D800 with SB900 issues

zvocio

Senior Member
Hello everyone...new to this forum.
Over the weekend I was taking pictures at a friends wedding with my D800 and a SB900 flash...everything went smooth, but in the middle of my shooting after snapping a picture of someone my flash went crazy and it started flickering super fast and it made a weird sound for about 3 seconds and I turned both the cam and the flash off.
After that it kept working fine like nothing had happened. I have used this flash with a D90 as well and never had any issues with it till now.
Have anyone had any problems like this with their equipment? If so what's the fix or what should I do to correct the issue? The cam it self is fairly new and still under manufacturer's warranty.
Thank you all for your help.

Omar.
 
Last edited:

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
I would call Nikon and ask them if they know what caused this to happen. Like pedroj said, I wouldn't want it attached to my camera.

In the late 90's, I had an N70 (35mm film camera) with an SB-28 flash. The flash unit was one of the early ones and apparently those had a problem. My camera would advance on its own leaving me with several frames mid-roll of nothing (either the lens cap was over the lens or the body cap on the body when it happened). Whatever was wrong with the flash affected the camera body. The flash didn't even need to be attached for this to happen. Nikon replaced the electronics in my N70 and repaired the SB-28 so it was no longer an issue.

It's possible for your flash to adversely affect the camera which is why I suggest you call Nikon directly and ask them.
 

gqtuazon

Gear Head
in the middle of my shooting after snapping a picture of someone my flash went crazy and it started flickering super fast and it made a weird sound for about 3 seconds and I turned both the cam and the flash off.

The symptom that you've noted is a possible cause of a modeling flash that you may have programmed on one of the programmable buttons.

Go to the "Custom Menu - e4- Modeling Flash - turn it "Off".
 

WayneF

Senior Member
As was said, it sure sounds like the modeling flash. E4 menu enables it, then pressing the Depth of Field button fires repeated flashes to serve as a modeling light. D800 manual page 307.
 

bzengcsittr942

New member
Go to the "Custom Menu - e4- Modeling Flash - turn it "Off".
2.jpg
 

zvocio

Senior Member
Sorry guys I took too long to reply...yes, when the flash is mounted and Depth of Field Preview bottom is depressed, the flash will fire repeatedly so you can preview your image on the view finder as you normally would.
 

WayneF

Senior Member
Hello everyone...new to this forum.
Over the weekend I was taking pictures at a friends wedding with my D800 and a SB900 flash...everything went smooth, but in the middle of my shooting after snapping a picture of someone my flash went crazy and it started flickering super fast and it made a weird sound for about 3 seconds and I turned both the cam and the flash off.

Sounds like you accidentally hit the camera Depth of Field button, which activates the "modeling light" feature of the flash, where it flashes extremely rapidly for a few seconds. See SB-900 manual page D-61 (modeling illuminator).

Sounds like it is working as designed.
 
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