good performers ?

Thanks in advance,
Mike.
 
I tend to agree with Phil, however it also depends on the power output you had the flash set to, you can rattle away at 1/128 power for ages, but at full power you might be lucky to get 30-40 shots before you've drained the batteries.
 
Indeed, it does depend on how much power the flash was putting out.

For these reasons its why serious folks use Quantum power packs, because really you don't want to run out of juice when you pap it up.
 
Guys i was just shooting ttl mode with +/- flash exposure. I can only assume the default is full power then.

Surely indoors it would be counter productive to reduce the flash power right down ?
 
mikeyw said:
Guys i was just shooting ttl mode with +/- flash exposure. I can only assume the default is full power then.

Surely indoors it would be counter productive to reduce the flash power right down ?
Click to expand...

No, in ttl mode the default is whatever the meter decides is required......
 
OK agree not max power but highish unless plenty of indoor light, i'm more than happy to let the nikon tech decide the flash output, i'll adjust up or down if i see fit.

Sounds like the bottom line is get better batteries - any recommendations ?
 
mikeyw said:
OK agree not max power but highish unless plenty of indoor light, i'm more than happy to let the nikon tech decide the flash output, i'll adjust up or down if i see fit.

Sounds like the bottom line is get better batteries - any recommendations ?
Click to expand...

Eneloops :thumbs:
 
Eneloops or buy a quantum :)
 
Deffo sounds like a case of the flash firing at fairly high output.

I usually find that an increase in ISO and/or opening up the aperture a stop is a good way to get a bit more life out of batteries, in addition to working in manual where I can set a lowish power setting (say 1/16th) so the sensor is doing the heavy lifting and not the flash.

BTW, I use IKEA batteries (10 for £2) and they are absolutely brilliant in both my SB800 and SB700, although I couldn't give you an exact number of flashes. I'm too lazy/forgetful to keep charging rechargeable batteries so these fit the bill.....
 
I was shooting quite closed - might pop the iso up a tad and increase aperture slightly.

Will make a note of how many shots i get till the 1st fail.
 
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