PD70X as a battery charger

[baboo]

Hi All, I just bought a PD70X and was wondering what people thought of the built in battery charger?

When on the road, do people carry a separate charger for a quicker recharge?

Ray

[joolz]

I've only really used the inbuilt charger one or two times. I'm not sure that it really gives a full charge to my 2000mAh or my 2500mAh NiMH batteries.
At a pinch the car charger or the power adaptor would probably be adequate. I think it will give you quite a few Gbs of data for transfer.
I have a proper small 4 battery charger which I would probably take around to charge instead. However, I use the PD70X essentially for weddings and I always carry enough rechargables in the bag to cover the PD70X if they go flat. I generally find I don't have the time to charge batteries on the day. I generally only get time to dump a few cards whilst driving in the car between locations. I guess I could plug the drive into the car charger whilst transferring images to extend the battery life.
As for the state claim that 1 battery charge can handle 50Gb of transfers, I have only tested it to about 20Gb for a day shoot (2 shooters 6mp & 8mp). I always recharge my batteries in between shoots so, I'm not sure that I will ever push near 50Gb per charge. I have a 40Gb drive in any case. I guess if you have a holiday or shoot a 12/16mp DSLR then you may need maximal transfer capacity.

[baboo]

Thanks Julian,

At this moment, I have 3 sets of rechargable batteries, going to use it with the SB-800 as well.

I purchased the unit for a backpacking type journey which I usually undertake. Just wondering if I needed to bring along a dedicated battery charger as well.

Thanks for your information.

Cheers,
Ray

[joolz]

I would probably use the PD70X for recharging its own batteries as long as I thought I could regularly get access to a power point. If there was any doubt, probably a spare set of batteries.
However, if you are relying on it to recharge the SB800's batteries as well, I'd recommend bringing a spare charger even if it means slightly more weight to carry. The PD70X hasn't fully charged my batteries to the same degree as the dedicated charger for some reason, so I can't vouch for battery life for something as intensive as the flash (depending on how much you use it).