Flash photography tip: Save your batteries

Thursday 16 January 2025, 16:32 by Elja Trum | 2,335 views | 2 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

When you use your flash at full power, it uses a lot of power. The batteries therefore run out quickly. Recharging the flash to the required power also takes time. There is a handy way to save flash power.

Janna - f/4, 1/160s, 400 ISO @ 45mm
Recharging to full power after taking a photo always takes more time and energy than charging to, for example, just 1/4 power. As the battery runs down, it also takes longer.

It is therefore smart not to use your flash at full power, if this is possible for your photo. You can reduce the required flash power by opening up the aperture further, for example from f/11 to f/5.6, which requires twice as little light.

You can also increase the ISO. For example, from 100 ISO to 400 ISO. You then only need a quarter of the flash power.

By adjusting the aperture and the ISO of your camera, you can therefore save a lot of the required flash power. This means you can use your flash more often and in quicker succession.

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About the author

Elja Trum is the founder of Photofacts and online photography course website Photofacts Academy. He has been writing about photography since 2006. Elja is also the author of (Dutch) books on composition, black-and-white photography, flash photography and portrait photography.

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2 comments

guest wrote on Friday 17 January 2025 at 08:49 | reply
By not using high-speed sync when using flash, you also save a lot.
Every little bit helps !
Translated from Dutch.

Elja Trum wrote on Friday 17 January 2025 at 08:52 | reply
Absolutely, that also saves a lot. That's always my starting point, by the way.
Translated from Dutch.

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Would you like to take better photos and keep up with what is happening in photography? Photofacts publishes articles that teach you something about photography — from a product announcement to a practical shooting tip or a look at a website. Photofacts covers photography every day and is a hobby project of Elja Trum's that got out of hand. The articles are written by a team of volunteer authors. If you would enjoy writing one or more articles for Photofacts, do get in touch.More about Photofacts

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