Nikon SB800 users - info needed

[henryscat]

Hey all,
I've had my SB800 for a few years now and recently it has started to play up a little bit.
It wasn't flashing strong enough and my batteries seemed to be lasting for 3 shots.

I have managed to whittle it down to my rechargeable batteries! I have several sets of 2800's and they all provide the same poor results. Some are 3 years old, some are a month old. The Flashgun seems to have taken a major disliking to them.

Using standard disposable batteries makes everything peachy again but to be frank, i'd rather use rechargeables.

Has anyone else had the same issues as me and have a solution? Would a set of 2200's or 2300's work?

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

[OsmosisStudios]

I dont use my flash enough to bother with rechargeables. I just use the alkaline or lithium throwaways.

[ARKreations]

I've been rotating through several sets of Kodak 2200's for about 2 years now (SB-800 & SB-600) with no noticeable signs of degradation in either unit. The 800 really likes having the 5th cell for reducing cycle times.

[Shokinen]

Flash work a little bit differently then other electronic devices. They have big capacitators that will "suck" the energy from your batteries until they have enough power to fire the flash. That's why sometime you will hear a whislte after a shot when it's very dark. If the batterie cannot provide enough power to the capacitators, the flash will not fire.

Having that said, rechargable batteries then to be better when they are used a lot. Even the new lithium based batteries are not as efficient if you leave them for a while without using them. Even if you charge them, they won't be as effective as batteries that you are always charging/uncharging/charging/uncharging. They might get better though if you start using them a lot but keep in mind NI-Cd have some kind of memory. You have to fully charge them and fully uncharge them to use their full potencial. Lithium based batteries on the other hand don't like to be fully uncharge so the only thing you have to bother is to not overuse them. On the first sign of fatigue, put them back on the charger.

One last thing, the mAh will not allow your flash to be more powerfull, nor "get your pictures brighter" as some compagny are advertising. The higger number is only telling us the battery will last longer before dying (ie 1900mAh will shoot 500 times while the 2400mAh will go up to 700).

Hope this help

[mipo]

If you do not use your rechargables batteries a lot, then may be a good low discharge NI-MH could help. These are known to retain over 95% of their charge for a year.
Like powerex Immedion.
But also the best quality batteries will give a far superior performance.
And a good charger with individual charge circuit can help identify a failling battery.
Maha has good chargers