D70s built-in flash problem maybe?

[kamran]

Hello,

I own a Nikon D70s and a Nikon Speedlight SB-800. The two used to work great in wireless flash mode (camera flash set to Commander mode and SB-800 set to Remote mode, Channel 3 Group A). But I'm having problems with the D70s built-in flash it seems.

When using the D70s built-in flash alone in TTL mode, the flash fires sometimes but fails to fire at all at other times. I understand that the built-in flash may need some time to recycle. But the funny thing is, it sometimes fires without a pre-flash (monitoring flash) and produces over exposed shots. At other times, it does fire a pre-flash and properly exposed shots. It's all so random.

Now, when in Commander mode, the D70s flash fires a series of pre-flashes (accompanied by sharp clicking sound) to communicate with SB-800. I do notice these pre-flashes but the SB-800 fails to fire at all and the shots come out black. And sometimes when the SB-800 does fire, it normally fires at full power resulting in blown out pictures. It seems to me that flash metering also gets affected.

I believe that there is nothing wrong with the SB-800 as the camera built-in flash seems to be having problems on its own regerdless whether its used in TTL or Commander mode.

It also came to my mind that the D70s battery might be dying as it is unable to cycle the flash quickly enough maybe? Also note that all the above tests were conducted with the camera battery and SB-800 batteries fully charged.

Fortunately, my camera is still under warranty so I'd take it to the authorized service center to get it repaired. Anyone else had similar problems?

[Ivanerrol]

Hello Kamran,
Before I recommend this, feedback from other forum members appreciated.
I have had various small problems with my D70s, regarding indifferent white balance, and flash problems.
I being in the IT industry have always resorted to the ultimate soloution when having firmware/software malfunctions.. - Reset.
This seems to have fixed my apparent problems - at the time.

Page 200 of the D70s instructions informs you how to do this.
Any other ideas?

[Michael]

Apparently this happens to a few d70's My D70s had to get the flash condensor or something replaced because it was doing the same thing.

[Alpha_7]

I suspect my had been playing up the same, the SB-800 doesn't always fire when trying to control it with the D70 popup flash.

[kamran]

Ahan. I will try the camera reset procedure and see if it helps.

Thanks.

[kamran]

OK, I spoke to a friend at Nikon service center and he asked me to get the camera to them as soon as posible (less than 1 month warranty remaining). I did. I told him the whole story about the popup flash and he said that he will get the flash unit + electronics replaced. Sounds cool. But what does not sound very cool is the fact that it could take between 7-10 days for fixing! How am I going to live without it?

I want my camera back now!