Battery/power options for flash

Hi everyone,

I've been reading and using the forum for a while now, but this is

my first post. I did search for this topic but was hoping for a

little more knowledge.

I have been photographing weddings professionally for a little over

a year now. I shoot with a Canon 20D fitted with a 580ex on a

Stroboframe and occasionally a second 550ex on a lightstand. I have

been using AA's for all my weddings and want to upgrade to a larger

power source with a faster recycle time. I am not very familliar

with all the brands and varieties of flashes and power packs that

are out there and was hoping to get a few opinions. What does

everyone use? I figure there has to be a better and faster way to

power my flashes!

Also...I'm not married to the 580 flash, (I have it on permanent

loan for my co-worker) If anyone has any reccomendations for other

flash units they swear by, I'm all ears.

Thanks in advance for any help. This forum is a great place to learn.

Chris

For my Canon 580ex and 550ex I've been using the Canon CP-E3 AA battery pack. It's

relatively light and cheap and recycles fast. I use it for two cameras and it easily lasts the

entire wedding for me.

 

I've also just invested in a Quantum T4D with Turbo Z power pack that should arrive this

week. The seller tells me that it will put out roughly twice the power of the 580ex. I'm

looking forward to seeing if this is true. Plus it's got complete dedication to the Canon

system I'm told.

Oh, forgot to mention that I load up the CP-E3 with NiMH rechargeables. Just ordered some

more from Thomas Distributing.

quantum Turbo battery pack is an exellent choice. Your flash is fine for an automatic. Your

other choice would be a manual flash system like lumedyne. You must however be

comfortable with flash to subject distance and changing power or aperture manually. The

benifit is consistant flash burst everytime, wich means nothing will fool the flash to cut down

or add a longer flash duration.

 

Michael Mowery

Are you using alkaline batteires or NiMH?

 

If you are using alkaline, i will say this: before you make any move to a separate battery pack, invest in $30 worth of NiMH rechargeables and a $15 charger. Much cheaper than a separate battery pack - in fact, cheaper than alkaline because you recharge them, much more compact and manageable - particfularly if you shoot w/ two bodies, and quite a bit faster to recharge than NiMH's, AND more consistent recharge times from start to finish of the battery's power.

 

I used to shoot AA's, thought that I would need a battery pack, and then tried NiMH's. I got what I wanted - cheaper power, pretty quick recharge times and I can still juggle two cameras with two radio transmitters.

 

As far as I am concerned, alkalines and a handsaw makes for a nice science experiment when curious children want to see what's inside of a battery. My flashes will never see alkalines again.

 

Conrad

<i>NiMH rechargeables</i>

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All that can be said has been said. I'm just adding my vote.

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But I would like to further add:

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I do have spare alkalines in my bag as a last resort. If I use them even for a few pops of the flash, they go in the kitchen drawer for the kids' gameboys and portable cd players.

NiMH AA's will recycle the 550EX in less than 6 seconds max, after a full power pop. The 580EX will be even faster than that. They will keep doing this for nearly 200 full power pops too. Of course most shots only use partial power and the recycle times are considerably shorter. This is all way better than alkalines, which start out fine, but quickly tire. If rechargeables aren't your thing, then use disposable lithiums. They aren't as fast, as NiMH, but are faster than alkalines and last far longer than either.

 

Canon's CP-E3 is probably the best bet in external packs for Canon Speedlites. Full power recycles in 2 seconds or less. They use 8 AA's, and NiMH are the best batteries for them. The unit is also lightweight and one of the least expensive options.

 

The Quantum Turbo will recycle the Canon Speedlites in under 1.5 seconds after a full power pop, lasts all day if the batteries are good, and is generally rated as the fastest option. But it isn't lightweight, or inexpensive. The Turbo Z is smaller, lighter, slower, less powerful, and costs less. It's a good compromize, but not as good as the CP-E3 if you are only using Canon flashes. The Quantums will work with a lot of other brand flash units though. Don't even consider using the Quantum Battery 1+ or Battery 2. They last a long time, but are not quick.

 

There are also more powerful flash units out there. Quantum (and others) make some very powerful units, but check to see if the one you want can do E-TTL metering with your 20D.

 

You can also get some less expensive autoflash units that will work, but won't be quite as simple to opperate. With autoflash you have to set the ISO on the flash, and select an auto aperture range, then keep to that aperture. If you change your ISO or aperture, you have to reset your flash for the changes. Once you get used to it, autoflash works quite well however. Sunpak 544, 555, 622, and Metz 60 and 70 series flashes are all quite good used this way. As with most things, more money buys better lights. BTW, if you consider this you should know that the Sunpak 544,555 and Metz 60 series use 6 AA cells and recycle relatively fast on their own. The 622 and 70 series are better used with external batteries.

Another vote for the CP-E3. The CP-E3 takes 8 AA batteries along with the flash having 4 is a total of 12 batteries! I use rechargeable NiMh's only just for the fact that in the long run they are cheaper than disposables. One thing to consider with adding battery pack to your flash, If you do a lot of burst (probably won't do at a wedding) you could possibly burn out your flash. (just a warning) I use the Cp-E3 on each of my 550EX and they last all day. Actually on your 580, they should recycle faster than the 550.

Another vote for NiMH AAs. 2500 mAh or greater. Plenty fast for most wedding work.

Nothing hanging from your shoulder. If you go this route, get the chargers that allow

discharge and trickle charge. I use 4 chargers that take 4 AAs each, because before I had a

big one that charged more AAs and it went bad the night before a wedding. I won't put all

my eggs in one basket anymore.

 

NiMH batteries do not retain their charge very long when just sitting. Trickle chargers keep

them up to snuff until you're ready to use them.

 

You could consider getting a battery pack for the strobe on stand, so you don't have to

keep checking it for power.

 

IMO, a Quantum is to big for a 20D and unbalances it a bit to much for my tastes ... plus

you are then forced to use a tethered battery pack wether you want to or not. However, the

quality and quantity of light this, or any other, bare-bulb flash produces is excellent.

Unlike the Quantum flashes, the less expensive Sunpak 120J bare-bulb flash is smaller,

lighter and can be used with 4 on-board AAs, or a battery pack. But it isn't as powerful as

the Quantums.

I don't remember what the exact figures and specs are but if you are firing a 580ex faster than a set of NiMH's can recharge it (3 secs with full power on mine), you run a serious risk of blowing the flash unit. The official canon figures for how many shots you can fire in X amount of time are in the manual.

I have both a Dynalite Jackrabbit and Quantum Turbo, as well as an old Armatar gel cel. All of them recycle in about a second for a full power recycle. I tend to use the Jackrabbit a lot because it is the lightest and smallest. I have a contoured shoulder strap on it shortened so that the pack sits right under my left shoulder. I use a 20D and 580EX and do find that I will miss a shot or two, especially candids, if I don't use the faster recycling pack. Otherwise, I use NiMH batteries. Often, I will use the AAs when I don't think I'll need the faster recycling--like in getting ready shots or posed portraits where I can control things. Then, for instance, I'll put the pack on for the ceremony since I've missed a processional or recessional shot on occasion due to recycling. I also use the pack for receptions and in situations where I am using the Lightsphere, which pulls power in darker situations.

Sorry dont want to highjack this tread but have a question for Mark.

Can the Sunpack 120 J be used with a Canon 20D? Wont it damage the

camera?

Sergio

Not to answer for Marc, but I have a 120J and 20D, and you can use them together and it won't damage the camera. The camera can take up to 250 volts sync voltage and the 120J is reported to be about 12 volts. The problem is that even with the Canon module, the 120J TTL won't work with the 20D in ETTL II, which is the only flash implementation besides manual that the 20D understands. You'd have to use it in auto thyristor mode, where you only have 3 auto apertures, the widest (for ISO 400) being f5.6, which is usually a problem these days since much of wedding coverage is being shot with wider apertures. You can't ramp it down for fill unless you put it on 1/16th power, manual mode and do as I do--use a white card for very small amounts of fill. Otherwise, it is a very nice flash. You can somewhat get the nicer light of a larger, parabolic reflector flash by using the Lightsphere in the forward position with the dome in place. By doing so, you turn your small reflector shoemount into a 4.5 inch circular light source. Only problem is light loss--about 3 stops. I always thought that it would be nice to use a Metz 60 or 45 with a 20D (also in auto thyristor mode), for the bigger reflector, and if there was a Lightsphere that would fit it, you could use the flash with it's own bracket and bounce, not worrying about the side shadow issue--and you'd have lots of power. I tried putting a Lighsphere around a bare bulb flash, and it isn't nearly as nice as with shoe mount flashes, probably due to the design of tube. Sorry if I'm rambling...

One more vote for the Canon CP-E3. Use rechargeable NiMH and recycle times are under 2 seconds for a full flash, less than a second for fill flash shots. Very affordable and lightweight option.

Thanks to everyone for the info!

I'll be checking into a few of the seggestions for sure.

Chris