rechargeables for the Camera Flash?

[StygShore]

Any Photographers around here?

My wife is a photographer ( Nikon D70 ), and we have tried various brands of rechargeable batteries over the years ( AA ), and quite frankly, they all suck at recharing the flash fast enough.

We are burning through a case of Duracell Procell batteries pretty regularly becasue they seem to have the best performance.


With some of the newer batteries and tech out there, I figured somoene has to have come up with something better.

Thanks


Styg

[PyRo]

Go up to the tech forum and find out what kind of rechrgable 9v batterys people are useing. I know they're good batteries and I'm sure the same company makes AAs.

[StygShore]

rechargeables

Battery type for a Camera Flash and a paintball gun need 2 different types of properties really.

Battery for a paintball gun needs to have sustained power, where for something like a hopper it will maintain its push on the ball stack.

A Camera Flash needs a fast recharge so it can Flash, reset and Flash again as quickly as possible.


Styg

[MantisMag]

HAHAAAAA. something i know about! i too have a d70 and an sb-600.

i found this to be extremely useful.

long story short pick up a Maha C-204W charger and some Energizer NiMH rechargable batteries. i have and i'm VERY happy with them. just remember that they lose their charge somewhat quickly while sitting. something like 1% a day so just leave a set in the charger to trickle charge and keep them topped off.

[StygShore]

powerexx

Noticed MAHA Powerexx have a 2700 battery out now too...

I have the 9.6v for my paintball equipment, maybe i;ll check ouot their AA's for the camera.


Styg

[Hexis]

Rechargables are ok, but you have delt with the life issues. AAs get expensive, and once used, they are forever tainted by an unknown life expentancy.

The real way to do it, is with Quantum battery packs. The Battery-1/1c/2 series is like a big rechargable pack that provides the flash with the power at the same voltage it normally uses. Since the pack is larger, the flash recharges about as fast as is possible, with that voltage of battery. I use the Battery-1 often for event photography (I'll eventually get a Turbo2x2, but for now I can rent Bat1s cheap).

The Quantum Turbo series does things differently. It provides power to some specific flashes at very high voltage. This allows for a recharge so fast you can easily burn the flash head (something you would not want to do). the Turbo 2x2 also has a second power output that you can powere the camer with.

These are serious money, if you/she shoots enough, they will pay for themselves in battery savings pretty quickly.

[StygShore]

cost

she has looked at these packs before, and 2 problems:

1. Cost, holy crap its a battery!!! why do they cost so much?!?!?!
2. Number of shots off a charge - she normally takes 600-1000 shots during a longer wedding or event photography. By the looks of the chart, these packs are only good for about 300 shots on average.

Obviously having multpiles of these batteires is not going to happen ( goes back tot he cost thing ) But she has been lookin into it.

She works for a camera shop, but even her insane dicount prices are crazy on those batteries!


Styg

[Hexis]

My sense of cost is slightly, um, warped. After spending $3k on my camera, those feel affordable.

Those numbers are for full charge flashes. Most of the time you are not using the full capacity of the flash, so real world numbers are both more shots, and faster recharge. That and they do charge quickly, so if there is any down time, just charge them back up.

[MantisMag]

yeah i had a feeling you'd recommend that. but i also figured if he's looking here for help that's not for them.

i bought the charger and several sets of batteries for under $50. it's not a matter of whether the quantum battery pack is a good thing to have. it's the cost/benefit ratio. at full charge NiMH AA batteries charge your flash plenty fast for normal shooting. unless you're doing a burst shot with flash or firing at full power (neither of which is advisable) you're not going to have a problem. and at that price you can have enough spares that she can swap the batteries whenever there's a lull.

the fact that it will get many more flashes than it states on the chart is of course correct. i wonder what guide number that is though. i don't see it. i'm sure the numbers will be close. i'm just curious.

That and they do charge quickly, so if there is any down time, just charge them back up.

it doesn't matter how fast it charges if she doesn't have a second set of batteries. unless it's instant it's not fast enough.

[StygShore]

cost

Yeah she was lookign at the newest Nikon comeras, and I told her maybe she should start makiing a littl emore wiht her camera before she goes and buys another one.


Styg

[Hexis]

yeah i had a feeling you'd recommend that. but i also figured if he's looking here for help that's not for them.

i bought the charger and several sets of batteries for under $50. it's not a matter of whether the quantum battery pack is a good thing to have. it's the cost/benefit ratio. at full charge NiMH AA batteries charge your flash plenty fast for normal shooting. unless you're doing a burst shot with flash or firing at full power (neither of which is advisable) you're not going to have a problem. and at that price you can have enough spares that she can swap the batteries whenever there's a lull.

the fact that it will get many more flashes than it states on the chart is of course correct. i wonder what guide number that is though. i don't see it. i'm sure the numbers will be close. i'm just curious.

it doesn't matter how fast it charges if she doesn't have a second set of batteries. unless it's instant it's not fast enough.

If you can quantify the benefit from a pack, let's see some numbers. Missing a shot because you are busy swapping yet another set of AAs out may not be acceptiable in some situations. I'm just presenting an option other than rechargable AA batteries and normal AA batteries.

The powersource will not effect the power output of the flash. The GN is not going to change.

Well, if she is shooting over a long weekend, she is probably going to sleep at some point. And a set of AA batteries can fill in in a pinch. With a pack you can benefit from the speed and capacity. If she shoots through it, you can just pop in some AAs while the pack recharges for a while. If she is shooting that much, the cost of the pack will pay for itself in AA savings.

If a local rental house offers one of the Quantum packs (prob a Battery-1) I would recomend renting one for a weekend and seeing if it's worth the cost to her.

[StygShore]

good call

Good call, I'll bet someone rents one, or she can barrow one from one of the unteen photographers at her shop.

I'll have her test it out to see if it's worth the investment.


Styg

[MantisMag]

If you can quantify the benefit from a pack, let's see some numbers. Missing a shot because you are busy swapping yet another set of AAs out may not be acceptiable in some situations. I'm just presenting an option other than rechargable AA batteries and normal AA batteries.

my sb-600 manual quotes 220 shots and a 2.5 second recharge time firing at full power from a 2000mAh NiMH battery. i've got 2500 mAh batteries here and i know they come in at least 2700mAh capacities. i also doubt nikon went through the trouble of using a premium charger. compare this to the 150 and 250 quoted on quantum's website. there goes your capacity argument. even if capacity is an issue, i believe it's customary to take a short break or two and certainly there's plenty of opportunities where she can take 30 seconds or so to swap batteries without missing anything of great import.

The powersource will not effect the power output of the flash. The GN is not going to change.

i was referring to the power draw of the flash unit. how powerful of a flash were they using when they got those numbers? if you're using a bigger flash you'll obviously get less shots at full power.

If she is shooting that much, the cost of the pack will pay for itself in AA savings.

but it won't. not when rechargeable AAs will also save her money on buying alkalines and cost much less.

like i said before i'm not arguing that the quantum packs are not good. just that it's probably not worth the cost for them. i think you're shortchanging the rechargeables. if powering a hotshoe flash is all you need then the only thing the quantum pack has on them is recharge time. as the power is depleted the batteries will be slower to charge the flash's capacitors. i believe the quantum pack has circuitry to help keep recharge speeds up. it's probably got capacitors that it's constantly charging. that way as you're busy composing your shot it's getting ready to recharge your flash afterward using its capacitors instead of drawing directly from the batteries. btw the batteries inside are the same batteries you'd be buying in AA form. you're really paying for the assosciated circuitry and all those fun connectors.

[Hexis]

like i said before i'm not arguing that the quantum packs are not good. just that it's probably not worth the cost for them.

That's not a decision you can make for all photographers, only for yourself.

[MantisMag]

which is why i said "probably" and "for them". i'm not making the decision for all photographers. i'm giving my opinion, quantified as probably (not definitely), for their specific case. you're the one that's pushing your choice of power solution.