>>
If shooting sporadically, to save power I sometimes switch the T Power 1 off
when I don't think I'll need it for a while, then back on when something is
coming up. I notice it lights the flash-ready much more quickly after the first
time, and figured this is because it doesn't discharge the capacitor.
Anything that saves battery is *good*.
<<
Yes a high self discharge is only useful while repairing the flash for safety!
Unfortuantely the T20 self discharge is a lot quicker than it needs be and the
invertor runs continuously, so it wastes battery energy while running and is
less efficient. Newer flashes that try to do energy saving actually have low
self discharge circuits and cycle the inveretor circuit on and off allowing the
capacitor to discharge a bit between charge up cycles. The Nissin flash I
mentioned before is like that, and you can switch it off for a while and when
you switch it back on it is ready almost at once. It also has a push botton
(part of power switch) that allows you to top up the flash if it has been
idling for a while. This is more convenient than switching on and off to
conserve batteries. Some flashes like the Metz60 series are particularly
inefficient and draw a large amount of power while idling.
Tim Hughes
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