[EsBee]

Granted, they are not the best batteries to use but at my first elaborate indoor family event, that's all I could muster up and after about a hundred shots, I had to put the flash away because it took 40 seconds to recycle and I was missing too many shots.

I used a fresh set, and was shooting in P-TTL. At one point, I even bumped up the ISO to 400 on my K20D hoping it would reduce the flash power down enough to increase recycle times but that didn't help much.

At the same event, someone else with a D90 and SB-600 was gunning away like every other second.

I haven't done a lot of work with flash photography but after reading quite a bit I figured I'd let the camera tell the flash what and how much to do, and relied on P-TTL. A fair chunk of the photos I was able to take came out okay but its the missed shots that I feel bad about.

Besides the batteries, what else could have been done? Battery pack, a different flash?

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Last edited by EsBee; 03-10-2010 at 11:30 AM.

[rustynail925]

Isnt the AF540FGZ higher and more expensive than the SB-600?
40sec would be too long. It should perform faster and better ..

[Entropy]

What batteries did the SB-600 person have?

1) Alkalines suck for powering high-current-demand devices (ESPECIALLY flash units) - Alkalines have a very high internal resistance that severely limits their current delivery capacity.
2) Depending on the settings the SB-600 guy was using (higher ISO? Direct flash vs. bounce?), they may not have been full-power pops.


Ditch the alkalines. They should only be used for an absolute last resort when powering flashes and will result in CRAP performance in any flash unit compared to NiMHs.

[Peter Zack]

Alkalines are terrible batteries for a flash or any high demand type of electronics. As Entropy correctly stated. Plus they get hot when fired a lot and then slow down even more.

Get Enelops.

Now as for firing away, there's a simple way to improve your flash times. Stay in P-TTL and reduce the output power on the flash. Then raise the ISO by a stop to compensate. The flash will fire almost continuously. As long as you are not trying to get subject a long distance away, then this works just fine.

[JeffJS]

Alkalines don't play well with Camera equipment. In fact, the only thing they are any good for is television remotes and battery powered toothbrushes. Get yourself some Energizer rechargable 2500 mAh batteries. Your flash will outlast your family gatherings. Unless that is, you're expecting to take 1000s of shots. Then have a backup set ready to go.

Alkalines, are going to break your bank trying to keep up with the AF540. If your flash however, is taking 40 seconds to ready with FRESH batteries, then there may be something wrong with the Flash.

[EsBee]

As much as I could see, the SB-600 was bouncing off the ceiling most of the times but couldn't tell at what ISO.

In hindsight I should have got myself a few sets of Eneloops, or at least some Lithium batteries. I had heard great things about the Eneloops but didn't realize the difference would be so drastic.

For similar events in future, I should probably look into a battery pack and stuffing it with Eneloops also.

[Jodokast96]

A new set of alkalines lasted about 3 full power shots in my Vivitar 283. Most are pretty bad now.

[aleonx3]

Granted, they are not the best batteries to use but at my first elaborate indoor family event, that's all I could muster up and after about a hundred shots, I had to put the flash away because it took 40 seconds to recycle and I was missing too many shots.

I used a fresh set, and was shooting in P-TTL. At one point, I even bumped up the ISO to 400 on my K20D hoping it would reduce the flash power down enough to increase recycle times but that didn't help much.

At the same event, someone else with a D90 and SB-600 was gunning away like every other second.

I haven't done a lot of work with flash photography but after reading quite a bit I figured I'd let the camera tell the flash what and how much to do, and relied on P-TTL. A fair chunk of the photos I was able to take came out okay but its the missed shots that I feel bad about.

Besides the batteries, what else could have been done? Battery pack, a different flash?

This title is very misleading: just try to use the same alkaline battery on other brands of modern day flash, you will get similar results. I would not trust any alkaline battery on my flash (especially an expensive one). In fact, one of my friends uses the cheap alkaline batteries on his SB900 and after only a short while, the batteries get so hot that he almost get burnt when he tried to pull the batteries out of the compartment. Of course, his flash did not fire after it was overheated by the batteries. You will do fine with a high quality Ni-MH batteries (Eneloop or some rebrand such as white-top Duracel would be best). So, it is not the 540FGZ issue but a choice of battery issue.

Good luck, and don't forget to get a better charger (with individual circuits and light indicator) as well.

[EsBee]

What batteries did the SB-600 person have?

1) Alkalines suck for powering high-current-demand devices (ESPECIALLY flash units) - Alkalines have a very high internal resistance that severely limits their current delivery capacity.
2) Depending on the settings the SB-600 guy was using (higher ISO? Direct flash vs. bounce?), they may not have been full-power pops.


Ditch the alkalines. They should only be used for an absolute last resort when powering flashes and will result in CRAP performance in any flash unit compared to NiMHs.

This title is very misleading: just try to use the same alkaline battery on other brands of modern day flash, you will get similar results. I would not trust any alkaline battery on my flash (especially an expensive one). In fact, one of my friends uses the cheap alkaline batteries on his SB900 and after only a short while, the batteries get so hot that he almost get burnt when he tried to pull the batteries out of the compartment. Of course, his flash did not fire after it was overheated by the batteries. You will do fine with a high quality Ni-MH batteries (Eneloop or some rebrand such as white-top Duracel would be best). So, it is not the 540FGZ issue but a choice of battery issue.

Good luck, and don't forget to get a better charger (with individual circuits and light indicator) as well.

I thought the title in whole represented my findings accurately, that a Pentax 540 FGZ flash when used with Alkaline batteries did not recycle well.

Anyway, I had to wait till last night to drop in a set of Lithiums (about $8) to see how the flash did. I turned the flash on (not mounted to any camera), set it to M at full power (1/1), closed my eyes and pressed the Test button. Literally in a couple of seconds the flash was ready. I fired the flash a few dozen times and the recycle time was still less than 5 seconds towards the end.

Not bad at all. I assume that Ni-MH might give about the same or better performance.

[aleonx3]

Esbee, don't mean to be picky on you. When I first read the post, OMG, another bad point about the 540FGZ. Yes, the 540FGZ does have some other issues that others have pointed out, for example, flimsy bettery compartment door that can break easily if you are not careful. But for the most part, it is doing its job, at least for me anyway.

However, I do think that Pentax should come out with another flash better than the 540FGZ. I have heard others have reasonable success with the Metz flash - may be if mine breaks, I will give that a try. Ergonomically, I do think that Pentax should overhaul the design of the 540FGZ, it is too bulky (old standard) especially when pared up with the K-x and K-7.

Back to the battery stuff: another tips that I learned from someone else. I have 4 sets (4 in each set) of batteries. I labelled them all, so I don't mix them up. Everytime, I put them in the charger (remember individual circuit/indicator), they are in the same bundle. And I use them in rotation set 1, 2, 3, 4 etc. I have been using these 4 sets for a long time now and have not experienced any problem at all.

[justDIY]

recycle time is all about internal resistance of the battery. current rating of the battery affects the number of recycles you get, but not the speed at which they happen.

nicd batteries, as old and poisonous as they are still hold the crown for lowest internal resistance. their capacity leaves something to be desired, and high self discharge means you'll need to recharge often

nimh and lithium batteries are second, and a little less poisonous. lithium don't recharge at all, but have self discharge measured in decades. nimh you have an option of high capacity or low discharge, no one makes a battery with both yet.

alkaline and "heavy duty" have a very high internal resistance, but also very little poison content. these suckers are good for clocks, remote controls, smoke detectors, not much else.

fun new chemistry like lithium iron phosphate have low resistance and low poison, but as far as I know, nobody is making them in a 1.5v AA format

[Entropy]

LiFePO4 is a lithium-ion variant - you'll never see them in 1.5v AA format.

As to good NiMH chargers - MaHa MH-C9000 or LaCrosse BC-900 are your best bets. They're the cream of the crop as far as chargers go.

Even with an independent-cell charger, I agree on always keeping batteries together in sets.

[GeneV]

A new set of alkalines lasted about 3 full power shots in my Vivitar 283. Most are pretty bad now.

I've had better luck than that with some Costco Alkalines in a 283, but I agree that they are not well suited to flash use. I carry and use them only as backup.

I have never had anything but Eneloops in my 540FGZ, and they have performed very well for thousands of flashes.

[HawaiianOnline]

Does this mean that NiMH C cells would be better for use in the TRIII for powering an AF540? I've been using alkaline Cs, and they seem to work ok.

[justDIY]

Does this mean that NiMH C cells would be better for use in the TRIII for powering an AF540? I've been using alkaline Cs, and they seem to work ok.

I do not have one of the gizmo's you are speaking of, but I'll comment in general on rechargeable C batteries. Make sure you but real "C" cells and not an "AA" in wrapped in plastic to make it larger. A real rechargable C should be rated at least 4000mAh.

As I see it, self discharge is a bigger problem with a flash than it is with a body. If you're taking the flash out on jobs, and can remember to charge the batteries the day before, you should be all set, and see a lot better recycle times and more cycles.

On the other hand, if you want to leave the flash sit for long periods and still be able to use it "on a whim", then stick with alkaline

"real" c cell here:
http://www.zbattery.com/MAHA-PowerEx-1-2V-5000mAh-C-Cell-NiMH-Batteries-2-Ca...&category=1941