I would use the pack for weddings.

Quantum Power Pack (Turbo SC) vs. Canon Pack (CP-E4)

What are some advantages & disadvantages of each? Is there some other device out there I should consider?

Thanks
Brian

Yes, The Black Box, link below

http://www.aljacobs.com/THE%20BLACK%20BOX.htm

I'd second the Black Box if you are on a budget.

The Black Box is light, lasts a long time, recycles decent but not fast enough in some cases.
The Quantum pack is heavy, but recycles fast, lasts a long stinking time.
The Canon Pack is light, portable, recycles fast but you need to buy good rechargables to put in.

I love my Black boxes also and Al is an absolute pleasure to deal with.

I have used everything.

The Canons are the way to go. Get a good charger like the Ansman or something and have at it,

The Turbo SC is to large as is the Al Jacobs and these are unreliable. The Canon is reliable and small enough. I have 5 and offloaded all of the quantum, jacobs, lumedyne, dynalite stuff.

The BlackBox is basically a very large battery, it doesn't help your refresh rate. It is VERY reliable and inexpensive. Al is a great fellow too!

I believe the Quantum and Canon are the high-voltage kind that will greatly improve your recharge rate of the flash. Quantums are far too expensive, very proprietary and from what I hear from many many people is a short shelf life if not taken care of. Canon is a good solution because it runs on AAs, so not proprietary at all.

One thing is to think of resale value. Canon will be easiest to sell again. Quantums next but you'll take a much bigger hit.

Thank you everyone for your help. You definitely helped me with my decision.
Brian

Al +1. Dealt with him four times now. I love him. You can never hear too much about Florida real estate. Love ya Al! Your products exceed expectations!

Ever called customer service thinking you'll never talk to a real person?................Call Al!

Tad

sboerup wrote:
The BlackBox is basically a very large battery, it doesn't help your refresh rate. It is VERY reliable and inexpensive. Al is a great fellow too!

I both agree and disagree. The blackbox is great, and Al is great also. But it does in fact help your refresh rate, substantially in fact. Read through Al's description of why he described the black box the way he did, and it makes pretty good sense. He avoided the high-voltage route for a reason.

I have to add, I have two black boxes, both are setup to handle two flashes.

So when I shoot with 2 Canon 30D's and 2 580's I can power both flashes and not worry about running out of juice.

Matt Veldhuis wrote:
sboerup wrote:
The BlackBox is basically a very large battery, it doesn't help your refresh rate. It is VERY reliable and inexpensive. Al is a great fellow too!

I both agree and disagree. The blackbox is great, and Al is great also. But it does in fact help your refresh rate, substantially in fact. Read through Al's description of why he described the black box the way he did, and it makes pretty good sense. He avoided the high-voltage route for a reason.


Yes in a sense it helps with the refresh, because the batteries are larger they don't "drop" so much in voltage, so it will definately recharge much better than standard batteries, but not like the Quantum's or the Canon CP packs will help.

I use the CP-E3 and can fire multiple frames without exposure change. I can't say for how long exactly, but I take a lot of shots at weddings and have never needed to swap batteries.

lumedyne cycler series. dead nuts reliable and INSTANT recycle time with the ultramegacycler.

they arent cheap but ive found them to be the fastest and most reliable.

There is are very good reasons behind why you would or would not want super fast recycle times. It's like anything else.....is it worth the shorter life of the product for you to use fast recycle times? I don't shoot in a way that requires exceptionally fast recycles so I really don't consider that too much. If you know how flash works you can work around it pretty easily anyway.

+1 for The Black Box and Tuxedo.

Lumedyne micro and mini cyclers are great........and plug right into the built in outlet without haggling with the open/modified door issues.

ngoduyviet wrote:
The Canon Pack is light, portable, recycles fast but you need to buy good rechargables to put in.

I've gone through Powerex, power2000 and a few other types. As of now, I'm *very* happy with the Sanyo Eneloop rechargables. They're the hybrid type that don't lose their charge so quickly. I've used the same Maha 8-cell charger on all my batteries.

cordellwillis wrote:
There is are very good reasons behind why you would or would not want super fast recycle times. It's like anything else.....is it worth the shorter life of the product for you to use fast recycle times? I don't shoot in a way that requires exceptionally fast recycles so I really don't consider that too much. If you know how flash works you can work around it pretty easily anyway.



what shorter life? after using lumedyne ultramegacycler (and quantum turbo to a much lesser extent as its not nearly as reliable with the canon flashes) with 4 550ex (for the life of that model,) 4 580ex (for the life of that model,) and now with 3 580exII (since the day they came out) there has been ONE flash that has popped and that was a 550ex that had been used for years.

i dont normally need sub 1 second recycle times but when i do, its worth every penny to know its there. i love knowing that i will get consistent results every exposure regardless of if i have 10 seconds between flashes or 1 second.

Does anyone know the maximum burst you can fire with the Quantum, Blackbox, Tuxedo or the Canon CP-E3 before they slow down to recharge?

Is there an old post somewhere that compared these?

what are some of the batteries folks are using with the cp-e4?

I've got 2 CP-E3's filled with 2900mAh batts, a 580II and 2 580's, also filled with the same rechargeables. Recycle time is 1 second or less at full power. They're small, come with a case that I can strap onto my lightstands.. they ROCK! (and they should for the cost!)

4x4rock wrote:
Does anyone know the maximum burst you can fire with the Quantum, Blackbox, Tuxedo or the Canon CP-E3 before they slow down to recharge?

Is there an old post somewhere that compared these?

With the Canon packs (any of them), you are limited by the flash. Fire too many full power flashes in quick succession and it will get too warm (almost hot!) and you will have to wait until it cools down.

I use an old CP-E2 on my 580's and it works fine.

The worst thing with the batteries that plug into the hv slot....on the side...is the internal batteries....with my turbo...if you do not start with power the camera....power the flash & then the turbo...you are working from the internal flash batteries & when they go ....no flash power...no warning & you miss shots....the black box is your only battery source...so only one thing to change.