Jbravi

Recently I saw a photog using a quantum flag for his Nikon camera. I have never used one. Can some one in this forum throw some light on this for ne please?

02Nomad Loc: Catonsville, MD

When I was shooting weddings with film, I used one. It was an excellent flash, but the Quantum batteries were, I believe, lead acid and they were heavy. I eventually bought a Bolt battery which was Li ion(?), which was much lighter. Despite having an extra battery for the unit, I could shoot all day with only one battery. Hope that this helped.

RWR Loc: La Mesa, CA

A Google search brought this up:
https://www.google.com/search?q=Quantum+Flash&oq=Quantum+Flash&aqs=chrome..0j69i57j0l3j69i61.14225j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

Oh, you meant Flash not Flag. I was confused for a moment. I've heard of the Quantum Brand for many year so it must be at least fairly good. I used to have a working high end Metz Flash with a heavy ass 510v battery pack. It had some strange thing called a dry-fit battery. Eventually some weird gel leaked out and made a mess. Jelled acid? Yucko. The flash might still work if I wanted to invest in a super pricey NiCad or Li-Ion replacement battery. This thing was rather powerful with a GN of 197; that means at Full Power & ISO 100 @ 10' & f/20 ! But I'd bet the trigger voltage is high so it would probably fry a digital camera.

colt4x5 Loc: Central Connecticut

In the 1980s, shooting for small newspapers around Long Island (NY) and Connecticut, I used a Quantum battery setup (Turbo with a special cable) to power my Vivitar 283. I just slung the battery over my shoulder - lots of power, lasted forever and shot fast (even full power at midnight fire scenes). I still have that battery, and it still takes a charge.
When I started shooting weddings, I used a Quantum Trio instead of the Vivitar, with the same battery, but a different cable. Thermal protection, so you can shoot fast. Nice round diffusion head, or you can shoot bare bulb ... Reminded me of the old Norman, but with TTL. Several very nice modifiers available (including a beauty dish for portraits) and the ability to fire additional Quantum units with a built-in radio transmitter.
Designed and (I believe) manufactured in the USA (on Long Island, at least in the beginning). As a step above a regular speedlight, Quantum remains a good option, even though they're not all that easy to locate new.

BebuLamar

Quantum makes good flashes and still do. They are made by Quantum Instruments and this is the link to their website
http://www.qtm.com/

olsonsview

Quantum Turbo batteries are excellent work horse batteries for wedding as well as other photographers. I used a pair of them to run the SB-900 Nikon flashes for wedding work. Always had two cameras near me to shoot essential bread and butter ceremony shots and a third with a long fast lens for distance work. I never depleted my Quantum batteries while working even the longest weddings. I also like the quantum flash units, they were great for mini studio setups, but bulkier than Nikon units so preferred the Nikon for on camera work. With the Quantum battery, it was possible to get that second shot, a split second after the first, that looked better than the first pic, and the flash still fired full power, and lit the scene! A testament to the high power feed from the Turbo battery. Also good to power flash units if doing in studio stacking pics, though check the flash temp, do not want to overheat a flash.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

Quantum is one of the highest quality professional grade electronic flash makers and ,as far as I know, it is all domestically manufactured. I hav several Q-Flash units and radio slaves in my studio inventory and they have all worked flawlessly for many years of hard service. I also have 2 of their flash heads that integrate with my Lumadyne power packs.

Although a have a few "Speedlights" for casual use, however, for serious press, wedding, event and similar assignments I prefer the larger portable strobes with interchangeable parabolic reflectors and user changeable flash tubes, outboard battery packs and bare bulb capabilities.

Good gear- not cheap!

wrangler5 Loc: Missouri

Had a Quantum battery that I used with a Sunpak potato masher flash. As others experienced, could shoot fast all day on a single charge. My kids are all grown so I don't shoot much fast stuff any more, and when I do the higher available ISOs on modern digital cameras make a powerful flash less important (to me) than it was in my film days.

BTW, I always liked the Quantum light meters as well. Extremely simple, very durable, long lived battery, and it showed all your exposure choices on a single dial where you could see 'em all at once. If I still used light meters I'd probably get another one, just for old times' sake.

pendennis

When I did weddings I used the Quantum Turbo (2), along with the Quantum T2 Flash, and an Armatar LR200 (converted Vivitar 283). While the batteries aren't the lightest around, they were powerful, and two would get me through a long day without having to recharge. I also used the smaller Quantum Bantam for my smaller Nikon Speedlights.

I sent them back to Quantum for cell replacement a couple of times, and they always performed exactly as expected.

I also used the Turbos outdoors when I needed dual light set ups. I could mount the batteries and lights on a stand and go to work.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Quantum Instruments makes GREAT stuff, but it’s expensive.

http://www.qtm.com/

I still have a Quantum Battery 1 I bought in 1984. Its battery won’t charge, but if I need it, lead-acid gel cells are available cheap — same ones used in many battery backup inverters and emergency exit lights.

Norm W. Loc: Southern CA

I have used a Quantum q flash for several decades, have refurbished the turbo battery twice, I have been delighted with its performance. I particularly like the bare bulb option. The new ones are pricy, used ones more affordable. The first battery refresh was over a decade ago. Sent the battery to Quantum and paid over $100. The second battery refresh was a few months ago. I carefully opened the battery case, found the brand and model of the lead acid battery inside, ordered one for about $30, replaced the dead battery and it works great.

BebuLamar

Quantum uses standard batteries which is a good thing. I have the Metz 60-CT4 and Metz uses a battery of the size that I can't find. Even if I can find one of the right size I still have to modify the terminals and also they put a ridge in the battery to prevent installing the battery backward.