Do you guys recommend battery packs for speedlites?

30? 5-6 in put my DI866 in overheat territory.

chris_holtmeier wrote in post #15140080
30? 5-6 in put my DI866 in overheat territory.

That flash must have a low threshold.

chris_holtmeier wrote in post #15140080
30? 5-6 in put my DI866 in overheat territory.

I'd certainly agree that 5-6 is very far from indiscrimate machine-gunning. However, if that puts your Nissin into overheat mode then there is something very seriously wrong with the unit and not the user. Canon, Metz and Yongnuo all mention a figure of 15-20 as something it is preferable not to exceed - it is likely that each has built a safety margin into their figure but any of those is 3 times what you appear to be getting. I'd be worried about the flashgun, personally.
Of course external battery packs aren't a universal panacea - nothing is. But they are an option which can be helpful in certain circumstances, for some people.

rklepper wrote in post #15139937
But none-the-less a much better option.

But if the price exceeds the prescribed budget, it isn't any sort of an option at all. Good, bad or indifferent. Just basic economics.
It's about as fatuous as Marie-Antoinette's much quoted response concerning the starving of Paris when they had no bread, "Let them eat cake".

I don't doubt for one moment that it's a good power pack; just not in the context of someone enquiring about the wisdom of considering units which are less expensive than the Canon option first mentioned.

I don't use my flash often, but when I do need it I could also use some faster recycling times - unfortunately, as far as I know, 430 EX II can't use an external battery pack. If I had an 580 EX II, I would use the extra pack.

Mistabernie wrote in post #15138463
I have yet to personally meet anyone else that disposes of depleted batteries correctly.

Well, I put all my used batteries in a small plastic container and when it gets full, I take it to any store that has a battery collection bin. It takes no extra effort and I can do it while going out to buy milk.

Tessa wrote in post #15142059
Well, I put all my used batteries in a small plastic container and when it gets full, I take it to any store that has a battery collection bin. It takes no extra effort and I can do it while going out to buy milk.

Likewise. It takes no effort whatsoever and just might make a bit of a difference.

The hidden aspect of this disposable vs rechargeable debate which is seldom mentioned is the environmental impact of the manufacture of all those use-once batteries. If we take the claimed recycle capacity of even cheapo rechargeables of 500 cycles, we're looking at making 4 rechargeable cells or 2000 disposables. That's one heck of a difference - even before the disposal aspect!

There are certain items which are much, much better using disposable batteries (YN-622C, Pixel King, my wife's old Olympus compact) but generally speaking I believe we all have a responsibility to use power sources responsibly. For me, in the majority of cases this means using rechargeable accumulators such as Eneloops or Imedions. Even SLAs, with their lead content, are arguably better for the planet than trillions of disposable batteries. Lithium is questionable but thank goodness we've just about got rid of Cadmium - horrid, horrid stuff.

Well the original question was, Re: Do you guys recommend battery packs for speedlites?

I do not recommend any of them. Too many batteries to carry around. I think it is silly to carry that many aa batteries.

rklepper wrote in post #15143946
Well the original question was, Re: Do you guys recommend battery packs for speedlites?

I do not recommend any of them. Too many batteries to carry around. I think it is silly to carry that many aa batteries.

It's silly to carry adequate quantities of batteries around??

cdifoto wrote in post #15144102
It's silly to carry adequate quantities of batteries around??

It’s even sillier to not carry a sufficient amount of spare cells when out in-the-field.

Wayne

rklepper wrote in post #15143946
Well the original question was, Re: Do you guys recommend battery packs for speedlites?

I do not recommend any of them. Too many batteries to carry around. I think it is silly to carry that many aa batteries.

One of the first things I learned as a young commercial photographer was to plan for the job, then add some extras.

Its rare when I need more than two sets of batteries for a wedding. And two is primarily because I change them preemptively rather than risk a problem at a key moment.

Even so, I have enough batteries in my rolling case --its got all the spares-- for another two changes.

And over heating is primarily a problem based on output and speed of shooting. If the speedlite is having to work to more than 1/4 to 1/2 power then 5 or 6 quick shots may warm it up. I used Di866s on my ControlTL stuff all last year and never had an overheating problem, always with battery packs.

dmward wrote in post #15145329
One of the first things I learned as a young commercial photographer was to plan for the job, then add some extras.

This. Are packs recommended? I'd say yes if you value your time and the shoot. Take the flipside. If you paid someone to do your wedding and in the middle of the group shots the flashes stopped firing and the rest of the shots look like you were all standing in a cave. How would you feel? Or a commercial shoot where you kept your employees around after hours or on a weekend and the photographer left to go to 7-eleven to buy some batteries. Would you ever hire them again? Personally I don't want to be at that shoot.

5W0L3 wrote in post #15137335
I usually shoot with 2 flashes off camera for a maximum of 5-6 hours at a time (those are the longest events i've done).

Do you guys think its worth investing in battery packs which allow 8 x AA batteries?.. or do you guys think they are usually a waste of money and its better to have just 4 extra AA batteries in the bag and just change them 3-4 hours into the event?

If you don't need faster charge time, and if replacing batteries in a flash during the event is not a concern, then you don't need a battery pack. If either of those are a concern then yes.

As far as the Jacob's black box it is not a good general solution. They are heavy due to the lead battery and they do not supply a high voltage output. The six volts needs to be converted by the flash. External packs with voltage converters will allow your flash to run cooler as the voltage conversion is done in the battery pack.

I would go for a non-Canon battery pack but not all battery packs are created equal. Some of the cheapest ones have a lower power converter and you don't get that much of a speed increase. If you want to save money by not going with Canon then do some research on the packs considered.

rudy_216 wrote in post #15146610
As far as the Jacob's black box it is not a good general solution. They are heavy due to the lead battery and they do not supply a high voltage output. The six volts needs to be converted by the flash. External packs with voltage converters will allow your flash to run cooler as the voltage conversion is done in the battery pack.

So the Jacob's black box is nothing more than a Quantum Battery 1 copy.

IMO the best battery pack available is the original Quantum Turbo selling for around $100-150 used and with a new battery for $16. The battery is very easy to install, three small screws to remove and the battery just unclips.

One thing I like about the Turbo is that it can be used with many different strobes. I have used mine to power a Canon 580EX II, Metz 45 CL-1, Metz CL-4, Metz 58 AF-1, Metz 58 Af-2, Sunpak 544, Sunpak 622, and many Vivitar 283s.

My experience with my Turbos, even after putting new batteries into them, was that they do not recycle the speedlite as fast as a Pixel, or Canon, or YN pack.

I sold them with the Q-Flashes I had and got more Pixel packs. Today was a 6 hour gig, 3 600EX-RTs, one on camera for all shots but during the ceremony, two more for all the shots in the reception hall plus outside. Never changed batteries. 4 packs and 4 extra trays, along with at least 4 4cell holders backing up the in-flash batteries. Having primary plus backup, if I still had Turbos, would mean 8 of them. That's a lot of SLAs to keep in condition.

I have four speedlites and six battery packs... so... yes, for professionals. PixelHK work well for me.

cdifoto wrote in post #15138007
Screwdrivers can help you pop out those batteries as well.

I have a tiny Swiss Army knife which lives on my keyring.