Godox Propac PB-820 battery pack review
No longer a throwaway Chinese brand found only in obscure online shops or eBay, Godox products are now widely distributed in Europe by companies such as Walimex and Elemental. Their latest multi-front assault on the portable flash market include the Leadpower LP750 pure sine wave battery pack, the Reemix RMII wireless trigger and Propac PB-820 high voltage battery pack, reviewed here.
The most striking feature of the Godox Propac is its lime green cover. For the less brash photographers amongst us, fear not, the PB-820 is also available in black. The top panel is incredibly simple, featuring a single DIN 45326 socket (compatible with Quantum Turbo cables) which doubles up as both the output and input port. Power is controlled by a simple on/off button and charging status is displayed by a ring of LEDs. Strap lugs on each side allow the fitting of a shoulder strap (no strap is included) or there is a belt clip.
Warning: The Godox Propac is not compatible with all types of Quantum chargers, despite what is written in their instruction manual. Please see here for more information.
Most surprising for me was the battery pack’s light weight. The Propac is a mere 502 grams which belies its size (150*104*44mm). From this compact package the manufacturer claims you can get up to 320 full power flashes. Inside the Propac is a 9.6V nickel metal hydride 2000 mAh battery.
Working in events photography, I regularly use the Propac with an on-camera TTL Nikon SB-800 and take well over 300 bounce flash photographs in a night. I’ve never seen the unit below half charge, even when neglecting to charge the pack between two jobs. Indeed, my AA batteries, effectively only powering the speedlight’s liquid crystal display, ran out more quickly than the Propac.
For European users at least, cables are easy to come by. Elemental Europe sell Sony, Canon and Nikon cords for £20 apiece, while Walimex Pro also have them for around €20. Quantum cords, by comparison, go for over £40. The Din connector is secure and reliable and I have never feared for it coming loose, even pushing and shoving with revellers in a crowded nightclub. Even with half a pint of someone’s drink spilled on the pack, nobody got electrocuted and there were no apparent electrical problems. That said, don’t try this at home!
With AA batteries alone, a Nikon SB-800 recycles from a full power flash in around 5 seconds or so. With the Propac, that time is slashed to under a second.
Where to buy
You can buy the Godox Propac PB820 for around US$200 on eBay, €160 from Foto-Walser and £159 from Elemental.
Update: This battery pack is now sold in the USA, rebranded as the Bolt Cyclone by B&H Photo.
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does this means you could power a q flash with this pack?
thank you for the review!
dealextreme sells it WITH cables and free delivery worldwide for $110: http://goo.gl/ZV9Qs
Whats the difference between this godox and this then, apart from more than twice the cost, less battery power, lighter weight and only one output?
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190383397498&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
Perhaps we should do a comparison?
Hi,
You can also get it here in the Netherlands:
http://www.fotoshopaalten.nl/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=PB-820+accupack
Pricing includes, a powerpack, cable, a set (4 pieces) of extra Maha 2400 AA batteries (only the green edition) and free shipping.
”Perhaps we should do a comparison?”
yes please!!!
We have written to iShoot/Photoloving to see if they are prepared to offer us a sample unit to test.
That would be great! I like the Godox, but the feature that I like from the Ishoot is the double output.
I shoot with double speedlight mounted on a bar inside a softbox.
May be I can build a double cable for the Godox. I should buy two cables….
I would have bought the IShoot one a long time ago (because 8 AAs are awkward to charge for the CP-E4), if only it had a decent warranty – 7 days isn’t much.
I have been using the iShoot batteries for more than a year now and I have had no issues up to now. I use them with 580EX II, Sunpak 120J and Shining portable strobe. Excellent product.
My came yesterday from http://www.dealextreme.com $116
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/godox-propac-pb820-power-battery-pack-for-canon-580ex-580ex-ii-550ex-430ez-540ez-flash-57937
love it wona by one more!
Does anybody tried to powered two speedlights with one of these. I think I can build a double cable from two cables…. Any thoughts ?
How long does it take to charge one of these units? Is it 2 hours or 6 hours?
2 hours
Hi
I use it on Nikon speedlitght , very good product
@Juan If you have any solution to plug one Godox for 2 speedlights can you telle me how ?
@Seshu Never more than 2 hours but the propac was never empty
http://www.joyfay.com/us/pb820-flash-power-battery-pack-for-sony-canon-nikon.html
arived promptly in excellent condition.
bought one from deal extreme it worked for 1 day then would not turn on again.
deal extreme have not replied to any of my emails so i would suggest avoiding them and use some other seller on Ebay
I had a problem with mine too. Seems the connection to the 580EXII was not all it should be. The fix was simple. I was able to tighten the connection points in the end of the cable that goes into the flash with a strong pin. Works flawlessly now.
Someone wrote a review about these, and said that it contains 8 AA rechargeable batteries.