Camera Labs

What is the best brand/type of battery for flashguns?

I ordered an sb600 on saturday and I am expecting it to come within the next couple days.

I was thinking lithiums? Possibly rechargable?


What do you guys think?

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"If I want a 'snapshot'... i will use my phone.."

My Photos:
http://mistycreek.deviantart.com/

Dom Bower did an interesting test here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6c2DVwSc0UY

Cant remember the outcome, but Id use rechargeables to save money.

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Nikon D5000 and D300 with 12-24mm, 35mm f1.8, 50mm f1.4, 60mm f2.8 Macro, 18-200mm, 17-55mm f2.8 (all Nikon)

From memory, alkaline gives you the fastest recycle time, but I just use rechargeables. Slightly less capacity, and slightly longer recycle time, but, better for the environment, and the wallet

I heard Eneloops are quite good (I use home-brand though)

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I take pictures so quickly, my highschool was "Continuous High".

I have two sets (2x4) of Powerex Imedion 2100mah (Ni-MH) with a Maha C401FS charger. The batteries last quite a long time in my SB600 (i haven't done a full shoot without running them completely flat). I'm guessing 200-300 shots easily on 1/8-1/2 power.
The recycle times are quite good too. At low power (1/32, 1/64) I can shoot pretty much flat out on my D90 for a couple of seconds (its a very satisfying feeling... paparazzi-like). At high power you will have to wait ~a second between shots.

EDIT: I stumbled across this comparison while I was buying my batteries
POTN Link

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» Nikon D90 | Nikon D7000 + MB-D11 | Nikon 18-55mm VR | Nikon 17-55 f2.8 | Nikon 80-200 f2.8D | Nikon 35mm f1.8 | Nikon 50mm F1.4 | Sigma 85mm f1.4 | Nikon SB-600 | Think Tank UD-60

Thanks everyone.




Thanks Gnat really helped.

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"If I want a 'snapshot'... i will use my phone.."

My Photos:
http://mistycreek.deviantart.com/

I think I was able to do a 4 second burst on 1/32th +2/3 of a stop power at 8 FPS with my rechargeables, by the way.

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I take pictures so quickly, my highschool was "Continuous High".

@citruspers


What camera did you use at the time? Sounds like a D300s or D2h..

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"If I want a 'snapshot'... i will use my phone.."

My Photos:
http://mistycreek.deviantart.com/

Yeah, that was the D2H. shouldn't matter too much though, since the flash was set to manual and draws no power from the camera.

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I take pictures so quickly, my highschool was "Continuous High".

for my flashes I always use IKEA 10 pack battery cheap and good :p

I also use a battery pack that contains 8 AA batteries, filled with IKEA xD

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http://www.AnderssonPhoto.com
Cameras: Leica M8, Nikon FE-2, Canon EOS 1D Mark IV, 5D Mark II, 40D
Lenses: Voigtländer Nokton Classic 35mm 1.4, Ultra Wide Heliar 12mm 5.6 ASPH II, Nikkor AI-S 28mm 2.8, Canon 24-70 2.8L, 85mm 1.2L II, 300mm 2.8L IS, TS-E 45mm 2.8, Sigma 105mm 2.8 Macro
Canon 1.4x/2X TC II, Canon 580EX II X2, Gitzo + Manfrotto.
Wishlist: Leica Monochrom, Summilux 50 ASPH, Voigtlander 35mm 1.2 ASPH II

Videos like this make me lose all faith in the internet as an educational medium. If you're going to make an informational video and post it on the internet, the least you could do is some research into the topic so that you can provide some useful information to your viewers.

Rechargable NiMH or NiCd batteries will always recycle faster than Alkaline (assuming all other factors are equal) because of the chemicals used and a property called the internal resistance of the battery. See this wikipedia article on internal resistance.

This isn't some arcane knowledge but basic electro chemistry. A quick trip to a chemistry/physics/science forum to ask this question would have got him the answer.

edit: Just realized that this turned into a rant . Sorry about that, but one of the major beefs I have regarding the internet.

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PhilipGoh.com

Well, I guess my memory messed up big time there. Didn't bother with the chemistry part, I never excelled in it.

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I take pictures so quickly, my highschool was "Continuous High".

What about those large batteries that come with the curly cords that plug into the side? Does anyone use these? The recycle time is supposedly faster, and they're also rechargable. You're looking at just over £200 though for one.

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Canon EOS 500D
Lenses: EFS 18-55mm IS, EF 50mm F/1.8 II

Like the Nikon SD-9 or whatever it's called? It supposedly works quite well, if you need fast recycle time. You can also go longer on one charge+one set of batteries.

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I take pictures so quickly, my highschool was "Continuous High".

So do I. I have loads of 10 packs

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Canon DSLRs: 5D Mark III, 7D
Canon lenses: 17-40/4L, 24-105/4L, 24/1.4L II, 50/1.4, 85/1.8, 100/2.8L Macro, 70-200/2.8L IS, 100-400L
Other stuff: Canon Extender 1.4x II, Canon 580 EX II, Canon 430EX II, Velbon Sherpa 600R
Apple: MacBook Pro 15", iMac 27", iPad III, iPhone 4S, Apple TV

My deviantART

More milliamp hours the more power you have to keep up recycle time and they longer they will last, external power packs are the best and you dont need expensive ones 99% of flash guns these days are 4 cells in series (6volt)
A sealed lead acid battery 151mm long 35mm wide from one of the well known high street shops costs £14.99 and puts out 7AH (7000 milliamp hours) so will run a normal off the shelf flash for ages a bit of wire and plug coupler (dont forget to get the polarity the right way around center contact positive) say £6 and a charger around £13.
If you want even more punch you can get larger AH 6v batteries or use two 7AH ones wired in parallel + to + - to - you will then have
14000 milliamp hours at 6v try running that flat on a days shooting