# Looking For A External Power Pack Nikon sb910



## BCordeiroPhotography (Oct 8, 2014)

hey everyone i'm looking for a external power pack i want something heavy duty and that will last me a full wedding for 8 plus hours. if someone can please help me out here i was looking at Cheetah lithium Battery Pack L4500 but i cant seem to find it no where because everything is out of stock.


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## KmH (Oct 8, 2014)

How long a battery pack will last will depend on starting with a fully charged pack, the flash unit power settings used, and how many times the flash is fired.

At any rate, to shoot weddings you really should have a minimum of 2 of everything so you have at least 1 backup - 2 camera bodies (& extra batteries for each), 2 flash units, and 2 battery power packs.

For flash unit batteries NiMH is almost always a better choice than lithium.

The SB-910 user manual (page H-12) shows that while Nikon's SD 9 lithium battery pack offer a nice number of flashes (500 if fired at full power *once every 120 seconds*), the recycle is.2 seconds).
On the other hand the Nikon SD-9 rechargable NiMH battery pack give 520 flashes if fired at full power *once every 30 seconds* and give a recycle time of only 0.8 seconds.
Nikon SD-9 High Performance battery Pack for SB-900


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## Derrel (Oct 8, 2014)

This is my old event battery, the Quantum Battery 1. Mine is still working, right at about 29 YEARS after I bought it, on the original lead gel cell battery. I have no idea how this thing has lasted so,so long! This battery has pretty good life, and will EASILY last eight hours. I bought this thing in 1985. I used it heavily, then not much at all. I DID MAINTAIN it for seven years, then ignored it for four or five years, and then started using it in 2006. I last used it heavily in 2012 for a wedding. It has been one of the absolute best products I have ever bought.

Quantum Instruments  QB1 + (6V) Battery QB1+ B&H Photo Video


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## WayneF (Oct 8, 2014)

KmH said:


> For flash units NiMH is almost always a better choice than lithium.
> 
> The SB-910 user manual (page H-12) shows that while Nikon's SD 9 lithium battery pack offer a nice number of flashes (500 if fired at full power *once every 120 seconds*), the recycle is.2 seconds).



You are talking about 1.5V lithium AA batteries for the SD9, but the OP mentioning a Cheetah L4500 is speaking of an entirely different chemistry.  Cheetah says the battery is 4500mah at 11.1V.  Cheetah just says lithium,  but no doubt lithium ion, like in cameras and laptops (but not in AA cells).  11.1V / 3 cells is 3.7V, which is lithium ion  voltage.  I don't know flash recycle characteristics (Cheetah says 1 second), but it is much higher power density - which is the point.

Me, I just would carry extra Eneloops.  



Pondering this though, I think they would compare this way:

8 NiMH AA are 9.6V, at say 2700 mha,  is 9.6 x 2.7 = 26 watt hours of energy.

11.1V at 4500 mah is 11.1 x 4.5 = 50 watt hours.

So that's double, but in use, I still suspect just replacing the AA batteries once is a very reasonable solution.

Cheeteh does say 1800 flashes, and Nikon SD-9 says 520 x 2 = 1040 flashes.  
I don't know, this does not compute.  

The real convenience seems in recharging just one lithium battery,
vs recharging 16 AA cells.

There are 8 cell chargers, and there are cheaper SD-9 equivalents.


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## BCordeiroPhotography (Oct 9, 2014)

thank you so much everyone i was thinking about getting the Eneloops since alot of photographers in the business are using these now and days. how long do they last on a external flash before you have to recharge them??


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## KmH (Oct 9, 2014)

How long depends on the flash power setting used for each flash, how often the flash is fired, and the amp/hour rating of the batteries used.
Using manual control or TTL control of the flash power is part of that determination.

Plus, as battery charge is used up the flash unit's recycle time increases. Recycle time is also a function of flash power output setting.

I use a rechargable NiMH battery brand (Powerex - 2700 mAh) that have a higher amp/hour rating than Eneloops have.


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## WayneF (Oct 9, 2014)

BCordeiroPhotography said:


> thank you so much everyone i was thinking about getting the Eneloops since alot of photographers in the business are using these now and days. how long do they last on a external flash before you have to recharge them??



Nikon flash manuals include a chart about how many maximum power flashes various types of battery will deliver in that model.  A couple hundred plus (without external battery) might be typical.   Of course, typically most of our pictures do not use maximum power, so the actual number would increase, perhaps drastically, in practical use.

Eneloops are the best flash batteries for most of us, but maybe not best for your specific case ( maybe 1000 shots today).  Eneloops have the property of low self discharge, meaning after disuse of months or even years since charging, they will still retain enough charge to be good to go.  That is strong advantage, more than plenty for almost all uses.  Regular NiMH cannot do that, they will be dead..  But Eneloops have slightly lower capacity (2000 mah), and you may prefer 2700 mah regular NiMH (but which you need to have recharged very recently to deliver it).   Eneloop might need two spare sets to compare to the lithium all day.


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## BCordeiroPhotography (Oct 9, 2014)

thank you so much i will look into getting them batteries but i will have some on the charger while im shooting just in case they start to die on me lol.


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## 1hawaii50 (Oct 19, 2014)

I used the Cheetah L4500 pack in my SB910 for a wedding reception....close to 400 shots and the pack NEVER moved off of the fully charged status LED....


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## KmH (Oct 19, 2014)

I use the Powerex 2700 mAh NiMH batteries that lose their charge way faster than eneloop type NiMH do.
That way I know I have to charge them overnight before a shoot and that they will have a full charge when I start using them, and being 2700 mAh they won't run out of power as quickly as fully charged 2000 mAh eneloops would.

If you don't charge eneloop type NiMH overnight before a shoot, without experience checking their voltage with a voltage meter it can be difficult to tell how much charge they have left - a 90% charge, a 72% charge, a 27% charge, etc.


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## Photo synthesis (Jan 8, 2015)

What do you think about the new lithium product of innovatronix? it is called tronix explorer p-dock? I am planning to buy it and would love to hear your recommendations and comments.


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