EP-2 Battery pack

[Agetan]

Hi Guys..

Just wanted to let you know, if you are looking for EP-2, it is now available at www.bhphotovideo.com

I order 2 myself... but the destination is Sydney, Australia, hence I can't help ordering..

If you want one, make sure you buy soon as I am sure Sony version will be more expensive...


Hart

 

[Trigger Happy]

some joker paid the equivalent of SGD800+ for a used one on eBay recently... :sweat:
i gave up looking for one and decided to mod my 5600's power source instead. bought a sealed lead acid 6v 3amp battery pack, charger, a pack of slide-on clips, a car cigarette-charger cable, wooden dowel for dummy batteries, all for < $50 and now i have enough power to shoot > 400 shots at full power without a battery change (haven't tried more than that, but judging by the refresh rate, i think there's still plenty of juice in the 3amp batt compared to the total 1amp of 4 AAs). and oh, the refresh rate is much higher than AAs!!

Hart, sorry to go a little OT on your thread... thought it might be a useful alternative for anyone on a budget or itchy DIY hands like mine..

 

[satay16]

how come need this kind of power? i find 5600 power and recycling time fast enuf.

 

[Del_CtrlnoAlt]

how come need this kind of power? i find 5600 power and recycling time fast enuf.

u haven try an EP-2 yet...

anyway left 10 pcs.. kin ar..

 

[Agetan]

some joker paid the equivalent of SGD800+ for a used one on eBay recently... :sweat:
i gave up looking for one and decided to mod my 5600's power source instead. bought a sealed lead acid 6v 3amp battery pack, charger, a pack of slide-on clips, a car cigarette-charger cable, wooden dowel for dummy batteries, all for < $50 and now i have enough power to shoot > 400 shots at full power without a battery change (haven't tried more than that, but judging by the refresh rate, i think there's still plenty of juice in the 3amp batt compared to the total 1amp of 4 AAs). and oh, the refresh rate is much higher than AAs!!

Hart, sorry to go a little OT on your thread... thought it might be a useful alternative for anyone on a budget or itchy DIY hands like mine..

That's ok... number of flashes per charge is not that important... the recycling rate is more important to me at full blast.

What is your average recycling time? average for 4 x AA NiMh is around 9sec

Hart

 

[zcf]

wow, you need 2?

Thanks for the lead, will try my luck to order one and see .

 

[Trigger Happy]

not the same thing? ok, basically i can fire the flash continuously (about 6 to 9 frames) without any blanked-out shots, and the waiting time (recycle rate?) to go again is about 2-5 secs on a full charge. definitely faster than NiMh AAs, and last much much longer. i'll go take some pics later this week when i've time at night and post them. the best thing about this set up is i don't need to wait 15 hours for 4 AAs to be charged, and don't need to change batteries during shoots. and i can charge the lead acid batt anytime, no memory effect problem.

 

[satay16]

not the same thing? ok, basically i can fire the flash continuously (about 6 to 9 frames) without any blanked-out shots, and the waiting time (recycle rate?) to go again is about 2-5 secs on a full charge. definitely faster than NiMh AAs, and last much much longer. i'll go take some pics later this week when i've time at night and post them. the best thing about this set up is i don't need to wait 15 hours for 4 AAs to be charged, and don't need to change batteries during shoots. and i can charge the lead acid batt anytime, no memory effect problem.

cool, does it explode?:flame:

 

[zcf]

not the same thing? ok, basically i can fire the flash continuously (about 6 to 9 frames) without any blanked-out shots, and the waiting time (recycle rate?) to go again is about 2-5 secs on a full charge. definitely faster than NiMh AAs, and last much much longer. i'll go take some pics later this week when i've time at night and post them. the best thing about this set up is i don't need to wait 15 hours for 4 AAs to be charged, and don't need to change batteries during shoots. and i can charge the lead acid batt anytime, no memory effect problem.

What is the weight of your set up though, any photos of it? Thanks.

 

[Trigger Happy]

cool, does it explode?:flame:

not yet! hahaha... although the cable can get warm at times if i'm trigger happy

 

[Trigger Happy]

What is the weight of your set up though, any photos of it? Thanks.

the 6v batt is the heaviest, didn't weigh it, but its about the size of 3x2 spacebars put together. i would guess its less than 500g as my darn telephoto lens seems to weight more than this. actually its "lighter" as you don't have 4 AAs in your flash, so your handling is much lighter. you carry the weight of the batt on your body. the cable set up is quite impressive-looking too, some ppl mistook me for pro hahaha...

 

[Agetan]

wow, you need 2?

Thanks for the lead, will try my luck to order one and see .

Using these for real etate photography and outdoor portrait... but thinking of getting battery powered studio flash for outdoor portrait.

Real estate, if I can cut the recycling time in half, meaning, I can save 30% of my time... which is great. If saving 10 minutes per property, I can save 10-15 minutes each property, meaning I can do more in 1 day.

I got 2 x 5600HS, most of the time, I set them off at full power both to get enough power indoor so need 2 lor..

Regards,

Hart

 

[Timber Wolf]

HMm.... read the thing but US$130 w/o shipping is abit too much for me to afford.

Trigger Happy, any way you can show us how you built it/build it for us?

Cheers
QX

 

[Agetan]

not the same thing? ok, basically i can fire the flash continuously (about 6 to 9 frames) without any blanked-out shots, and the waiting time (recycle rate?) to go again is about 2-5 secs on a full charge. definitely faster than NiMh AAs, and last much much longer. i'll go take some pics later this week when i've time at night and post them. the best thing about this set up is i don't need to wait 15 hours for 4 AAs to be charged, and don't need to change batteries during shoots. and i can charge the lead acid batt anytime, no memory effect problem.

That's really fast... not sure if EP-2 can match that or not...

Flash recycling generally is fine with 5600HS but quicker is better.

Regards,

Hart

 

[Agetan]

HMm.... read the thing but US$130 w/o shipping is abit too much for me to afford.

Trigger Happy, any way you can show us how you built it/build it for us?

Cheers
QX

Yes, it is a bit ex, don't have to buy if you don't need one.

Hart

 

[Trigger Happy]

HMm.... read the thing but US$130 w/o shipping is abit too much for me to afford.

Trigger Happy, any way you can show us how you built it/build it for us?

Cheers
QX

guys, this is a VERY simple DIY, much simpler than the VG. all you need is:

from SLTower (basement battery shop):- 1 x 6v 3amp lead acid battery ($18)
- charger ($18)

from SLTower (other shops):
- battery clips (pack of red and pack of blue) - from any shop, for connecting wires to the battery, usually about $1 each. why 2 colours? so you don't mix up + and - and go kaboom!
- 2-pole on-off switch (that turns on and off BOTH + and - at the same time). this switch has 3 pairs of legs
- car cig lighter charger cable (you only need the cable, chop off the head). there's a shop on the 3rd floor that sells only the cable for about $3/ $4. NEVER use PC k/b cable, those wires are too thin to carry 3amp, lightly to burn


from Art Friend (bras basah or taka):
- wooden dowel (can't remember dimensions, but its slightly thinner than a AA batt, and about 1m long, need to cut to AA batt BODY length, about $3 or so (can't remember but not expensive lah)
- 2 small screws

1. crimp a pair of wires to the battery clips
2. solder them to the on-off switch (source)
3. cut a pair of wooden dowels, screw in one end each (don't forget to connect curly wire)
4. solder the wires to the other legs of the on/off switch (on position) - which ones? test with multimeter

that's it! why the on/off switch? for added peace of mind that you can "take out" the batteries from your flash esp when travelling and you don't want anything to short overnight - just in case... why on/off both together? that's to make sure there's no intermittent on/off contact of the other pole (+ or -) which may damage your flash.

i'll post pics if that helps. hopefully can find some time tonight or next few nights. i've used this set up for over a month now, no problems, only happiness!

 

[satay16]

.....and go kaboom!.....

doesn't sound encouraging.:sweat:

 

[Agetan]

guys, this is a VERY simple DIY, much simpler than the VG. all you need is:

from SLTower (basement battery shop):- 1 x 6v 3amp lead acid battery ($18)
- charger ($18)

from SLTower (other shops):
- battery clips (pack of red and pack of blue) - from any shop, for connecting wires to the battery, usually about $1 each. why 2 colours? so you don't mix up + and - and go kaboom!
- 2-pole on-off switch (that turns on and off BOTH + and - at the same time). this switch has 3 pairs of legs
- car cig lighter charger cable (you only need the cable, chop off the head). there's a shop on the 3rd floor that sells only the cable for about $3/ $4. NEVER use PC k/b cable, those wires are too thin to carry 3amp, lightly to burn


from Art Friend (bras basah or taka):
- wooden dowel (can't remember dimensions, but its slightly thinner than a AA batt, and about 1m long, need to cut to AA batt BODY length, about $3 or so (can't remember but not expensive lah)
- 2 small screws

1. crimp a pair of wires to the battery clips
2. solder them to the on-off switch (source)
3. cut a pair of wooden dowels, screw in one end each (don't forget to connect curly wire)
4. solder the wires to the other legs of the on/off switch (on position) - which ones? test with multimeter

that's it! why the on/off switch? for added peace of mind that you can "take out" the batteries from your flash esp when travelling and you don't want anything to short overnight - just in case... why on/off both together? that's to make sure there's no intermittent on/off contact of the other pole (+ or -) which may damage your flash.

i'll post pics if that helps. hopefully can find some time tonight or next few nights. i've used this set up for over a month now, no problems, only happiness!

will be great if can post photos..

Hart

 

[Trigger Happy]

doesn't sound encouraging.:sweat:

just a caution, nothing to be afraid of. 6v isn't going to kill you, but reversing the polarity can potentially harm your flash although i think the 5600's circuitry should prevent reverse polarity from damaging it.

 

[satay16]

please dun tell me the lead battery is of this size http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=208054