SB-80DX problems

Hi all. Upon the advice of Doug, i'll post my question here also:

has anybody encountered problems with their SB 80DX, such as not

firing (whether in TTL/A/M mode) despite having fresh/newly charged

batteries, or when it does fire, underexposure warnings flash on the

LCD? Happened to me this weekend, and then i brought the unit to the

local Nikon service center. After explaining the problem, they did

some tests on their camera (F401) and didn't find anything wrong.

When i took it home and tried it on the F5 and F100, same problem

came up. Even if the flash if off camera, and fired via the red test

button, same thing happens. What i also noticed is that the non-

firing/under-firing happens when the flash head is below 70mm; zoomed

70mm or more and the flash fires without `fail. The flash is not

more than a couple of months old and had been used for events before

(5 rolls at a time without fail).

Thanks.

Hi Joseph

I have had exactly the same issues with 2 separate SB80DX's. I have returned SB80DX's to Nikon service 3 times now to try and sort this problem out, one of the units went back twice. I have tried to get a responce from Nikon but nobody will answer my questions either over the phone or even when I have written in. I am now on my 4th! attempt to try and own a reliable SB80DX, so far it's OK but all the previous problems developed after about 30 rolls of film so I'm almost expecting it to fail. The way you described the problems are exactly as I have encountered them, I have tested the flashes on numerous F100 bodies, off camera and even on my Hasselblad 503 and the problems replicate themselves there too. Each failure has happened on the job and I've had to rely on my SB28 and Vivitars to carry on shooting. I even experienced the same thing about the problem dissapearing at more than 70mm, the problems occur at or below 70mm but when I use longer focal length lenses the problems stop. I know it is not the lenses or bodies with the problems as they all work perfectly fine with my other flash units. Reliability is really important when I photograph and so far I have not been able to trust the SB80DX which is a shame as it does offer a lot of advantages if it worked properly. I know there must be some other photographers out there who have experienced this problem if I have had it happen already on 2 separate untis. I would be very interested in knowing if other SB80DX users have seen this problem occur.

Thanks