need help on batteries for my speedlights....

<p>hi everyone yesterday i was shooting a party and i had 2 nikon sb-600 on the corners and the sb-800 on my camera and i had to keep changing the batteries ,can anybody tell me a good long lasting batteries or what else can i do ,im getting tired to keep changing and changing the batteries ......</p>

<p>We use a lot of off camera speedlites and the combo of these two has proved to be the best. </p>

<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000LNI5VC">http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000LNI5VC</a></p>

<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000RSOV50">http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000RSOV50</a></p>

<p>Goo luck.</p>

<p>You need to forget about relying on the internal AA's and get yourself a high voltage external battery pack. Quantum Turbo is the best known but Lumedyne makes a similar version (be sure to get the one that works with speedlites, not the ones that work only with Lumedyne's own flash heads.) I have both. With either a Turbo or Lumedyne, a full-power manual pop of the flash recycles in about a second. With any form of automatic setting on your flash, from plain old Automatic to iTTL etc., the recycling is virtuually instantaneous. They are good for hundreds of full-power manual shots and thousands of automatic shots per charge. These batteries will work with any brand of flash that has a high voltage connection, and they make cords to fit each model. Not sure with the Nikons, but with my Vivitars you still have to have the AA's in place, but they last a long time because they are only powering the internal electronics of the flash, not the big charge of juice needed to pop the flashtube. I think Nikon may make a high voltage pack of its own, but Turbo is the industry standard with Lumedyne as a close runner up. Both firms also offer very good service -- you can have the battery packs re-celled if needed (if you are shooting every day, you can wear them down after a few years) and can even rebuild the electronics to upgrade them to the latest model when new models come out.</p>

<p>What kind of batteries are you using now? The highest mAh per hour AA's I have seen are 2950 (the highest Eneloop I have seen is 2000). Or you could try something like an Engerizer Advanced Lithium; how those compare to a 2950 mAh rechargeable I can't say, you would have to test them out. However, I don't think there is going to be a <em>great</em> solution: using flash eats AA batteries. The best solution is to use a flash that will accept an external battery pack or a small monolight that you can plug in.</p>

<p>I agree with the recommendation on the external pack. If you are going to use AA rechargeables, there are two things to consider - discharge time and capacity. High capacity batteries are available but you will need to charge them before you head out to shoot. Low discharge batteries like the ones in the first post are better for occasional shooting when you don't want to charge them before each shoot. Also, a charger that charges each battery individually is better than the cheaper chargers. The best place for this is <a href="http://www.thomasdistributing.com/">Thomas Distributing</a>, big selection and good prices.</p>

<p>I have to agree with the Eneloops (or other precharged rechargeables). In my experience they outlast other rechargeables, even ones claiming to hold a larger charge. The nice thing about Eneloops (or other precharged rechargeables) are that they will hold their charge for over a year, where as traditional rechargeables begin to lose their charge immediately after being taken off the charger and are dead within a week. By the time you need the power, the Eneloops still have their charge but the traditionals have already lost a good deal, even when you charge the batteries the night before. Of course external battery packs would last even longer, but they do get spendy.</p>

<p>But one thing I've got to ask, what ISO are you normally shooting at, on what camera, at what aperture? Maybe your batteries are not the issue here.</p>

<p>Were you shooting at full power? I routinely shoot several hour long wedding receptions with one set of Eneloops in the same flashes that you have, and never have to change them out. It just doesn't sound quite right to me that you'd have to keep swapping out unless you were shooting rapidly at full power for an extended amount of time. </p>

<p>Another vote for Sanyo Eneloops and the charger suggested by Manuel Neace.</p>

<p>One answer is to increase your iso a little so your recycle is pulling less juice. The other suggestion is get some power packs (nikon brand for safety) and have one for each off cam then make those the main lights.</p>

<p>dito on the Maha from thomas distributing... best rechargeables out there and they do not get hot in the flash unit like AA's regular or lith's do...</p>

<p>thank you everyone im going to try the Sanyo Eneloops</p>

<p>Eneloops. Period.</p>

<p>I use them in flash and in my Nikon battery pack.</p>

<p>RS</p>

<p>I love the Eneloops myself, but that isn't going to solve the issue. Again, depending on what you were using originally, you might have to change batteries <em>more</em> frequently using the Eneloops. And especially so if you aren't watching which Eneloop you are getting; you want the 2000 mAh version: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/758662-REG/Sanyo_SEC_HR3U8BPN_Eneloop_AA_Rechargeable_Ni_MH.html. While I haven't done any real testing, IMHO, the Eneloop offers a faster recycle time overall, but I am still going to discharge the battery just as fast and since it doesn't store as much power, I would think this means changing the batteries more often. Again, I am just thinking out loud as we typically use an external battery back and still swap AA's during downtime anyway just to stay on top of things.</p>

<p>I've tested eneloop batteries against regular NiMh using a computerized battery analyzer mimicking very heavy flash usage (continous full pops). The executive summary is that regular NiMh lasted about 10% longer if fully charged. If you charge them and then wait a few days before using them the capacity was the same. In recycle speed the eneloops where on average a smidge faster. I also found that there is about 20% variability between different batches of batteries regardless of type.</p>

<p>Eneloop also makes a 2500 mAh version now and other manufacturers also makes <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_self-discharge_NiMH_battery">Low Self Discharge</a> batteries with various capacity.</p>

<p>Looks like the 2500 is vaporware at the moment? I can't seem to find a link to buy any. One report does say that the self-discharge rate of the 2500 was much greater than the typical Eneloop so that looks to be a mixed bag at best. And by your testing, it would seem that an Eneloop isn't going to solve the OP's issue. The <em>only</em> thing that will realistically diminish your need to swap batteries is to use some sort of external power. </p>

<p>John, I think the OP was using regular alkalines so eneloop is a logical first step.</p>

<p>I tested alkalines as well (Duracell Ultra-something) but I can't remember the exact results. I think it was around half the capacity of the eneloops.</p>

<p>Not a fan of Eneloops, don't last as long on full charge as my powerex 2700 MaH nimhs. I don't really need them to stay charged when idle; I recharge them just before the wedding day. Longest lasting battery I have used.</p>

<p>I like battery packs, but there is a high risk of frying your flash with quantum products or similar types. The problem is charge rate and heat generation. There is a somewhat lower risk of damaging your flashes with battery packs like the ones designed specifically for your flashes, even 3rd party versions, because they either use a different circuit system or don't necessarily place the same demands on the flash internals. You can still fry a flash with them, but lower risk. I like the 3rd party CP-E4-like models I got for my 580EXs, and I would buy them again. A recycle is about 1.5-2 seconds from full power (not 1 second but certainly not bad) and I almost never need a full power burst anyway. I have not yet needed to swap out batteries from a battery pack during use in a wedding.</p>

<p>another vote for the enloops!</p>

<p>OK, I'll rephrase what I stated:</p>

<p>Eneloops plus Nikon SD-8 Battery pack for the SB-800.</p>

<p>I have the SD-9 for my SB-900</p>

<p>By the way, the battery charger is important too. The Maha C9000 is the bees knees of AA battery chargers. 4 individual channels, reliable charge termination, and with modes for reconditioning batteries. Some people like the la crosse ones too.</p>

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<p><em>You need to forget about relying on the internal AA's and get yourself a high voltage external battery pack.</em></p>

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<p>The Quantum Turbo 3 is a wonderful external high voltage huge capacity battery and I highly recommend it -- but it doesn't work with an SB600. </p>

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<p>As Ellis said, I am pretty sure that the SB600 does NOT have a HV input jack. So for LONG lasting use, the only option I can think of is an external 6v HIGH capacity pack; using either SLA or D-cell NiMH.</p>