I have the cp-e4 and so far I love it! I like how its AA based and if somehow I exhaust the batteries inside I can just throw 8 more in. I know a lot of people like the Quantums but I cant justifly spending $400 for a battery that if I use it all up at a shoot it becomes a paperweight! The $150 for the Cp-E4 and $45 more for a second tray, then about $40 for a bunch of AA's is a lot easier for me to digest!
No quantum turbo or 2x2? That's what I use occasionally when the wedding lasts longer than expected. More power than a SC or a crap load of rechargables.
I bought the canon battery pack and so far haven't used it. I use natural light a lot so a new set of lithium disposables every wedding has been enough for me.
chances are you're already using rechargeable batteries. makes no sense to me to get another set of batteries with different chargers. just more things to keep track of.
what if you're shooting several destination gigs? more stuff to lug around, right?
plus, with even the CP-E4 being the "weakest" out of all posted above, mine is more than enough for a 12 hour wedding. (yes, i've done a 12 hour wedding before... tiring as heck. never again).
anyways, save your money and get the canon. then use the saved funds to fund more toys. =)
CP-E4 is lightweight and will easily slip into a pocket. By comparision Turbos are bulky and heavy. I use Turbos to power my off-camera Quantums, and have the correct cords to use them with my 580's should the need arise. The CP-E4 has plenty of power.
I may not be much help as I don't use a tethered battery - I can't understand why one would. You can set the camer down without unclipping/disconnecting, it's got to be hard as hell to use two bodies (as I often do).
What's the benefit? Lasts longer? Like it's a big deal to swap teh 4 internal AAs once during the day? I don't use flash during the ceremony, use a studio light for the formals so i've had my batts last all day, but usually swap them out when I get to the reception or during dinner. I use nimh and on the 580-2 i've not run then dead using this procedure.
Now I do understand that the batt pack will charge up quicker and I can see some benefit to that at times, like coming down the aisle. The 580-2 recycles pretty darn quickly as it is - if I keep the ISO up (800-1600) I can almost get the flash to keep up in 3FPS drive mode.
If you have an older flash (550, 580) then it's more economical to upgrade ot a 580-2 than get a batt pack.
I used a CP-E2 (older version) with my 580EX. Why? Because I hate to wait. Even though I shoot real estate and (obviously) houses don't move or get tired, I simply don't like to wait too long for the flash to recharge.
I may be in the minority, but I spent too many years carrying around a "perma-pak" system from Mamiya to ever consider another pack. I find the reusable 2500 or 2450 AA to be an absolutely liberating product. The batteries are cheap, light, powerful and efficient. I just photographed a kickboxing event [posted on the sports forum] using only 4 batteries in my 430EX. More than 800 shots and the batteries still had power.
Though I don't discount the speed factor of the dry-cells, not carrying around a battery pack is invaluable to me.
Candice KausHa wrote:
Ok, this is something I've always been confused about and it's probably a really dumb question, but...
Where does the CP-E4 go... I mean... where do you put it when it's plugged into the flash? Do you have to have a bracket or what?
Going to get a bag for my head now... or a big bag for all the batteries I carry
It has both a belt loop and a place to atach a shoulder strap. I run my belt throught it, and just disconnect it from the flash when I want to put my cdamera down. They even have a nice velcro strap on that can be used to quickly roll up and stow trhe cord - an extremely nice touch.
I have only used the Canon CP-E4. The build is nothing to talk about but seems to hold up OK. Small and easy to fit in pocket on attach under camera. Plug into backup camera if I want to in a second. Very fast recycle time so I don't worry about taking 2-3 fast shots of the garter or bouquet toss and not having a flash.
AA are low cost and I can change the holder out in about 5 seconds for a fresh set of batteries. If all else goes wrong I can even charge AA at the event with a quick charger I always carry as a last battery backup.
thanx