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Hi Everyone,

Can anyone tell me if these kits allow the use of a external battery pack or similar to be able to be used outside, specifically the soft box ?

Thanks!

For external power, you could rig up a 12v car battery with an inverter.

A guy from POTN did just that. search youtube for 'jacob the photographer' and watch his movie on it

bit ugly... was looking for a portable neat solution rather then carry around a car battery ill check the video anyway! Thanks Kyle

I haven't seen the kit yet, but I'd imagine the SB-800 or in your case the 550 or Canon equivalent would be the the most portable solution. Not sure how well they'd run the softbox etc as I haven't seen the kit.

There is, in fact, a battery option available for these kits.

I've asked Poon to get me a price on this, but he's been reluctant, due to the high cost that shipment of this would be. They're not at all light, and the shipping cost would be several times the value of the units, I would expect.

...


I have an idea ....

Gary, perhaps we can get the kit locally... I'm just wondering if its an OPTION and perhaps there are other 3rd party battery kits for them

Kris,

I have no knowledge of what the battery packs for these comprise, as yet.

My gut feel is that it should basically be something similar to, say, a very heavy duty UPS, or a combination of a portable starter kit that one might get for one's car, together with a high capacity voltage inverter.

The problem is that you need to have a high level of power, in order to supply enough power for, say, one full day's shooting with two or three lights being driven. I'm sure someone can do the math on that.

So yes, one might be able to be sourced locally ... and you'd still have to pay local shipping for the heavy battery.

Ok, if you find anything out i'd be interested.

I dont need all day power, just a few hours. I did a shoot with a guy some time ago on the beach and he had a light that was plugged into this box. It looked like a heavy duty battery but it was encased in a box with some power buttons on the box itself...had a digital screen too

gstark wrote:Kris,
The problem is that you need to have a high level of power, in order to supply enough power for, say, one full day's shooting with two or three lights being driven. I'm sure someone can do the math on that.

So yes, one might be able to be sourced locally ... and you'd still have to pay local shipping for the heavy battery.

Gary

If you can provide some info on the lighting draws and the duty cycle, I can have a go at estimating the required AH capacity and inverter required.....

Never played with camera lighting so don't know its specifics, but have done 12volt work in 4wd / remote area touring setups for lighting fridges, etc....

I'll work out how much power the lights need to recycle and I will let you know what sort of battery set up you will need. Just give me a few days and remind me if i forget

The lights are 150w each but that's peak power out and not recharge power.

You also might want to consider a small generator. Some of the 400 -600 VA ones are all but silent running cost $400-$500 and weigh a hell of a lot less than your battery storage is going to.

Thanks guys! starts to get expensive if you want to go portable.... perhaps not really worth it if its alot more than the kit itself!

Hopefully other users may have a need for a battery kit for this?

kris, have you though about speedlights for a portable solution?

The 580ex is quite powerful.

Shove some pocket wizards, and away you go

Whats the wattage rating on a 580ex or similar?

Killakoala wrote:The lights are 150w each but that's peak power out and not recharge power.

They're 150W/S if I'm not mistaken (Watt/Seconds = Joules). That would be a calculated figure, based on the flash capacitor and its maximum charged voltage, rather than output power. Joules=1/2CV^2.

Figuring out the input required for this would be nigh on impossible - but easy enough to measure I guess! There would also be a not insignificant idling power requirement, after the unit had charged.

Cheers

580 ex is exy..for the cost of one 580ex i can get the kit and then some

580s would be great as they are so portable and light and you wldnt need the power source but kris is right the price for them vs the kit, however if you have 2 580s sure it would work.

digitor wrote:

Killakoala wrote:The lights are 150w each but that's peak power out and not recharge power.

They're 150W/S if I'm not mistaken (Watt/Seconds = Joules). That would be a calculated figure, based on the flash capacitor and its maximum charged voltage, rather than output power. Joules=1/2CV^2.

Figuring out the input required for this would be nigh on impossible - but easy enough to measure I guess! There would also be a not insignificant idling power requirement, after the unit had charged.

Cheers

The lights have a halogen model light as well as the flash strobe but i doubt it is truly 150w as that would be blinding.

The instructions are written in Chinese and only the specs are in Arabic numerals so decoding the actual values is not exact, but i can estimate what the value is referring to. The other problem is that the instructions are not for this particular model of light either. They are for the 250w or 110w versions, not the 150w version. But other than the wattages, i doubt there's much difference between them other than the physical layout.

The 110w lights have these specs, as far as i can determine;

AC I/P - 180 - 240 VAC @ 50Hz
Chinese writing - 110Ws
Chinese writing (ISO100) - Gn32m <- I have no idea what that is
Something is 1/8~
Recharge cycle 1-2 secs
Flash sync (I assume) 1/600 - 1/1000s
Temp 55 Degs
Chinese writing 50 watts. <- Probably the halogen model light.
Colour temp 5600K

As far as i can tell, it draws 3 amps at 240vac. I don't know if that is in standby or with model lights on. I imagine it would be with model lights on. So if you want to get a power supply for this it will need to be about 750watts.

(It is built to ISO9001 standard ) I don't doubt this as the construction is quite solid. It also has a spare globe an a fuse.

I hope this is some help. I will post a full review including images when i get a chance, but it won't be too soon as work takes precedence over me having a life.

Steve:


110Ws = 110 Watt output
Gn32m = Guide # of 32 @1m!
1/8 = the variable output power (controllable)
50 Watts = does mean the model light