Most flashes - what cells?

I usually use Eneloop cells in my flash equipment, but I have a job on Saturday where I will need to shoot every kid in a flag football league. I'll have an assistant to help them pose, but it will be like an assembly line - shot after shot for hundreds of kids. (not sure the exact amount).

I'm hoping that I won't need to stop to change batteries...I'll probably use two or three Speedlites.

I was wondering if I use primary lithium cells instead of the rechargeables if they might last longer. I do use them in my Powershot (SX10) since I don't need to worry about them self discharging if I don't use the camera...they seem to last forever, but I don't take hundreds of pictures in a day with that camera. It's my "around the house" camera and like my flashlights, I just want to be able to know that self discharge isn't a concern.

But for a marathon shoot like I have on Saturday, I don't know which would give me a better shot at lasting the longest.

Any input really appreciated. Also I don't have any flash estimates from Canon on these flashes - they are too old (550 EX and a couple of 420 EX), so instead of showing NiMH they have NiCad in the owner's manual. Since as far as I know NiCad AA cells are obsolete,, those estimates are meaningless for me). The manual says that the NiCads will give less than half as many flashes as alkaline. I'm pretty sure that the NiMH give more than alkaline - Looked at the manual for the 580 EX, but they don't give any estimates like the 550 EX manual does - the just say to use four AA size cells.


Thanks,
D.

There was a great thread posted here on this very subject. SYS provided exhaustive test results that helped me decide to go Eneloop in my 580EX II (for my needs & shooting style) Give it a read, much information:

https://photography-on-the.net …74&highlight=en​eloop+test

Tony_A wrote in post #11141832
There was a great thread posted here on this very subject. SYS provided exhaustive test results that helped me decide to go Eneloop in my 580EX II (for my needs & shooting style) Give it a read, much information:

https://photography-on-the.net …74&highlight=en​eloop+test

Thanks


D.

Wow, that's a long thread (20 pages)........I read the first few pages and the last couple.

I saw was a very well organized comparison of a dozen or so different NiMH cells - different brands, different MaH ratings, and not surprising results.

But it seemed any mention of the primary lithium cells were absent. Certainly it's possible they could have been discussed somewhere in the thread and I missed it, but they weren't part of the original test - there was just one primary cell (Energizer Max) which was clearly stated to be included as a point of reference.

I looked on the Energizer web site and saw they also have something called the "Titanium" battery in AA size...they are even more expensive than the L91 "Ultimate" lithium cells (and the slightly less expensive "E2 Advanced Lithium". I don't recall seeing them ("Titanium") in my local Walgreens (or anywhere else) - just found them on Amazon for a mere $28 for an eight pack! On the Amazon price they say they are 2850 MaH...so maybe they'd last longer than any other cell for one use - but that's really an expensive way to go - three sets with backups..$180 WOW!

Where are our resident electronic engineers?

Peace,
D.

I would just go with buying a few extra sets of rechargeable batteries and a charger that can charge up to 8 batteries. It's always handy to have extra spare rechargeable batteries anyways.

ecub wrote in post #11142873
I would just go with buying a few extra sets of rechargeable batteries and a charger that can charge up to 8 batteries. It's always handy to have extra spare rechargeable batteries anyways.

Thanks for the response, but I have way more rechargeable batteries than I can possibly go through.

This is a special circumstance where I have to avoid slowing down at all costs since I'll be shooting non-stop and the kids will all be reluctant and in a rush.

I wouldn't have asked a question I thought I had essentially given your answer to in the first post. I have dozens of Eneloops and dozens of other rechargeable cells I got here and there just to try for their higher mAh ratings, and I explained why I was wondering about the primary lithiums - which I also have. I'm just not sure what to use..

I just want to know which type of batteries will last the longest in one continuous shoot.

Peace,
D.

Guessing you still won't like this answer...

Use whatever batteries you want, i.e. use your rechargeables that you already own. It's still likely that you will need to change them. How long does that take? 15-20 seconds? Or up to 1 minute if you're changing all 3 flashes at once (not clear on if that's what you're doing). 1 out of 100 (1 out of 150? more?) kids can wait that long.

I'm not quite sure I understand your dilemma.....
You say you have plenty of cells (although you didn't specify). It's a known fact that on a fully charged set of NiMh Batteries, one can get a couple hundred FULL POWER flashes from a speedlite. Since you'll be outdoors and hopefully shooting TTL, you'll easily get several hundred flashes (500 if not more). So what if you have to take 15 seconds to change out a set of fresh cells..... do it and keep on going. It seems like you're stressing over a simple shooting situation. Am I missing something?

If you're really worried about it, I think the best thing you can do is get a battery pack for the 550ex. It uses the same connector as all the 5x0 flashes. I don't know where you are, but maybe you can find a CP-E4 clone in time. I use the Pixel battery pack and it works great. Your recycle times can be almost instantaneous to a little over a second, depending on your power setting. Just be careful you don't overheat your flash. Another advantage is that you're now using 12 batteries instead of just 4. Most people can shoot a full day without worrying about the batteries.

amandabyes wrote in post #11143316
It's better to go with lithium batteries as they have longer shelf life and will they will run longer . So by having this you don't need to change the batteries again and again . It will work perfect for you and even they don't weigh that much.

Thanks for a simple answer to a simple question.' (although shelf life is not relevant in this case).

Peace,
D.
.

Probably no time to do it now ... but I would have tried to rig up some sort of external power source, like a 6 Volt sealed lead/acid cell. Even an external pack that held 4 "D" cells.

Might involve more work that you want to do though, and probably not enough time to do it at this point.

klr.b wrote in post #11143305
Just be careful you don't overheat your flash.

That right there is a valid concern - and you idea of using three speedlites might be the better way.

Shoot one ... one ready to go ... one cooling down.