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Why, oh why has this happened again. My first SB-600 broke because of my backpack breaking, that broke the bulb, which I would expect after a fall like that, but I have only just saved up for another one, and two weeks after purchase, yesterday, the bulb broke again.

This time, I was doing absolutely nothing wrong, simply firing off shots for a sports game outside, one shot it fired, a lot brightr than usual, the next shot, it didnt fire. I can see the bulb broken and the flash rattles from something that has snapped/come loose.

Has anyone else had any problems with the Nikon SB-600, I have heard they are not the best flash for durability, and I am starting to believe them.

Hopefully it will be covered by warranty, if not, how much does a new bulb cost?

sounds like some hell bad luck.
i've had my 600 for a couple of years, no probs here.

Its obviously a sign - to go up to a SB-800 / 900

I have had a good run thus far with my SB800.... but it hasn't done a lot lately.

Either you are giving them some very rough treatment or you got a faulty unit. While I've never had an SB-600, I've had many flashes over the years and I have never once had the tube break on any of them.

You should see if you can get it repaired under warranty, although I guess they will suspect rough treatment, too.

Your having a pretty bad run with these flashes. If I was Nikon I would suspect rough treatment, but if you your SB-600 is new (few marks on the body) I would assume that they would give you the benefit of the doubt. I have only had my flashes SB-800/600 for less than a year and no problems.

As others have suggested, this sounds a lot like rough treatment.

Very rough treatment. Sorry.

The tubes (they're not actually bulbs per se) are quite securely mounted, and in something like 30 years of of using all manner of these sorts of units, I have yet to hear of this sort of an issue occurring. I have used everything from the el-cheapo $10 flash heads, through to the SB800 and more, including pro heads, some of which actually have the flash tubes somewhat exposed and subject to abuse, but have yet to experience any Wendelling on my units, and I have yet to hear of any sort an inherent issue with anything within this class of equipment.

I would expect that Nikon will exhibit some level of skepticism if this is returned to them as a warranty issue: these tubes do not simply just "break" of their own accord.

gstark wrote:The tubes (they're not actually bulbs per se) are quite securely mounted, and in something like 30 years of of using all manner of these sorts of units, I have yet to hear of this sort of an issue occurring. I have used everything from the el-cheapo $10 flash heads, through to the SB800 and more, including pro heads, some of which actually have the flash tubes somewhat exposed and subject to abuse, but have yet to experience any Wendelling on my units, and I have yet to hear of any sort an inherent issue with anything within this class of equipment.

Your comments remind me of my very old Sunpak Gx14 which has had a hell of a lot of abuse. I have drilled holes in it (to mount it on a bracket) and in regularly gets the Fonzi treatment (a very firm bash to get the batteries to contact) and the tube is in fine condition.

Maybe there is an issue with SB-600s...

http://www.flickr.com/groups/strobist/discuss/72157605673460648/
http://www.tamparacing.com/forums/photography-graphics/496696-nikon-sb-600-flash-tube-replacement.html
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=412939

ATJ wrote:Your comments remind me of my very old Sunpak Gx14 which has had a hell of a lot of abuse. I have drilled holes in it (to mount it on a bracket) and in regularly gets the Fonzi treatment (a very firm bash to get the batteries to contact) and the tube is in fine condition.

We still have an old Sunpak here, as well as a Metz CT45.

But in thinking this through ... let's also remember the disposable film cameras from Fuji, Kojak, et al: cardboard boxes, many with a flash tube installed. Never even heard of this sort of a problem on one of these, and these were abominably cheeeeep!

gstark wrote:But in thinking this through ... let's also remember the disposable film cameras from Fuji, Kojak, et al: cardboard boxes, many with a flash tube installed. Never even heard of this sort of a problem on one of these, and these were abominably cheeeeep!

Agreed, which is why I'm wondering if it is a build or design problem with SB-600s. I had never heard of it before, but a search on Google suggests that it does happen with the SB-600.

Thanks for that guys, yea, after my surprise at how easily bulbs can break if they are hot, I was extra careful with this one. My last one broke from not a large height, though it had just finished doing a lot of full power shots, causing the bulb to get hot, and I am guessing, making it more fragile and easier to break.

I was doing a lot of rapid, full power shooting with this one as well, but what gets me is it received no impact, yet the flash still broke.

I dropped it into the camera shop today, and they have sent it over for the repair centre to have a look at what is wrong, sadly, nikon only cover for manufacture defects, so if they find a broken bulb, I wont hold my hopes that they will think it was the flash's fault. Good news is that new bulbs are $30, and I took apart my last one so know this flash inside out.