C J Campbell wrote:

On 2008-01-18 08:30:46 -0800, Whiskers said:

I don't know if it's the case with that particular flash unit, but some
have a capacitor that can hold enough charge for several flashes (how
many, depending in how much power is used for each flash, which varies
with most modern automatic systems). That means that the flash can be
ready for the next shot very quickly - but if you take a lot of shots in
rapid succession, the capacitor becomes discharged more quickly than the
battery can charge it up again and when that happens you have to wait a
bit longer than 'usual' for the 'flash ready' indicator to re-appear.

It is not just that. Flash strobes will also overheat if you take too many
pictures in quick succession. Recycle times become longer to keep you from
damaging the flash. So sometimes just letting it cool for a few minutes is
all you need to do.

Last year I think I smoked a cap on an old thyristor Vivitar. I didn't
see the magic smoke, but I sure smelled it. It's still in use, though --
AC operation wasn't affected.


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