problem with continuous shooting with nikon D40

[dankwonka]

hello,
i have tried searching this forum but havent found a solution yet to my problem.

continuous shooting doesnt work when i have my flash on in any mode on my new d40. i've tried every setting i can think of, to no avail. maybe i am missing somthing. i know its supposed to take longer with the flash, but it doesnt take any more pictures if i hold the button down. anyone have any suggestions? thanks!

[jcon]

Do you have it set to burst? I am not sure on this, but I think it can only take up to 3 shots with the flash in burst mode. im not too familiar with the D40 yet, so thats speculation.

When you say "press the button", I assume you mean the shutter?

[dankwonka]

i dont know if its called burst mode, its called continuous shooting mode. the icon looks like three overlapping rectangles. i do mean shutter button when i said 'press button.'

i can only take one picture and thats it. i have to lift my finger of the shutter button and press down again to take another picture. it is supposed to just take a bunch of pictures till i stop holding down the button.

[jcon]

Have you tried it without the flash to make sure its working properly? I have to correct my previous post, you can do more than just 3 with the flash, I just tested it and when I got to 5 straigh photos, I stopped. I dont know if its different on the D40 though.

Another thing to check.. make sure bracketing is off.

[dankwonka]

i have tried it with the flash off, continuous shooting mode seems to work fine , as long as the flash isnt on. pretty sure there is no bracketing turned on.

[K1W1]

You CANNOT take continuous shots with the on board flash.
The capacitor that powers the flash needs to recharge between shots and this takes several seconds at least.
If you want to take continuous shots with flashes you will need something like an SB-800 with a extra battery pack but even then you will not get anything like 3 frames per second.

[tcadwall]

even then you will not get anything like 3 frames per second.
This of course depends on several things, like, how fresh the batteries are, what TYPE of batteries(very important for recycle time), how much power is needed (how dark, focal length,etc). I have been suprised at times at how fast I can shoot with my SB-600. I have also noticed that in situations where more power is needed, there is much more lag before sufficient flash power is available. But I must have my D70s setup differently, because my burst (continuous mode) will still fully function - it won't wait for a recharge (dark pictures).

One other thought though. What mode do you have the flash in? If you have it in the "red-eye" mode it will REALLY slow things down.