Nikon SB-800 Minimum number of flashes and recycling times, Replacing/recharging the batteries

■■■ Minimum number of flashes and recycling times

When using four (or five) fresh batteries of the same type and the Speedlight fires at M1/1 output.

Batteries	Number of	Min. recycling time	Min. number of flashes/
	batteries	(approx.)	recycling time
Alkaline-	x4	6.0 sec.	130	/ 6-30 sec.
manganese
	x5	5.0 sec.	130	/ 5-30 sec.
Lithium	x4	7.5 sec.	170	/ 7.5-30 sec.
	x5	7.5 sec.	190	/ 7.5-30 sec.
Nickel	x4	6.0 sec.	140	/ 6-30 sec.
	x5	5.0 sec.	140	/ 5-30 sec.
NiCd (1000 mAh)	x4	4.0 sec.	90 / 4-30 sec.
(rechargeable)	x5	3.5 sec.	90 / 3.5-30 sec.
Ni-MH (2000 mA)	x4	4.0 sec.	150	/ 4-30 sec.
(rechargeable)	x5	2.9 sec.	150	/ 2.9-30 sec.

•Minimum recycling time is for operation using fresh batteries.

•This data was measured without using the wide-area AF-assist illuminator, zoom-head position adjustment, or LCD panel illumination.

•The above data may vary due to variations in battery performance.

■■■ Replacing/recharging the batteries

Refer to the following table to determine when to replace or recharge your batteries, if the ready-light takes a long time to come on.

Type of battery	Recycling time	Remedy
Alkaline-manganese	More than 30 seconds
Lithium	More than 10 seconds	Replace
Nickel	More than 10 seconds
Ni-Cd (rechargeable)	More than 10 seconds	Recharge
Ni-MH (rechargeable)

If extremely exhausted batteries are used, a strange sound can be heard caused by the flash head zooming back and forth even when the SB-800 is turned off. In this case, replace the SB-800’s batteries even if an external battery source is used.

tExternal power sources

Using an optional external power source increases the number of flash firings and provides faster recycling times (p. 113).

Basic operation

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