580EX II with Quantum Battery +1

<p>I recently purchased a Quantum MB2 cord that allows the Quantum Battery +1 to power the Canon 580EX II. According to the instructions, you have to place the module that is part of this cord inside the battery compartment of the flash. The cord that attaches to the module is very thick so that the door to the battery compartment on the 580EX II cannot close. Everything works pretty smoothly except that the door to the battery chamber stays wide open. <br>

Quantum provides a strip of Velcro that is supposed to tape down the battery door, but I don't see how that can happen without obstructing access to important buttons and the LCD screen on the flash. Quantum also recommeds removing the battery compartment door, but this is easier said than done and might void the warranty . Does anybody have any experience with this configuration and can provide some recomendations. The way I seet it I'm better off with the dedicated battery pack. </p>

 

<p>Some cut a hole on the battery cover (rather typical for Quantum designs). I wonder what the Quantum offers that the CP-E4 not.</p>

<p>It was a simple Google of <strong>580EX II with Quantum Battery +1 </strong>and clicking on Images. Hope this helps a bit:<br>

http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd265/mt_stringer/Basketball/FlashSetup-650.jpg&imgrefurl=http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php%3Ft%3D747991&usg=__JK30S80xcb92205cMsZnVFy04Dc=&h=811&w=650&sz=96&hl=en&start=5&sig2=73SD8mP77GYgEFZRojLu4g&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=-vWoTI1FHwjB9M:&tbnh=144&tbnw=115&prev=/images%3Fq%3D580EX%2BII%2Bwith%2BQuantum%2BBattery%2B%252B1%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-GB:official%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=Sm0vTL2BD4e2nAfdoYmNBQ</p>

 

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<p>It was a simple Google of <strong>580EX II with Quantum Battery +1 </strong>and clicking on Images. </p>

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<p>That's not the 580EXII in the image.</p>

 

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<p>Some cut a hole on the battery cover</p>

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<p>That pretty much does away with one of the key features of the 580EXII, which is weather sealing.</p>

 

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<p>I wonder what the Quantum offers that the CP-E4 not.</p>

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<p>The Quantum can be used on a wide variety of flashes with just a cable change. It can be easily recharged. On the other hand, if it runs out, it runs out, whereas the CP-E4 allows a battery change with AAs.<br>

<br />The question I have always had about this setup is why Quantum won't produce a cable that plugs into the flash directly. The connector is there, and they do this for other flashes. Seems like a corner-cutting thing by Quantum.</p>

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<p><strong>That's not the 580EXII in the image.</strong></p>

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<p>Thanks Jeff. Shame on me and shame on the poster, MT Stringer, in that link for identifying the flash as a 580EX II.<strong><br /></strong></p>

<p>Peter,</p>

<p>MT goes on to say it is a 540EZ.</p>

<p>Thanks Scott.</p>

<p>A Quantum Battery 1+ is a low voltage battery pack with a nice large reserve. I doubt it recycles the flash significantly quicker than using 4 good NiMH batteries in the flash. It's certainly not as fast as a Quantum Turbo or even a CP-E3/4, and they plug right in to the flash's high voltage port. I used one years ago, but I can't see why anybody would want one for a modern flash.<br>

Sorry Harry, but I think you're better off without it.</p>

<p>BTW, the 580EX II has a very good low DC to high DC converter built in, so it will recycle pretty fast with the Battery 1+, but it's no slouch with internal NiMH's either. But that internal DC to DC converter heats up the flash pretty fast, and that can be a problem with a 580EX II. A nice advantage to using a high voltage pack like a Turbo or CP-E3/4 is the DC to DC converter is in the external battery pack, so you can shoot more/faster without overheating the flash.</p>

<p>Quantum is a grand old name in the photo flash power industry, but Canon has been marketing cheap high capacity power options for it's premium strobes for quite a few years now. I have a few, and I have never had one go belly up on me. They preserve all of the features of the strobe without compromise, even the weather sealing on newer models. They deliver plenty of power to complete most shooting events with full flash performance on a single set of NiMH batteries, and offer a ten second battery tray swap when you go beyond the limit.</p>

<p>They also sport camera tripod screw base mount, Velcro accessory mount to most anything, or user waist belt mount choices as a standard feature. They are also very light weight accessories. Here is a shot of one of three that I use (I think it is the older CP-E3 model), and it is still the best thing since sliced bread for high capacity power with all of my 580EXxx strobes. No cutting corners or doors, no compromise, no loss in recycle time compared to a Quantum solution. I suggest that you reserve your Quantum power supply for non Canon strobes you might own over time, or just use it as a backup power source, and buy a CP-E4 to power your 580EXII today. It really is a factory solution that doesn't beg for a cheaper or better alternative... It simply works as if it was purpose built exactly for a 580EXxx strobes (or an MT-24EX strobe). Then again, it really was purpose built for exactly that type of service. And pretty cheap, to boot.....</p>

<p><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4142/4759407175_ef6da1941c.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></p>

<p> </p>

<p>The good thing about the Quantum is the Battery Guage that lets you know how much power you got left. That's why I decided to pick one up on eBay(after mine was stolen 2 years ago) which happened to come with the MB2 module and cord. I also have a Quantum MKZ3 cord and module that fits my 550EX and my Metz 58-AF1.<br />In my opinion the Quantum +1 does not perform any better than my CP-E3 when it comes to recycle rate with the those flash units, not sure about the amount of pops you can get from a charge since I haven't tested that yet.<br />The QB does recycle the 580EX II pretty fast almost instantaenously, the problem is with the battery door. I would rather go with the CP-E3/E4 than voiding the warranty on my 580EX II.<br>

Another problem might be the automatic shut-off on the 580EX II , but I'm not sure if that's an issue yet.</p>

<p>"Another problem might be the automatic shut-off on the 580EX II , but I'm not sure if that's an issue yet"<br>

Because of the automatic shut-off on the 580EX II, you have to hit the Test button to get the power flowing again. On the Metz 58-AF1 the recycle rate is a horrendous 4.5 seconds(off camera). On the 550EX the recycle rate is about 2.5 seconds (off camera) but the flash makes this annoying beebing sound every second or so, although you could barely hear it. On the 580EX II the recycle rate is instantaenous(off camera), I'll keep you posted...<br>

By the way the cost for a Metz power pack is astronomical. You are better off with a set of powerX batteries with back-ups. </p>

<p>I prefer the Canon CP-e4 dedicated power as the unit is nice and small. When I am shooting weddings or high end events I am in suit and want to look neat not like the photographer. Also, the Canon has multiple batter cassettes if I do ever drain the 8 battery cassette I just drop in my backup 8 battery cassette in seconds. I use 2600 Maha energizer rechargables and always have plenty of power because I have like 24 of these batteries. Flash power is one thin I don't worry about with 580 EX II and external Canon battery pack.</p>

<p>With the flash (580EX II, 550EX, 58-AF1 and Vivitar 283) attached to the Hotshoe of the camera in modes(AV, TV, P, M) and powered by a fully charged QB +1, the recycle rate is less than 1 second for all 4 flashes, unless you set the flash to full power.<br>

The battery door issue is not as much as a problem on the 550EX, the 58-AF1 or the Vivitar 283 as it is on the 580EX II which has a much wider door and the cable sticks out from the top of the door instead of the bottom.</p>

<p>Harry, how fast does the QB1+ recycle the 580EXII after a full power manual pop? The CP-E3/4 does it in about 1.1 to 1.2 seconds. I've always been curious about this. I used my QB1+ with a Vivitar 285 and Canon 550EX, but neither of these have as good DC to DC converter as the 580EXII</p>

<p>Like some others, I've never had my CP-E3 run out of power at a wedding. That's usually 1000+ flash shots for me. Some of these are just fill flash, but most are full flash with a diffuser in place. I used to expect to run out of power, but I never did.</p>

<p>Jim, with a fully powered QB1+ the recycle rate with a 580EX II at Full power is about 2 seconds, but the QB1+ takes about 3 seconds to recover fully. By recovering fully I mean that all 4 lights on the Battery Guage are lit up.</p>

<p>Thank you, Harry. 2 seconds for a full power recycle is not bad at all.</p>