What batteries for the fastest recycling of flash?

good day I need help I am a photogrpher for the world media meaning I shoot for publishers and television news etc, for around the globe outlets and countries. My line of work has only seconds at a time to get the perfect shot. I shoot 8 to 10 fps for 2sec up to max burst that camera will allow give it a few to cycle and again at full speed. I'll give you an example iraqi is about to launch an RPG into housing complex were us marine are the us marine calls in the saw/heavy machine gunner to sweep RPG guy, us marine comes to a window and shoots of about 60 rounds in a minute hitting the RPG guy. All this happen in less than 3 minutes I need to capture the full story shoot as fast as technology allows me on order to document the whole thing and in that find later the perfect image. This is a 16 hour a day, job and a 7 day a week. My question is what batteries would be best for the fastest recycle time for the flash I shoot canon and so I own the 580 exII. I carry 4 cameras on me 2 with long lens which out of the 2, 1 has a flash mounted on it. The other 2 are short lenses which 1 of them carries a flash also. I use lumedyne battery packs HV's.

My other question is when I am back home I would like to start using rechargable batteries for my remote controls my new born toys etc. So 1st Q. Is for my work what type of rechargable batteries are best and 2nd Q. What type of rechargable batteries are best for my home thanks in advance.

Pap i'll ask a moderator to split your question off to a new topic, it's not really related to this one.

You'd be better off shooting ambient, no flash will keep up with 10fps for 2 seconds while putting out any significant power. Your best best is to use a big battery pack like a quantum, but they're quite heavy. A Canon CP-E4 with eneloop AA batteries would be close in performance but much lighter.

Eneloop are probably fine for home electronics too. I just use cheap alkalines too, since they last ages and don't cost much. Traditional NiMH cells lose charge even when they're not used, Eneloop don't anywhere near as much.

Canon Speedlites with an external high voltage battery pack, Quantum, Canon or knock offs are your only hope. At the frame rates you are expecting they better be firing at about 1/64 power.

I've never shot in the situation you describe but that kind of stuff screams for high ISO ambient light.

If you think you need a flash, then any high voltage pack will help, just test to see how many frames a second are possible at what ISO.

A Quantum pack will give you the best chance but even so you won't get the flash firing in every frame. Make sure, if you're buying second hand, that the Quantum has a new cell as older cells lose power pretty quickly.

NiZN AA's are another option but they're not as long lasting as the Quantum (and have a nasty habit of blowing flashes).

Ultimately unless you're shooting in the dark (so can shoot at ISO 1600 or so) you'll always struggle.

thanks everyone. As I mention above I use lumedyne HV packs and as I mention too I work 16 hours day and night so I shoot days none flash and sometimes I need the flash and nights same thing. High ISO is last resort do to world media outlets prefer the finest prints, for the past five years I use alkaline but now I'm thinking of rechargable batteries. I use a pack but flash still needs batteries inside to help push the limites, I shoot day and night depending on situation with flash or not. I only have seconds to capture the images can't afford to miss shots so I either put alkaline batteries new every day, twice a day or every 2 days depending how much shooting went on. I charge the packs every day or twice a day again depending on how much shooting. Like I said I dont have that type of time to risk in the middle of a big story to have flash skip alot and wait long recycle times. So I need always my packs at full power and fresh batteries in flash.

From what I've read and in my own (hobbiest) tests, the NiZN batteries are the fastest. Here's a link to my tests and comparisons of NiZN AA in the 580EX as well as in a battery pack, http://lightdescriptio​n.blogspot.com/search/​label/NiZn

I'm still using the NiZN in the 580EX.

I might try these since folks claim they work fine in the speedlites:

Best deal here:

http://www.amazon.com …TF8&qid=1298821​553&sr=8-2


Regards,

Maha Power Ex 2800maH NiMh work really nice for me. I use Enloops as well because my flash might sit for a week or so before use.

I haven't seen recharge rates published by Canon, but for a Yongnuo 468 using NiMh batteries cuts a 2-3 sec charge time to 1 sec.

If I was in your shoes I would get a 8 cell charger from Maha/Power Ex and 8-16 NiMh batteries. You could try both the Enloop (I think they are rated at 2000 NiMh) or the Power Ex 2800's and see which last longer.

GordonSBuck wrote in post #11922581
From what I've read and in my own (hobbiest) tests, the NiZN batteries are the fastest. Here's a link to my tests and comparisons of NiZN AA in the 580EX as well as in a battery pack, http://lightdescriptio​n.blogspot.com/search/​label/NiZn

I'm still using the NiZN in the 580EX.

Great blog. I learn something new each day.

Silverfox1 wrote in post #11922860
I might try these since folks claim they work fine in the speedlites:

Best deal here:

http://www.amazon.com …TF8&qid=1298821​553&sr=8-2


Regards,

Those are the ones I use.

MANY professionals have fried their flashes with NiZn batteries. They're 1.6V instead of the 1.2V most rechargeable batteries are, and the electronics in the Canon 5x0 series can't handle it forever.

PowerEx 2800mah are good, but i've heard reports that the newer batches aren't as good as old. Eneloop are what I buy now, they work very well, and they will cycle much faster than alkaline.

As people have said there's no way you're going to get 10fps at ISO100, or even ISO400, with this level of equipment. Modern cameras are totally fine even at ISO1600, at that level flash power used is low so it can keep up more easily too. I guess the options are get the shot with grain, or miss the shot because your flash can't keep up. Seems like an easy choice.

tim wrote in post #11924566
MANY professionals have fried their flashes with NiZn batteries. They're 1.6V instead of the 1.2V most rechargeable batteries are, and the electronics in the Canon 5x0 series can't handle it forever.

PowerEx 2800mah are good, but i've heard reports that the newer batches aren't as good as old. Eneloop are what I buy now, they work very well, and they will cycle much faster than alkaline.

As people have said there's no way you're going to get 10fps at ISO100, or even ISO400, with this level of equipment. Modern cameras are totally fine even at ISO1600, at that level flash power used is low so it can keep up more easily too. I guess the options are get the shot with grain, or miss the shot because your flash can't keep up. Seems like an easy choice.

Glad you chimed in as i was just about to order the below Maha PowerEx MH-C801D charger & 8 of the PowerEx 2700 mAh Batterys :

http://www.amazon.com …ics&qid=1298829​579&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com …ics&qid=1298829​579&sr=8-3

Guess i could still buy the PowerEx charger & instead purchase the Eneloop batterys.

BTW, where have read or heard the quality of the PowerEX products has declined ?

Regards,

On a pro wedding photographers forum, but i've never had a problem with them. The Maha charger's a good one, I have one, it works with Powerex or Eneloop cells - any NiMH cells really.

PowerEx are amazing. The recycling time is short, but the problem I'm having is that they get real hot. Though you need to factor it was pretty sunny and humid =s

saliva27 wrote in post #11934793
PowerEx are amazing. The recycling time is short, but the problem I'm having is that they get real hot. Though you need to factor it was pretty sunny and humid =s

Speed = heat...both are issued caused by your charger, not the batteries! See if your charger has an option to reduce the rate of charge.

Wilt wrote in post #11936360
Speed = heat...both are issued caused by your charger, not the batteries! See if your charger has an option to reduce the rate of charge.

Wilt I think they mean the batteries get hot in the flash. That's because they're firing the flash a lot, nothing to do with the charger.

The solutions are:
- Use a battery pack, and set the batteries in the flash to just run the electronics. I set them to use the internal batteries too.
- Increase your ISO, so less power is required.