Flash power question

LizardKing

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Hello there!

I've been doing some practice with off-camera flash lately, and there's something strange going on I don't have a clue why is happening and maybe you do :)

So, I have all ready to play with some waterdrops with the SB-700 in Manual at 1/8 -0.3 power and having so much fun... But whenever I try to set the power to 1/8 or higher, all I get is a black picture as if the lens' cap was on. Switch back to 1/8 -0.3 or lower and we're good again.

Batteries are supposedly good... 4 eneloops I bought last week recharged a couple of hours ago and fired only about 150 pics (at 1/8 -0.3 power)

Only thing I can think of is that the batteries don't have enough charge to shoot more than this power... but is that how it works? I feel like I can keep shooting at that power w/o any troubles but it's just a matter of setting it to 1/8 or higher and all is black. So doesn't seem like it. I don't know, maybe this sounds like a stupid question... help please? :lol:
 
Is the flash actually firing when you getting "black" photos? (silly question i Know but had to ask. Maybe if youi could get hold of light meter / Flash meter you could measure out put of the flash at the various adjustments so you know what the actual output is ie what GN

Hope this helps ??
 
No, that's not how it works. Your SB700 uses a capacitive charging system ('thyristor') which acts like a miniature battery itself and is "charged" from the flashe's battery power. If your batteries are low, then it simply takes longer to charge.

First of all: When you increase the flash'es power, do you see the red 'Ready' light illuminate? If so, that means the flash has the power to strobe at whatever output level is currently applied.

What kind of triggers are you using, and what shutter-speed do you have set on your camera?

When you get these black pictures - there's absolutely NO detail at all in them?
 
Is the flash actually firing when you getting "black" photos? (silly question i Know but had to ask. Maybe if youi could get hold of light meter / Flash meter you could measure out put of the flash at the various adjustments so you know what the actual output is ie what GN

Hope this helps ??

Yes, the flash is firing and unfortunately I don't have a meter. Thanks for your response!
 
Sync speed.
What's your shutter speed?

Faster than 1/250 and you'll catch the shutter curtain on your exposure.
 
No, that's not how it works. Your SB700 uses a capacitive charging system ('thyristor') which acts like a miniature battery itself and is "charged" from the flashe's battery power. If your batteries are low, then it simply takes longer to charge.

First of all: When you increase the flash'es power, do you see the red 'Ready' light illuminate? If so, that means the flash has the power to strobe at whatever output level is currently applied.

What kind of triggers are you using, and what shutter-speed do you have set on your camera?

When you get these black pictures - there's absolutely NO detail at all in them?

Yes, the red light illuminates and I hear the sound beep. I'm using my camera flash to trigger the SB-700 and the SS is 1/250th but I also tried to lower it to 1/200 or even 1/160.
There's no detail in the black pictures except for maybe 1 o 2 small 'dots' that maybe are underexposed highlights or something but they're no bigger than a pixel or so... So I'm not sure what they are, actually.

What's bugging me is that when I increase the power I'm not changing any other setting in the camera or flash besides that.

Thanks for your response, tirediron!
 
Wow, that's a good one. It sounds like the flash is totally out of sync with the camera when you increase the speed, which makes absolutely NO sense whatsoever. The exposure is fine every time at 1/8 -.3, but at nothing else. Have you tried EVERY setting right from full power on down? Does everything function normally when you set the flash to TTL?
 
How are you firing them?
 
Hey, just my 2 cents here. My flashes (Metz's for Nikon though, not SB's) NEVER display 1/8 -0.3, they would read 1/10. Is it normal for Nikon flashes to display such power setting?
 
Hey, just my 2 cents here. My flashes (Metz's for Nikon though, not SB's) NEVER display 1/8 -0.3, they would read 1/10. Is it normal for Nikon flashes to display such power setting?
Yes. Two different ways of saying [almost] the same things.
 
Wow, that's a good one. It sounds like the flash is totally out of sync with the camera when you increase the speed, which makes absolutely NO sense whatsoever. The exposure is fine every time at 1/8 -.3, but at nothing else. Have you tried EVERY setting right from full power on down? Does everything function normally when you set the flash to TTL?

Maybe 'speed' is another way to refer to the power of the flash, but just to be clear: I'm not changing the speed but the power. After seeing the black pictures, I tried lowering the SS in the camera just in case that would be better to synch with the SB-700.

Now, haven't really tried all settings between 1/8 - 0.3 and full power, but I did tried about 4 or 5. I'll try the rest later today. Same for the TTL function.
Thanks again for your responses.
 
Wow, that's a good one. It sounds like the flash is totally out of sync with the camera when you increase the speed, which makes absolutely NO sense whatsoever. The exposure is fine every time at 1/8 -.3, but at nothing else. Have you tried EVERY setting right from full power on down? Does everything function normally when you set the flash to TTL?

Maybe 'speed' is another way to refer to the power of the flash, but just to be clear: I'm not changing the speed but the power. After seeing the black pictures, I tried lowering the SS in the camera just in case that would be better to synch with the SB-700.

Now, haven't really tried all settings between 1/8 - 0.3 and full power, but I did tried about 4 or 5. I'll try the rest later today. Same for the TTL function.
Thanks again for your responses.
Sorry, where I said "speed" I meant to say "power" as in flash output power. I hate to say this, but it sounds to me from all that you've said like your flash is not working correctly.
 
Wow, that's a good one. It sounds like the flash is totally out of sync with the camera when you increase the speed, which makes absolutely NO sense whatsoever. The exposure is fine every time at 1/8 -.3, but at nothing else. Have you tried EVERY setting right from full power on down? Does everything function normally when you set the flash to TTL?

Maybe 'speed' is another way to refer to the power of the flash, but just to be clear: I'm not changing the speed but the power. After seeing the black pictures, I tried lowering the SS in the camera just in case that would be better to synch with the SB-700.

Now, haven't really tried all settings between 1/8 - 0.3 and full power, but I did tried about 4 or 5. I'll try the rest later today. Same for the TTL function.
Thanks again for your responses.
Sorry, where I said "speed" I meant to say "power" as in flash output power. I hate to say this, but it sounds to me from all that you've said like your flash is not working correctly.

I was afraid of this but, since I'm still learning how to use it, I wasn't sure if I was doing something wrong.
So, I did some further tests:

1) Mounted the flash onto the camera and used the TTL function. It seems to be ok.
2) Kept the flash mounted and tried different powers in Manual: 1/16, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 and 1/1... All worked properly.
3) Removed the flash and triggered it remotely using my on-camera flash, trying different powers: 1/16 and 1/8 look good but 1/4, 1/2 and 1/1 are really dark. This time I had some room lighting so I'm thinking that's the only light I'm seeing in the picture.

So, based on this, it seems there's some kind of problem to synch the flash with the camera when using something stronger than 1/8, as you said.

I believe at some point I'll take it into the official Nikon service, but I bought it in the US so I'm afraid I'll have to pay for the repairs. In the meantime, it seems to me the way to go would be to use a cable to be able to use off-camera flash properly. Any other ideas would be most welcomed!

Have a nice day!
 

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