SB26 quick recycle

[cszakolczai]

My question is fairly simple. I'm looking for an external battery pack that can be hooked up to the SB26 so that I can have a very fast recycle time. Other then the SD-8 is there anything else I can use? I remember seeing a website by an Alan Jacobs who sold these external battery packs, but I can't find his website now and I'm not sure if his will work.


Thanks,
Chris

 

[JerryPH]

Both Quantum and Lumidyn make them. Expect to spend between 200-300 per pack.

Also, the obvious thing is that these power packs can exceed the abilities of the flash... in other words, at full power they can easily give you 1 second recycle times, but this is something that the flash cannot take. After 20-30 fast shots, you could be looking at a very well toasted, smoking and useless flash. A SB-26 in good condition can take at most about 2 shots in 3 seconds (at full power) and even then, if you cared about the longevity of your flash, you would extend that to 2 seconds between shots at full power.

As a better alternative, what I would suggest is that you "get smart" about lighting and instead of needing one flash, go multiple flashes well placed and use standard 2700mah rechargeable batteries and live with 1-2 second recycle times at 1/2 power or less and then totally forget about the possibility of burning out the flash, because it would be next to impossible to do on AA battery power alone. Of course you may need to replace the batteries after about every 200-300 shots else recycle times start to rise, but that's a small price to pay for keeping your flash alive.

 

[cszakolczai]

I know that the flashes can easily burn up, but replacing batteries all the time can easily add up in price. I was going to pick up a few Sb26's and have the external battery packs firing off the flash at the most 1 time every second, and at most I would fire the flash maybe 8 times in a row that way. I know I can use regular AA batteries, but this will add up over time. I remember seeing someone selling a smaller external source for 100 dollars that would have worked perfectly. I'll keep searching for the site where I found it.

Chris