SB-800 on D200 fires unintentionally

[meberts]

i'm having a major problem with my SB-800 speedlight used with a D200.

 

1) it fires off every now and then, without me (intentionally) touching a

button. i made sure the custom setting "fire flash when depth-of-field button

is pushed"-option is off. the flash fired is not very strong, though.

 

2) on the other hand, the flash won't work sometimes, even if the batteries

are fresh. it may take 1-2 seconds, before i the flash goes off together with

the shutter.

 

both of these problems are a major headache at weddings. Anyone had this

problem before? any clues?

 

thanks in advance!

[erik_loza]

Check the shoe and latch. $$$$ says you aren't making full contact, even though you think you are.

[frank_skomial]

Also looks like you need much better batteries for the flash during weddings.

[lilly_w]

With all the sophistication of these electronic gizmos it could be any one of several things. In the hands of an experienced D200/SB800 user (and not necessarily moi!), this could be sorted pretty quickly. If nothing else try the two-button reset on the body and two-button reset on the flash (press and hold for two seconds < mode + on/off >. I've learned that to be well-versed with the multitude of settings it is important to be a regular user. Kinda like the weekend-warrior pilots who fly infrequently, yet when they do...often succumb to hard landings.

[joseph_smith3]

The two button reset and/or make sure the flash is properly seated into the flash shoe or equivalent shoe and locked into place. Just because it is locked into place does not mean it is properly seated. Joe Smith

[elliot1]

Mine does it - others in this forum have said it happens to them. I called Nikon and they said it is caused by static electricity. I have not found a fix, yet...

[david_king11]

My SB800 did this repeatedly over a course of about a 6 months. It usually happened when the flash was off camera. I could be shooting 100 shots or so before anything would happen. All of a sudden, the flash would go crazy on me. No changes in modes or settings. New batteries would replace the old and the flash would continue the same way. It wouldn't fix itself unless I just put the flash back in my bag and didn't use it for a day or so. Sounds crazy, but this is exactly what happened about a dozen or so times.

 

I was shooting at a wedding one evening and after about the 400th shot the flash completely turned off on me. Checked batteries and all connections and nothing would allow me to turn it back on. Sent the flash to Nikon for service...they replaced the whole circuitry and sent it back. Now my flash never fires randomly anymore. I have no clue what all this means except for that it may have something to do with its circuitry and also may need to be sent into Nikon to be serviced.

[pbase photo website]

My D200 and SB-800 have just started this also. I realize that this is an old thread, but wonder if anyone has figured out the cause. I have two SB-800 units that started this at the same time on my D200. Seems to be cause by movement and camera activity?? My SB-600 will not fire randomly on the camera.

Thanks for any help,

Jack

[meberts]

I finally got it fixed! The problem was the flash shoe of my D200, which needed to be cleaned properly. I and also this guy from a random camera store had tried to clean it before, but apparently we had not cleaned it good enough. A specialist at a certified Nikon Repair-Center cleaned the whole shoe for several minutes with his own little tools and explained that dust accumulates not not only on the contacts in the middle, but also on the left and right inner sides of the bent metal plate. Take a look at <a href="http://www.adorama.com/images/Product/FAS.jpg" target="_new"><b>this picture </b></a>to understand what I mean.