Mains power for speedlights

JonathanRyan

JonathanRyan

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Saw this today which looks kind of interesting for people wanting small event/studio kit.

http://www.innovatronix.com/index.php/products/item/35-tronix-speedfire

It's sort of an obvious idea in the "why hasn't somebody done that before" category.

$135 though :(

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Disclaimer: before anybody asks, no I don't work for Tronix. AFAIK they don't pay me money for any reason and I don't remember ever buying one of their products though I've considered them a few times. As far as I can recollect they have never offered me any inducement to promote their products nor have I ever met anybody who works for them. I am however open to offers ;)
 
Dont see the point of it myself, $100+ can buy you ALOT of rechargeable batteries that will take mere seconds to install in a flash.
They make it out that you will need 100's of batteries for a days shoot - that''s nothing short of incorrect.

and would explain why no one has been stupid enough to design something like this before.
 
Would you not get better power/light consistency than you do with batteries? and therefore better colour consistency?. I thought that as the charge in a battery diminishes, the flash power is affected.
 
iamtheoneneo said:
Dont see the point of it myself, $100+ can buy you ALOT of rechargeable batteries that will take mere seconds to install in a flash.
They make it out that you will need 100's of batteries for a days shoot - that''s nothing short of incorrect.

and would explain why no one has been stupid enough to design something like this before.
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You'd better tell Godox and all the other companies (like errrrm, Canon) that make extension battery packs that they're wasting their time them.

It's as much about recycling time and power fade off as it is about battery life.

Seems like a good idea, but I'd like to see some quoted (and tested) recycle times.
 
DemiLion said:
Seems like a good idea, but I'd like to see some quoted (and tested) recycle times.
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The recycle times should be very good. The front socket on Nikon guns is high voltage/high speed. External battery packs will charge via that port in under a second. Mains power shouldn't be slower but probably wouldn't be faster.

You do run the risk of all external supplies that it would be really easy to overheat the flashgun. On an SB900 that would give a long, dull delay. On pretty much anything else you'd get a short, dramatic bang.

I can see why people would use external batteries but wouldn't use a mains wired charger. I also can't really figure out why it's so expensive. This should be pretty simple tech.
 
JonathanRyan said:
The recycle times should be very good. The front socket on Nikon guns is high voltage/high speed. External battery packs will charge via that port in under a second. Mains power shouldn't be slower but probably wouldn't be faster.

You do run the risk of all external supplies that it would be really easy to overheat the flashgun. On an SB900 that would give a long, dull delay. On pretty much anything else you'd get a short, dramatic bang.

I can see why people would use external batteries but wouldn't use a mains wired charger. I also can't really figure out why it's so expensive. This should be pretty simple tech.
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And this is the reason that I'm not a fan of sb900s ;)that and the fact that they're OMFGWTFHUGE.

Yeah, does seem expensive. I guess it's a) very specialised b) quite high current c) really incredibly specialised.


considering especially that it's only speedlight light... Eeh tbh.
 
I bought a couple of the PIXEL external battery packs.
They take 8 eneloops, plus the 4 in the flash. Even on full power, manual it recycles in around 3/4 of a second. On lower powers, even half, it is instantaneous. They last for ages between charges too.
IF I remember correctly, I think they were around £35 each, and still totally portable.
 
I'd probably invest in some proper strobes rather than plug my speedlights into a mains power socket.
You kinda lose the flexibility at that point.
If faster recharge cycles are needed on your speedlights you can get external charging packs for pretty cheap.
 
I'm not sure I see the point either. Speedlights are great simply because of their portability. As soon as you're tying them to power they've lost their biggest USP. If you've got access to mains, having brighter cheaper lights with modelling lamps is a great advantage.

The thing about high end strobist kit is that it becomes hideously expensive. Which detracts from the original idea.
 
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DigitalBiscuits said:
I'd probably invest in some proper strobes rather than plug my speedlights into a mains power socket.
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Yes and no.

I have a couple of jobs coming up where I'll be limited on how much kit I can take with me. But they will be flash heavy. I'll use speedlights with good rechargeables. I might consider a mains adapter to remove failure points - but not at $135 per light.
 
Phil V said:
I'm not sure I see the point either. Speedlights are great simply because of their portability. As soon as you're tying them to power they've lost their biggest USP. If you've got access to mains, having brighter cheaper lights with modelling lamps is a great advantage.

The thing about high end strobist kit is that it becomes hideously expensive. Which detracts from the original idea.
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Agreed. Strobisism has gone off at a bit of a tangent, the whole point of it is that it is cheap, easy, and portable. Once it has become expensive, complicated and bulky it (often) just becomes and expensive but inferior alternative to either mains powered flash or to professional portable flash.

I haven't seen these mains powered packs for speedlights, but given the high performance of the 'Quantum' style battery packs (Quantum and the various copies, most of which are better than the original) I'm not sure that there's much of a market for the mains powered ones.
 
Garry Edwards said:
I haven't seen these mains powered packs for speedlights, but given the high performance of the 'Quantum' style battery packs (Quantum and the various copies, most of which are better than the original) I'm not sure that there's much of a market for the mains powered ones.
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I don't disagree. But apart from the niche aspect I'm baffled why the mains adapters are so expensive.

High current mains adapter and Nikon's patented plug (and the patent doesn't seem to worry some people) and you're done. Fo 20 quid it would be a no brainer for the bag.
 
I agree about the cost, but that's photography for you...

I'm sure that large production runs and, more importantly, some competition, will bring the price right down if they catch on.
 
There was a guy who's name escapes me on Creative Live a while ago with 6 of the new 600 Canon flashguns and the wireless controller.

The power and control were fab to watch, but for that money he could have had really good battery powered kit.

He was showing how using several small flashguns close together mimicked a large softbox, but a battery powered studio flash and ezybox would have been cheaper and more effective.
 
How difficult would it be to build a home made version from a battery pack and mains transformer?

In fact it could be made with a plug system so you could choose mains or battery as you wished.
 
For £20 maybe, but an auxiliary battery pack and a stack of rechargeables can be had for a lot less. Far better IMHO, but the biggest limitation to running speedlites hard and fast is potentially terminal overheating.

My first flash gun, a Sunpak some 40 years ago, came with a mains lead supplied. It used to smell a bit, but in those days 36 frames was a whole session :D
 
A related question then (almost), I'm thinking of getting a CP-E4, where does it fit comfortably whilst shooting?

How much electronics would I have to learn to make a flash power pack from a battery grip? That comfortably fits the camera and holds what appears to be more power than 8 AA's.:thinking:
 
Phil V said:
A related question then (almost), I'm thinking of getting a CP-E4, where does it fit comfortably whilst shooting?

How much electronics would I have to learn to make a flash power pack from a battery grip? That comfortably fits the camera and holds what appears to be more power than 8 AA's.:thinking:
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I attach mine to the tripod screw on base of body...it's a bit heavier but recycling time is fantastic.
 
As mentioned, I have the Pixel equivalent for the Nikon flashes.
If the flash is off camera, I use a small ball bungee to stick it to the stand. If the flash is on camera or flash bracket, I stick it in my pocket. Is has a nice long curly cord !
 
Phil V said:
A related question then (almost), I'm thinking of getting a CP-E4, where does it fit comfortably whilst shooting?

How much electronics would I have to learn to make a flash power pack from a battery grip? That comfortably fits the camera and holds what appears to be more power than 8 AA's.:thinking:
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Much cheaper clones are under £30, Amazon etc. Screw into the camera's tripod bush, hang off a belt, or strap to a stand.

8x AA batts work well - last forever at lower powers with instant recycle, and if you're running them flat out, you really need to stop after 40-50 flashes to let the gun cool. Change to fresh batts then if needs be.
 
I bought a godox power pack, hugely impressive, cutting my recharge time by lots. And doesn't get I the way. Whilst the mains pack is a good idea, it does do away with the portability and if I wanted mains power I'd get a proper light and softbox
 
I looked at the clones? As i'm not sure what the box contains (other than batteries) is there anything that might go wrong?
 
Phil V said:
I looked at the clones? As i'm not sure what the box contains (other than batteries) is there anything that might go wrong?
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Dunno Phil, I'd like to know too. But I can't imagine it's much - they're just a bunch of low voltage batteries feeding a device that runs off low voltage batteries - not like a mains converter.

Someone will know!

ps For pro/wedding use, I'd prolly go for one of those Godox packs. Not used one myself, but a mate rates them and they seem to get good rep and not that expensive, especially considering they don't need batteries.
 
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JonathanRyan said:
But apart from the niche aspect I'm baffled why the mains adapters are so expensive.

High current mains adapter and Nikon's patented plug (and the patent doesn't seem to worry some people) and you're done. Fo 20 quid it would be a no brainer for the bag.
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I don't think their plug would be patented. It's hardly an original idea.

I have some Vivitar 285 flashes. These have a holder which takes four 1.5 volt cells. You can hard wire a 6 volt power supply to one of them and either not close the battery door all the way or cut a corner off to allow the wire to come out. I'm sure something similar could be done with other flashes. Or if they don't have battery holders, then a couple of dummy cells. with conductive pads.


Steve.
 
Steve Smith said:
I don't think their plug would be patented. It's hardly an original idea.

I have some Vivitar 285 flashes. These have a holder which takes four 1.5 volt cells. You can hard wire a 6 volt power supply to one of them and either not close the battery door all the way or cut a corner off to allow the wire to come out. I'm sure something similar could be done with other flashes. Or if they don't have battery holders, then a couple of dummy cells. with conductive pads.


Steve.
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Steve Smith! Where have you been all these years away?
 
HoppyUK said:
Steve Smith! Where have you been all these years away?
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I seem to have taken a break. I logged back on here to try to make up my mind about buying a replacement for my old and now broken D100.

I was looking at the Pentax K20D and the Nikon D3100 but today, London Camera Exchange tempted ne with a D3200 for a good price. I hope it turns up before the weekend!

Don't go thinking that I'm abandoning film though. I'm still using black and white film printed optically about 95% of the time.

This makes the ratio 60:2 in favour of film cameras!


Steve.
 
HoppyUK said:
Steve Smith! Where have you been all these years away?
Click to expand...

I seem to have taken a break. I logged back on here to try to make up my mind about buying a replacement for my old and now broken D100.

I was looking at the Pentax K20D and the Nikon D3100 but today, London Camera Exchange tempted me with a D3200 for a good price. I hope it turns up before the weekend!

Don't go thinking that I'm abandoning film though. I'm still using black and white film printed optically about 95% of the time.

This makes the ratio 60:2 in favour of film cameras!


Steve.
 
The speedfire has been out for quite a few years, although they haven't really pushed it.
Quantum Instruments had a similar item going back even further, but their latest incarnation now looks much bulkier, and an associated price hike would rule it out for most, IMO.
I saw a few AC adapters whilst at Photokina, and far more affordable too. Just don't remember who the manufacturers were.
 
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