I Love My 580-EX BUT........

it chews up Alkaline batteries at a horrifying rate.

I'll set up a fresh set in my 580 (series 1) and my two 430s. Withing 10 clicks, the 430s are fine but I end up waiting a LOOONG time for the 580 to recharge between shots. It gets to the point where I tell the model to relax until it's ready.

Any ideas for getting some better (meaning faster) recharging?

Thanks.

Get some hybrid rechargeables like Sanyo Eneloops or Uniross Hybrios. The refresh rate is much much better and they don't empty out quite so fast.

Also....you shooting TTL or manual? If you shoot manual and can get away with 1/2 power of less you get more pops....

I would also look into an external battery pack.

Buy yourself a few sets of Sanyo Eneloops and enjoy!

Eneloops are great, but any NiMh battery is going to be much better than your standard Alkalines.. Even the store-bought Energizer/Duracell rechargeable will be a night and day difference.

I have Eneloops and they seem to last forever in my 460ii's. I never use non-rechargable batteries in any of my photo equipment (except that funny fat battery in the 602 trigger).
Can those 580's take an external power source?

I've never had that problem.

It kind of goes against intuition, but like everyone else said, rechargeable batteries will recycle the flash faster than alkalines.

You might also want to look into getting an external battery pack. The Pixel TD-381 is a very popular alternative to Canon's CP-E4. You'll get just over a 1 second recycle on 1/1 power and almost instant on lower power levels.

I shoot with a Nikon SB-900 which is essentially the same as a 580EXII in terms of power and power consumption. After the first event I shot using only the internal AA's I knew that I not only needed rechargeable's but need the battery life of battery packs like the Pixel and Yongnuo.

If you're doing casual shooting and not working the flash hard, either in TTL or Manual modes, then you don't feel it as much or sometimes not at all.

If you're shooting events you find out quickly that your budget for AA batteries just grew significantly or you need a better solution and with the price of external battery packs as low as they are, it's the best and most cost effective solution around.

Thanks everyone. I'll check out the battery packs. Rechargeables didn't do very much for me.

I use ordinary rechargeable Energizer batteries in flash and CP-E4.
Works fine. Images like theserequire a lot of power, shot outdoors in the dark. But with the CP-E4 connected, the flash was always ready to shoot. Last time I did this, I didn't have any CP-E4, and that made quite a lot of difference.

Doesn't 580 EX II has temperature sensor that prevents it from firing in case of overheating.
You getting delayed recharging after 10 clicks, that's most likely what it is, not battery.

I'd encourage you to reconsider the rechargable batteries - long term they are certainly far more environmentally friendly and also far more pocket friendly - they'll cost you a lot less than always having to buy more regular batteries.

However rechargable batteries come with one highcost upfront part and that is a good quality recharger. The cheap 1hour/30min type ones are no good at all, especially for flash batteries which go through a lot of recycles. These fast recharges will kill the long life of the battery very fast.
A good recharger such as models by Powerrex/Maha is an ideal solution. Yes they take longer to recharge, but they make up for that in the improved life span and performance of the battery.

The Enloops and hybrid batteries are also really worth going for since once recharged they hold their charge for a very long time, even when installed into the flash. If you find yourself going days without using the flash and then needing it suddenly they are a fantastic solution.


Finally with regard to battery packs remember whilst these let you pop more shots faster you've got to give you flash time to cool - don't always trust to built in limiters, impose your own otherwise you might find that your flash goes POP and you've got to buy a new flash tube.

Andrew_WOT wrote in post #12201800
Doesn't 580 EX II has temperature sensor that prevents it from firing in case of overheating.
You getting delayed recharging after 10 clicks, that's most likely what it is, not battery.

He has the 580ex, not the 580exII.

I'm thinking something else might be up. You might be somehow using it at close to full pop. Or there's a problem with the capacitor.
A story that I've told before...
I had a friend that was selling a 550. He used it with an external pack for years and it did fine for him. He let me try it out and it was horrible at recycling with batteries, therefore I didn't buy it.
In my mind, he somehow caused the capacitor to need that boost every time. AA's weren't enough.
Not scientific by any means, but that's what I think happened.