Late last year I managed an interview with Al Jacobson, the designer and manufacturer of the Black Box and Tuxedo battery packs for flash units, and I purchased one for myself. I have seen a number of you using this unit in the field and thought others may be interested as well. This is really a quality product and will rapidly fire your flash and can in many instances keep up with the rapid firing of your camera (don't burn up your flash unit!).
He also has a number of other products and is a really interesting guy. Since the interview is 20 minutes, I had to break it into two parts.
Al's web address is: www.aljacobs.com if you would like more information.
Thanks for the link Jim Just watch the video ... btw one thing I was interested but did not specify is the recycle time? With the current performance of the new 2900 ma AA it better be fast to make up the weight and bulk.
For years I used an external pack but have given up !!
The full black box unit is quite heavy (uses a lead-acid battery) and that is one reason I'm interested in the Tuxedo unit. I don't know what the recycle time is, but Al said it should keep up with the camera -but don't overdo it as you can burn up the flash! He explained to me that flash units are not really designed to be fired that rapidly and are meant to rest between takes. One reason he doesn't use the external battery plug is the fact the manufacturers can tell if you use a third party battery pack and it will void the warranty.
Black Box battery pack
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