SB-800 only fires 1 out of 3 or 4 times???

I was a guest at a friend's wedding tonight and brought the D200 with an SB-800 ojn the RRS Wedding Bracket. Even with what I am pretty sure were fresh batteries (5 of them) I found that at ISO 200, 5.6 on an 18-200VR with the SB-800 in TTL mode via an SC-29 that the flash was just not ready most of the time.....even with the FLASH lightning bolt finished blinking and solid a lot of the exposures I got were virtually black??? The ones that it did fire for were excellent but that's a pretty bad percentage it seems to me.... suggestions???
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http://pwscott.smugmug.com

Were you using rechargeable batteries??

With 5 batteries, if just one is back it will really mess up the charging.

Try putting in a set of NEW alkalines and see what happens.

NiMH cells are really funky and having just one cell that is not fully charged can really mess you us.

Another question. What shutter speed and aperture were you shooting at? Was the room darK.

Can you you post an example with the exif so I can see.??

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Sam
http://www.samjsternphotography.com

Sam- they were Duracell alkalines but I had used them in another shoot previously- not that many exposures but I had shot with them previously. I figured I would have gotten the whole green screen flashing business from the SB-800 if the batteries were the issue? May be not....

I was shooting at ISO 200 in Aperture Priority mode, mostly at 5 or 5.6 I think....the room was generally lit to some degree- dinner lighting let's call it. The exposures where it fired (was in TTL mode on flash and Matrix metering on the body BTW) were good. When it failed to fire they were just totally dark. I will post a link to some once I get them through Lightroom today- I will include EXIF data as well.

I'll also replace those batteries and simulate the same conditions today to check that strobe out- I have a couple of 800s to play with.
Thanks for your thoughts on this.

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http://pwscott.smugmug.com

I agree with Sam. It sounds like a power issue, probably a combination of battery drain and firing at full power.

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my gallery of so-so photos
http://www.pbase.com/kerrypierce/root

If it's not the batteries, could it be something with the flash chord? I'd try it with the flash mounted on the camera.

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Bryan V.
P.S. I've had amnesia for as long as I can remember.

I have had this problem, did you check to insure that your Flash and or SC-29 was seated correctly in the hot shoe.

That could be it...I will check more carefully. I am using the RRS wedding bracket, the FA-29 adapter to fit the SC-29 to it, and the SC-29 connected to a D200. It seemed tight, but I'll have to check again....the reason I think you hit the nail on the head is that I recall examining the setup and test focusing and firing and often I was NOT getting AF Illumination from either the SB-800 or the SC-29 (that's switchable on that cable). I do have an older SC-17 that I can test with too although the grey looks bogus and the cable routes right towards the lens on the camera body.

Will update when I get a chance to play.

-Phil

kprenrut said:

I have had this problem, did you check to insure that your Flash and
or SC-29 was seated correctly in the hot shoe.

Click to expand...

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http://pwscott.smugmug.com

Also note that when firing with the diffuser down or trying to bounce light around ceilings and walls, expect recharges to take longer.

When shooting frequently (wedding games, bouquet tosses, etc....), I plug in the SD-8A, remove any diffusers and fire away straight on the subject. After the excitement, I remount the diffusers to get the soft lighting for the more important portraits.