On Camera flash + barrery?

[A_Whelan]

Hey
I know you can have an off camera flash and hook a battery into it to make the flash fire faster (capacitor is always full), although I'm not sure how it is setup up.

So my question is can you hook a battery pack up to a flash while mounted on the camera? Reason being I am going to purchase a flash or two soon, and I see with a lot of skateboard photography they use on flash photography a lot with burst but the flash never keeps up.

Cheers,
Aaron

[SYS]

So my question is can you hook a battery pack up to a flash while mounted on the camera?

Sure, I hook the Canon CP-E4 to my 580EX. Once you hook, though, you're hooked for good, i.e., you never shoot without the external battery pack again... :)

[Titus213]

The battery pack will help you keep up with the action - until the flash overheats and burns up.

Check the specs on the flash to see how many flashes you can get before a safety rest period.

[A_Whelan]

How exactly do they hook up, a cord into the flash? And is it one of those DIY modifies like a sync cord on some flashes?

*Edit scratch that, I see it just plugs in the side of the flash. Blast this university budget I have!

Thanks for the posts
Aaron

[Curtis N]

Just so everyone's clear,

Only some flash units are designed to work with external battery packs. The connection is proprietary, though aftermarket battery packs are available. You need to be careful what you buy, to make sure it's compatible.

[Shooting]

Yep, I have a promaster AND 580ex II and have them both hooked up to a battery and being used on hotshoe with no problem.