****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
I shoot a lot of fast action karate with flash, like a lot of amateur photographers I don't have the over $500.00 for a product like the quantum high voltage packs. I saw this recently and decided to try it, the only disappointing part is that the unit comes only with the nicad battery, i.e. you can't choose to pay a little more and get the nimh battery instead of the nicad.New technology nicad batteries are supposedly better than the old technology about memory (i.e. you should fully discharge before recharging a nicad so it doesn't develop a memory and not take a full charge any more).The unit comes with the AC adapter, the unit and one nicad battery. Nimh technology is generally more reliable and "should" offer a bit more capacity over the same nicad (i.e. you may get a few more flashes out of it over the nicad and the battery should last a bunch longer as well because nimh is just a better battery period).Before buying here you should check around at other stores that sell this, recently there was a promotion offering a free cord, which is normally an extra 30-40 dollar expense (quite a savings). The price for this unit is the same everywhere (at the low end) I've seen lots of places charging more but not less than this price.Obviously the flash unit you plan to use with it must have a high voltage plug on it to use this battery package. In theory the high voltage circuity goes straight to the main capacitor bypassing the low voltage circuitry and resulting in faster charging because power is being supplied at higher voltage, and, in theory at least--with more amperage. Sunpak has been making flash units for at least all of the thirty years I've been shooting pictures, they are a trusted name. As far as I can tell, there are cords available for sunpak products, and most other brands that I recognize (that have the right connection on it). This battery package supports both high and low voltage, I have no clue what the low voltage would be for unless it's designed to power the electronics on some units. In most cases for a shoe mounted flash even though you're using this battery pack you also have to have batteries onboard to power the flash controls and electronics.I've used this pack with my Canon 580EX unit, just used it last night for the first time. I shot my friends fireman badge ceremony. Recharge times seemed very quick, even at ISO 200 with a decent shutter speed (so it was pretty much full power flashing the whole time). The real test will be when I shoot my first karate test with it the end of this month. Just playing around with some test shots it seems to cycle the flash much quicker than my old canon cp-e3 AA pack does. The extra batteries are around 70.00 not bad really, I'm hoping they'll come down or become available on ebay. If you can't afford a Quantum or Jackrabbit (who doesn't make a cord for the 580EX and there have been reports of that one melting 580EX capacitors) then this is a good entry level choice, this won't be as fast or offer as much capacity as the quantum but the fact that you can get multiple batteries means you can get the capacity at less money. I'm anxious to try the nimh pack, they're kinda hard to find for sale right now but they are available now.Like I said, so far my only complaint is that you can't buy a nimh pack with the unit, only the nicad.
