I killed my YN-560 - Now what?

[SwissJon]

So there I was, trying out my new shoot through brollies on Saturday night on some stuff I was looking to put on e-bay. I had the YN-560 on one side and my SB-800 on the other. Then the dog comes in the room and flops on teh floor, knocking the light stand. I don't know what happened, I probably didn't fix the flash into its holder properly, but in slow motion I see it falling from the light stand onto the tiled floor.

Anyways, to cut a long story short, the flash now refuses to stay switched on. It comes on for maybe 1 minute, during which time I can't press any buttons or change any settings, then the low power warning goes off, and the unit shuts down. I've changed the batteries, nothing works.

Ho hum, I'm just glad it wasn't the SB-800

So now what? I've got an SB-600 I won on Fleabay being shipped to me, but I quite like the 3 light set ups I've seen, so I'm tempted to get a YN460 or a YN465 just for using as a 3rd light. Alternatively, I could get a YN-565 and use it as a second light.. Or just grin and bear it and have only two lights.

Has anyone successfully mended a busted flash?

Damn dog!! (Lol.. Always blame the dog, he doesn't answer back!)

[homank76]

Now's a great reason to get another SB800.

[RichardTaylor]

Seeing it has been "dropped" ;
Just open it up and see if you can see anything has come adrift or broken, like a cracked printed circuit board etc.. It may be obvious and a TV repair place may be able to fix it.

Just be very careful of any very high voltages floating around if the main capacitor has become fully charged. You may get a nasty shock or burn. You don't have a pacemaker do you?

(see an example here of a capcitator being discharged.).
HowStuffWorks "How Camera Flashes Work"

[SwissJon]

A second SB-800 would be lovely, but the YN-467 is $70, the SB-800 is $300... I could get 3 YN's, which could be fun. The only real advantage of the Nikon products are CLS compatability.

I will have a fiddle with this before I spend anything.

[homank76]

How often do you use three flashes and I'm sure you have a reflector you can use in place of the third flash for now.

[SwissJon]

I've never used 3 flashes.. That's the point.. Without 3 flashes I can't use 3 flashes. Currently I only have one. I have an SB-600 on its way, but I'd bought the SB-600 specifically so I can do a 3 flash set up.. (Two in front, and one backlight)

The cost of the YN-465 is very tempting. Perhaps I'll get that and just use it in Manual.. Since it's to go behind the subject, iTTL is pretty useless anyhow.

[homank76]

I misread what you originally wrote. Since you have never used three flashes before it really doesn't sound like you'll use it that often. Can't you just borrow a flash from someone?

[SwissJon]

LoL.. Now if I coulda done that, I woulda done it instead of buying the SB-600.

No disrespect Homank, but really the answer to this question is a constructive comparison between the YN range and the SB-600 and whether the extra is worth the money. I want 3 speedlights. I've shot with 2 before, and I'm really happy with the results, (Or at least as happy as I can be with my limited experience) but now I want to up the stakes a little and get creative with gels and 3 lights. Winter is drawing on, it's getting really cold outside, so I just want to play indoors a bit more. And with the evenings closing so fast, even outdoor photography is going to need some lighting help.

So thanks for your input, but I don't really want to work with 2 lights, I want to push myself.

[Bruce A]

What about another sb-600 Jon? They cheap and reliable. They are slave units so both can be set by the sb-800 or all can be set by the camera. Compatibility is a good thing

[SwissJon]

PROBLEM SOLVED!!!!

I walked into my local thrift shop and found they had a second hand SB-800, I bartered them down to the same as what I paid for the SB-600.. Absolute bargin.. Now I'm a happy chap. I've got full compatabiliy with the Nikon CLS on all my speedlights.. Now I have no excuse to get creative.. I just need a subject..

been looking on Strobist.com for inspiration.