CANON SOLAR PANEL FLASH BATTERY CHARGERS?

There are solar panel chargers for AA batteries on the market, having one with a flash compatible connector isn't a big deal.

Question is how useful is this application of solar charger. The more sun light there is to charge the batteries, the less likely you are to use the flash.

Antono Refa said:

Question is how useful is this application of solar charger. The more sun light there is to charge the batteries, the less likely you are to use the flash.

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Ever heard of fill flash? In bright light for outdoor portraits, you’re usually at a high shutter speed and low ISO to accommodate the wide aperture, meaning fill flash is done with HSS. In that situation, you often eat through batteries faster than you would shooting with flash in a dark room.

Personally, I still don’t think it’s terribly useful. I just bring a sack of an eneloop batteries and don’t worry about recharging them. But your logic for the lack of utility doesn’t really hold up.

neuroanatomist said:

Ever heard of fill flash?

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Yes, which is why I wrote less likely, rather than never.

neuroanatomist said:

Personally, I still don’t think it’s terribly useful. I just bring a sack of an eneloop batteries and don’t worry about recharging them. But your logic for the lack of utility doesn’t really hold up.

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I wonder whether this is a straw man argument, or your misunderstanding of what I wrote.

I don't see the utility - seems more like a gimmick. I don't see scenarios where this is a good solution for my use. I can get smaller, lighter, more flexible, and more powerful panels designed for travel that provide USB output to charge a variety of devices as well as AA/AAA batteries. And I can pair the panel with a powerbank that can charge all day when not in use and recharge batteries even during a cloudy period.

I already have a range of flashes (90, 320, 430, 600), depending on the amount of fill flash I need. That has some impact on how much juice I need to bring, but all use AA/AAA batteries. I have 24AA Eneloops and 8 AAA Eneloops, which easily get me through a day of shooting in my normal use.

For my mobile cases in the Colorado mountains where a recharge might be necessary:

1. Shooting near a vehicle. If you want to overpower the sun, then you might need some heavy duty stobes and batteries. Otherwise, using a flash I can carry two or three sets of batteries to shoot all day and recharge using a power bank or the vehicle 12V when exhausted. I don't really need solar panels if I have a large enough power bank and charge it with the vehicle 12V. Who really wants to wait for a 1W or 3W solar panel when its easy to access a lot more power?
2. Working away from the vehicle on a day hike (12+ hours). Some spare batteries are much lighter and smaller to carry on a day trip. This is usually all I need. I'm more likely to add an extra set or two of batteries than mess with a solar panel. If I'm shooting on the trail and need flash, I may be under the forest canopy where there won't be much solar anyway.
3. Shooting on a multiday backpack trip. Here's the best case for solar when I cannot recharge overnight. I'll probably need to charge more than just my camera flash too. Goal Zero panels strap to the outside of my pack to recharge when moving, these cheap panels don't look like they are setup for this scenario. When I reach camp I can usually find find a sunny place to set the panels up, but not always. Sometimes I'm camping in a canyon in the forest and will only have the midday sun on the trail.

In the last scenario, weight becomes an issue so I usually lighten my camera and electronics load to a GPS and the S120, maybe the M6 with 2-3 lenses that fit in a small pouch with 3 batteries.