Powerrrrr! The PixelHK Battery Pack TD-382

I have been looking for external battery packs for my SB900’s for a while now and I think I have finally found a solution that is not only practical but a cost effective alternative to the Nikon SD9 Battery Pack.

© Stuart Little 2010

© Stuart Little 2010

(In the interests of full disclosure and all that! I bought the battery pack as normal customer and have no affiliation with PixelHK.)

I have been eyeing up the Nikon SD-9 external battery pack for a while now but at $200 its a little bit on the expensive side for my liking because if you buy from the US, your going to pay import duty and if you buy from the UK the price is roughly the same except in pounds. Quite frankly I would rather put the money towards another Nikon SB900 and just lots of use 4 X AA batteries.

However whilst looking for various TTL cords (Thats another post). I came across a 3rd party battery pack that was a contender on price and also the reputation of the seller. But, since speaking with the ever resourceful @michael_sewell I changed my mind. I had mentioned to Michael about my hunt for an external battery pack and he then pointed me towards a Strobist’s favourite PixelHK who are a pretty new kid on the block for all things wireless and flash orientated. So with a little more research under my belt I purchased the PixelHK Battery Pack TD-382 from their eBay Sellers page for $56.80 inc P&P. The pack I purchased is purely for the SB900 but they do versions for nearly all Nikon Strobes that can take an external battery pack and also the same goes for Canon. So click the link above and see if they do one for your model of flash.

Now, down to the nitty gritty. The pack arrived the other day and I have to say I was pretty blown away by the build quality which is excellent. I had expected for the price to have to compromise somewhere down the line, but no. Even the little case that comes with the pack is made to a very high standard and long may it continue. The pack holds 2 sets of 4 x AA’s and there are indicators lights at the top of the pack to show which set of batteries is charging and has a built in thermal cut-out. You also need a set of baatteries in the flashgun as well for the control panel LCD etc, but when it comes to actual power usage, its coming directly from the battery pack and the recycle rate is top notch! I can get a 2 to 3 shot burst on full power before there is any recycle time lag and even at that it is only a second or so. This is more than fast enough for me as I mainly run my strobes at 1/4 or 1/2 power most of the time.

The whole unit is easy to load with batteries and also very easy to use and you will see it in action very soon when the studio is completed. I am so pleased with my purchase I will be going back for another pack for my other SB900 and as I add more flash power to my kit, I too will be adding the PixelHK Battery Packs TD-382 for each new flashgun.

Great value for money, great build quality, works perfectly and it will allow me to always get the shot and prolong shooting with my small strobes.

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  1. Tim Lewis Says:

    Good review Stu. Product looks tempting. Do they do them for Metz?

  2. Stuart Little Says:

    Dunno. But I am sending you, your strobes tomorrow. They have sat here long enough.

  3. Tweets that mention The PixelHK Battery Pack TD-382 – Little Photoshop -- Topsy.com Says:

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Stuart Little and Tim Lewis, Michael Sewell. Michael Sewell said: RT @littlephotoshop The PixelHK Battery Pack TD-382 http://bit.ly/6PqqjZ [...]

  4. Georg Says:

    These are just empty cases with a cable, or am I mistaken? Maybe a little circuit board? To pay nearly 60 pounds for this isn’t cheap in my opinion. But the Nikon is the same, as I now realize. I thought there is a more powerful Li-Ion-Battery built in, and not the normal AAs. So it is better than 200pounds :P Have fun and thx for the review.

  5. Stuart Little Says:

    Thanks for the comment Georg. The prices are in dollars, so I paid just over £30 for it including postage. Which is a pretty good price.

  6. daniel Says:

    Have you tested the pack with wireless triggers? I’ve read that the main problem with these is that they don’t work well/at all with wireless triggers.

  7. Stuart Little Says:

    I mainly use the Nikon CLS and it works just fine with it. I have ordered a set of RF602’s to see how they get on with it. But that is purely as backup. I have also recently acquired a couple of TTL cables which obviously have no problems. I will let you know either way.

  8. Stuart Little Says:

    Update @Daniel – I just received a set of RF602’s through the post this morning and I have done a short test with them and the battery pack. Everything worked just fine thanks.

  9. James Pringle Says:

    Stu

    Following your review, I purchased one the 580 canon flash, it works as good as you described, saved about £90

  10. Stuart Little Says:

    Nice one James. I am loving my battery pack as well.

  11. Rob Stephen Says:

    Just bought a couple of these units (one for SB800 and 1 for SB900) after reading this review. I am struggling a little to understand the unit. After placing new batteries in the pack. Should the led’s on the pack light up to indicate there is power in the unit. Using a D700, SB900 and TD-382 flash pack. When rechargable batteries are used (2800ma) should I be able to fire a number of flashes in quick succession and see any lighting of the led’s on the flash pack. My units appear to be only using the normal batteries in the flash. Any help would be appreciated.

  12. Stuart Little Says:

    Hi Rob, The LED’s indicate which set of batteries it is using to draw power from to recharge the flash. In mine they only light up when shooting. You should be able to fire quite a few full pops of flash on it before the recycle gets a little slower. Check you have right units for the right speedlight and make sure the cables are not crushed in any way.

    Stu

  13. Rob Stephen Says:

    Thanks for that explanation Stuart. I have set the SB800/SB900 for full manual flash. I can now see the led’s in the power pack drawing power from the pack. Prior to the manual setting, I was testing using TTL which was using so little power, barely any led was illuminating. On the SB-800 and TD-383 unit you have to plug in the synch lead attached to the power cable for the power unit to work correctly. The manuals are a bit basic. They could have added an quick explanation on how to test the unit.

  14. Stuart Little Says:

    Your welcome. Cheers Stu

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