SB-900 & SB-800 Flash or Hot Shoe Issue

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Jatz

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Hi Guys,

I hope someone can shed some light on this problem for me...

I currently use 2 Nikon D700 bodies with a SB-900 and a SB-800 as back-up.

Some strange things have been going on lately and the problem is becoming more regular.

Basically, I have them set-up using TTL but I am getting some totally random flash and sometimes multiple flashes. Sometimes the red illumination lights come on as well even though I have that turned off and the exposure randomly drops to -3 on the lcd.

Now when this has happened, I have turned the flash unit off and/or taken it out of the hot shoe and started again. These seems to fix the problem temporarily until something (probably some movement) makes it happen again.

When this happened with my SB-900 I thought I would switch over to my SB-800 back-up and it happened with that unit too!?

But here is the weird bit!... I thought then it must obviously be a problem with the hot-shoe, so I switched the flash(es) over to my other body, also a D700 and it happened on this body too. I have also tried different batteries too and haven't had problems with the same batteries in the past.

So I am now very confused as to whether this is a hot shoe problem, a mount problem, a power problem or a setting problem. There is nothing obvious that I have done so any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

It is def the strangest problem I have had over the last 5 years or so.

Cheers,
Jatz
 
Jatz said:
Hi Guys,

I hope someone can shed some light on this problem for me...

I currently use 2 Nikon D700 bodies with a SB-900 and a SB-800 as back-up.

Some strange things have been going on lately and the problem is becoming more regular.

Basically, I have them set-up using TTL but I am getting some totally random flash and sometimes multiple flashes. Sometimes the red illumination lights come on as well even though I have that turned off and the exposure randomly drops to -3 on the lcd.

Now when this has happened, I have turned the flash unit off and/or taken it out of the hot shoe and started again. These seems to fix the problem temporarily until something (probably some movement) makes it happen again.

When this happened with my SB-900 I thought I would switch over to my SB-800 back-up and it happened with that unit too!?

But here is the weird bit!... I thought then it must obviously be a problem with the hot-shoe, so I switched the flash(es) over to my other body, also a D700 and it happened on this body too. I have also tried different batteries too and haven't had problems with the same batteries in the past.

So I am now very confused as to whether this is a hot shoe problem, a mount problem, a power problem or a setting problem. There is nothing obvious that I have done so any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

It is def the strangest problem I have had over the last 5 years or so.

Cheers,
Jatz
Click to expand...



are the d700s new to you, or have you used everything in this setup before without problems?

I would check for latest firmware version on the cameras and the flashes while your at it. I had a problem with dead battery syndrome on a d3 a while back and firmware upgrade solved it. Weird thing is it started out fine and progressively got worse.

Do a factory reset on your gear too. I hate problems like this and wish I knew the answer for you but I think you need to eliminate the things you can firmware, to narrow down potential causes.

I would want to try out the flashes on someone else's gear too. And try someone else's flash on your cameras. If you bought any of that gear from a good camera shop, they should let you try all that out with new stuff if they are a decent place.

Does it do anything weird in other modes besides TTL?

Good luck.
 
lensflair said:
are the d700s new to you, or have you used everything in this setup before without problems?

I would check for latest firmware version on the cameras and the flashes while your at it. I had a problem with dead battery syndrome on a d3 a while back and firmware upgrade solved it. Weird thing is it started out fine and progressively got worse.

Do a factory reset on your gear too. I hate problems like this and wish I knew the answer for you but I think you need to eliminate the things you can firmware, to narrow down potential causes.

I would want to try out the flashes on someone else's gear too. And try someone else's flash on your cameras. If you bought any of that gear from a good camera shop, they should let you try all that out with new stuff if they are a decent place.

Does it do anything weird in other modes besides TTL?

Good luck.
Click to expand...



Oh one more thing, check your lens CPU contacts, was the lens on properly, are they clean.
 
Thanks lensflair... Will try all of those things and let you know how it goes!

It certainly is strange and very annoying! Hopefully one of your pointers will help.

Thanks for the help.
 
Well... I tried a lot of things, but it in the end it was a pair of bullnose pliers that fixed it!

Turns out my hotshoe's had loosened up over the last couple of years and the SB900 & SB800's connectors where loosing touch with my D700's plate and shorting out a bit or something like that.

A bit of light pressure with the pliers to the outside closed in the metal hotshoe mounts a little and the speedlights now fit much better into the hotshoe and the problem has gone totally after a wedding and three house shoots! Very relieved.

So if anyone happens to stumble across this thread with the same annoying problem... Get a pair of bullnose pliers and apply very light pressure to the metal hotshoe mount and bend them in a tiny tiny amount! It only take a little amount of pressure and if you break your camera its not my fault! :)

You will notice the difference in the fit straight away and the problem has gone completely.
 
Jatz said:
Well... I tried a lot of things, but it in the end it was a pair of bullnose pliers that fixed it!

Turns out my hotshoe's had loosened up over the last couple of years and the SB900 & SB800's connectors where loosing touch with my D700's plate and shorting out a bit or something like that.

A bit of light pressure with the pliers to the outside closed in the metal hotshoe mounts a little and the speedlights now fit much better into the hotshoe and the problem has gone totally after a wedding and three house shoots! Very relieved.

So if anyone happens to stumble across this thread with the same annoying problem... Get a pair of bullnose pliers and apply very light pressure to the metal hotshoe mount and bend them in a tiny tiny amount! It only take a little amount of pressure and if you break your camera its not my fault! :)

You will notice the difference in the fit straight away and the problem has gone completely.
Click to expand...


Glad you sorted it out. Thanks for the heads up, ill remember this incase it ever happens on mine.
 
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