580 EX Mk II Battery Life?

[GregSteer]

Hi,

Just received my 580 yesterday and need to order some decent batteries for it (800mah NiCads that are a few years old won't cut it) but how many should I need to buy?

Looking at a 4 pack (1 load) of 2700mah - how long / how many flashes should these provide? Is it worth getting a second/third set as well ?

[jrsforums]

Hi,

Just received my 580 yesterday and need to order some decent batteries for it (800mah NiCads that are a few years old won't cut it) but how many should I need to buy?

Looking at a 4 pack (1 load) of 2700mah - how long / how many flashes should these provide? Is it worth getting a second/third set as well ?

I suggest getting Eneloop batteries. Do a search, lots of info. 2 sets of 4 should keep ya.

[cdifoto]

Looking at a 4 pack (1 load) of 2700mah - how long / how many flashes should these provide? Is it worth getting a second/third set as well ?

Depends how heavy of a flash user you are and how you use the flash. Higher ISO shooting in smaller rooms requires a lot less flash power than low ISO shooting in big rooms. The less power you use per shot, the longer the batteries will last between recharges.

I recommend at least having 2 sets...one on the charger, one in the flash. Swap out as necessary. Only downtime would be between battery changes.

[topher04r1]

i recently wrote about this for my blog....

http://topher04r1.blogspot.com/2008/03/batteries.html