Speedlight SB-600 Problem

Having a problem with my SB-600 speedlight. When I shoot several photos in succession, the light output gets progressively less and less. Is there a solution to this without upgrading my equipment? Or is upgrading equipment even a solution to this problem? I am using the best AA batteries I can buy, but the problem still exists. The obvious solution, of course, is to NOT fire off flash photos in rapid succession. There are times, however, that I need to do this. Comments?

I think the flash WILL fire before the ready light indicates, but will have reduced charge, of course. I've noticed this myself if I try to get 3 or 4 rapid shots, and I know the flash doesn't need full capacity, but the last one or the last two will be darker.

The unit is capable of firing rapidly as long as it doesn't need more than a fraction of its output. Otherwise, the flash simply HAS to have time to recycle to get the output needed.

I don't think there is a shutter inhibit for the flash not being ready or insufficient, but that might be useful.

I would say that it is firing before the capacitor is fully recharged. The only things to do are to give it more power (like an external battery pack) or use less power (like setting it to a lower flash power).

Thanks for the input. As usual, more patience and discipline is going to be required on my part (I need to slow down).

I have to learn that patience also. The trouble is the grandchildren seem to do real cute things just after I took a pic. An external battery pack has helped with that problem, but I don't think that your flash has a plug for one.

Phil

Going to Rechargeable would help the reduce the cycle time also as the internal resistance of the Ni batteries is less than the standard non-rechargeable battery.