SB-R200 batteries

[chrisk]

i used an R1 kit today and fell in love. it'll be my xmas present.

for those that have this flash kit, what batteries do you use for the sb-r200 ? can anyone recommend a charger and rechargable batteries that they have expereinces with ? there are a plethora of batteries on ebay, hoping to get someones experiences b4 i buy.

[Oz_Beachside]

think johnd has some posts on batteries, maybe search him?

[chrisk]

done thanks. all the info i need.

[johnd]

And the batteries are a pain in the butt to obtain. I have 5 (you need 3 for the R1C1 kit, 1 for each flash and 1 for the commander) and I've had another 4 batteries on order for about the last 3 months to give me 3 complete sets. You'll get 40 - 80 shots from a set depending upon the output power.

Cheers
John

[chrisk]

john, ebay seem to have a plethora of these all in stock. why so hard to obtain ? btw: do you 3 sbr's or 2 ? is there more value in obtaining a 3rd ?

[johnd]

The problem is getting the correct ones. There are two varieties of CR-123A, a 3Volt and a 3.6Volt. The correct one for the R1C1 setup is a 3Volt. There are heaps of non rechargeables on the market, I want rechargeable 3Volt varieties. I have had a lot of trouble finding them. I'm pretty sure I checked Ebay and ended up getting some and ordering more from Battery World.

I have 2 SBR200s. I think for close macro flower shots, a third SBR would be better. Just to balance out the flash shadow a bit more. The only thing stopping me buying another is the bloody batteries.

Cheers
John

[chrisk]

would be really interested to hear how you set up the flashes. position, power, angle etc sometime soon. i think perhaps that there are far more rechangeble options now than when you looked. a quick search shows heaps of them. both the 3v and 3.6v.

here's one here for example.
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/CR123A-3-0V-3V-R ... dZViewItem

[chrisk]

what confuses me is the Mah rating. would i be correct to say that the bigger the number the longer it lasts ???

[Mr Darcy]

what confuses me is the Mah rating. would i be correct to say that the bigger the number the longer it lasts ???

That should be correct. Trouble is you can't trust the buggers selling the batteries to give you an honest number.

Until I bought a charger that can check capacity, I was happily buying Duracell 2650mAh with the odd set of Eveready 2500mAh. Then I got my u-beaut charger & discovered the Duracells were actually worse on average than the Evereadys. None of the sets I had at the time had all four batteries (I am talking AA here) that measured to their advertised capacity.
Of course, it is possible that the charger is giving an incorrect reading, but that does not excuse Duracell being worse than the other brand's lower rated cells. Oh and I had just bought some of the Duracells, so I wasn't comparing old with new.

[Oneputt]

I have just bought a new rechargeable set from Battery World. They had several brands on offer.

[Oz_Beachside]

what confuses me is the Mah rating. would i be correct to say that the bigger the number the longer it lasts ???

mAh is simply the "size of the petrol tank", to draw a car analogy. but note that usually a larger mAh (petrol tank) means longer recycle time (if rapid fire is a need), thats the opportunity cost.

[johnd]

I have just bought a new rechargeable set from Battery World. They had several brands on offer.

Thanks for that. I'll call into the local Battery World tomorrow night.
Cheers
John

[johnd]

would be really interested to hear how you set up the flashes. position, power, angle etc sometime soon.

I use the R1C1 kit (2 flashes) on my D200 with a Sigma 150 2.8 macro lens. I notice from your sig you have the same lens and camera.

I'm usually shooting around half a metre doing my flower macros (or maybe close ups is a more accurate word). I set the flashes so their beams cross over at the subject (just roughly from line of sight). You still get a little bit of shadow being cast from one side of the typical flower across the other, but that's where I think a 3rd flash would help. I don't fiddle too much with the A:B ratio on the commander. I set the camera in manual, dial in the aperture for dof I want and usually 1/60 shutter. Then just adjust EV on the flashes up or down to suit.

If I want some shadow to create a more dramatic effect (but not flattened like on camera flash will do) with flowers like daffodils I change to use 2 SB800s on small tripods sitting either side but slightly in front of the flower, triggered remotely.

Cheers
John

[Grev]

Funny this was here, I just sold the R1 kit yesterday at work, the box is too big. And for the batteries, I think it's been answered!