Flash stops the camera

[terrygamer34]

Hey, i just got into potography. Ive had my d5000 for about a week now and basically shoot in manual mode only now that i understand exposure better. So today I was playing with the flash settings and i notice that sometimes I would press the shutter release button down and no picture would be taken. Flash up, manual mode and it wouldnt work. Pressed it again and same thing. Then i tried again and it worked. I dont want to do this when im out and about photographing so does anybody know the reason for this and/or how to fix it? Thank you for any help!

P.S. The camera flash was on rear when this happened

[IABoomer]

If I had to guess, I wonder if the camera hadn't locked focus yet and thus didn't actuate the shutter. Were you shooting in AF-A (auto) or AF-S (single) focus?

A couple other possibilities: could it be flash recycle time? Had you been using the flash a lot before the issue? Could it be write time to the card? Had you been shooting continuously and the buffer may have been loaded up?

[terrygamer34]

I was manually focusing this time.

[terrygamer34]

Ok i think its the flash recycle thing you were talking about, I had been using it ALOT before. Can you explain to me what that is?

[IABoomer]

To make the bright flash of light, the flash system needs to store energy from the battery into electronics for quick discharge. If the flash isn't fully charged to fire again, then the camera may hold off shooting the image.

Nikon D5000 Review

Flash
The D5000 has a built-in flash that is virtually identical to the one used in the D60 and D90 with a range of about 17 feet at ISO 200. Additionally, the camera is equipped with a hot shoe to accept more powerful flash units should the user so desire. Color rendition was good, and flash recycle times were speedy – the flash was ready to go almost instantly in normal conditions and within 4 seconds after a full discharge. With flash enabled the D5000 won't let you take another photograph until the flash is fully charged.