SB 600 - Severe Underexposure

Hi everyone,

I just purchased a SB600 flash for my Nikon D50 and when used in TTL Mode I get

pitch black images indoors even though the flash seems to fire. I was using my

50mm lens and the built in flash of the D50 could easily light the room. It also

does not seem to be a battery problem as the flash completely overexposes the

scene when set to full power in manual mode. The camera does recognize the SB

600, as the shutter speed changes to 1/60 when I attach the unit and the zoom

sets correctly.

Thank you very much for your help!

Benjamin

I do not have SB-600, so perhaps my guess below does not apply.

If it is possible that the SB-600 is set as a remote flash so it will wait perhaps for the light commanding signal with the fullpower to blast then. It may respond with a pre-flash communications being confused ? - my guess as good as yours, perhaps.

(perhaps should not be possible to set SB-600 as a remote? when the flash sits in the camera hot shoe).

Try to do full reset of the flash programming. Make sure the flash is in the iTTL mode, and not in the CLS mode, since D50 does not have that.

Most likely the flash is faulty.

Sounds like there is a problem with the TTL communication. Try holding down the MODE and ON/OFF buttons together to reset the flash. Since the flash is zooming and the shutter speed is setting itself, the flash isn't in wireless mode.

I had this same problem a few years ago, and the cause turned out (we think) to be that I had accidentally hooked up my old Vivitar 283 improperly, and the high trigger voltage fried something inside the camera's body, replaced the whole mainboard under warranty.

Have you ever used your D50 with any other flash, even once?

Make sure the metal contacts on the bottom of the flash and inside if the hotshoe are clean, you can use a pencil eraser to clean them.

If you are still under warranty, it might be time to send the camera in for a look-see - send the flash too, unless you can try the flash and/or camera out with another camera/flash (I did at a camera shop nearby).

Thank you very much for your help. I tried resetting without success. Up to now I have been using a SB28 with my D50 with no problems.

What is "CLS-Mode" as opposed iTTL? I thought my D50 supported Nikon's CLS. When I turn on the flash I only have the option of selecting TTL, TTL-BL or M though it does not have an effect on output.

I guess I will have to send the flash in or at least try it on another camera to make sure it is not my D50 that is malfunctioning.

The D50 is compatible with Nikon CLS, but only with an SU-800 or an SB-800 on board. The D50 does not have the "Commander" flash mode that the D70/200/300 has.

As to your problem - with the flash set to TTL, what happens when you shoot straight into a mirror.

Thanks for the info Daniel.

I just tried shooting into a mirror and strangely enough the flash does not light up at in the picture even though I see the unit flashing upon pressing the shutter release. I guess now I am even more confused. Up to now I just thought that the SB600 did not output at the right power, but now it seems the Sync is off.

Thanks everyone again for the help you have provided.