Battery Power (ex. Quantum)??

I shot a wedding on Saturday and as usual, I shot about 25 rolls of film... (for a total of 49 rolls, my partner shot with Portra) Most of which was Delta 400 where I used my Vivitar 285... Either full throttle or cut back for some slight fill....

I've noticed that the double A's, are fairly inconsistent as well as easily drained.. I even had a battery get to hot and blow up... Not sure how that happened or why, but it was a fun mess in the middle of a portrait session with the wedding party...

So, another upgrade to gear.... What is a good battery set up? Something that will handle 750 - 1000 shots without getting crazy on me? Something I can use with a Vivitar as well as a Nikon flash (probably a sb-800)...

Oh yeah, hopefully something I can mount on my flash bracket (Custom Brackets CB Digital-T)

Bighead,
Take a look at the Quantum Battery One. It can be used as an over the shoulder pack & also has a belt clip. Adapter cables are available for many flash units. This will work with 6V (4AA) flash guns.

They are used all day long on Ebay. Of course, the cells could be worn... Someone had said that you can replace the cells for $25, if thats the case, would it be a good deal to buy a used and replace cells or should I just spend the cash for a brand new one?

http://www.aljacobs.com/Packmodone.htm

Anybody know about these guys?

The fake battery inserts would seem to imply that any battery could be used that provided the right voltage.

try a Quantum Turbo. I've been using them for about 15 yrs now for shooting events and have used them with them with 283s, 285s, SB26, 28, 80 and 800, and Q-Flashes. I also used Battery One's back in the mid 80s when they first came out, and these are great for use with a 283, but they won't last for a full day's work like a Turbo will. Both the Turbo and the Battery One are lead-acid cells and don't have a memory. You can charge them at any time and leave them unused for weeks at a time and still have a decent charge. The turbo can be used for a full days work though. I routinely use them to shoot for 6 hour plus shoots and have shot as much as 20 rolls or more using them with auto flashes for fill etc. Very quick recycle time--even compared to a Battery One. If you get a Battery One, I'd get 2 of them and use one for backup or for when the other one poops out...it's nice to have 2 Turbos, but you'd have to be working pretty hard to drain one out.

I've also used the Turbo-Zs, but had to get rid of two of them after a year because they both died. I could have gotten them recelled, but I pretty much sold them as-is for a hell of a loss, bascially gave them away, because they were unreliable.....I bought another Turbo instead. They're heavy, but they're reliable...I still have the Battery One I bought in 1984 though...

btw--we've had 5 Turbos since 1989 or so, and we're down to 2 working ones now, with a third that needs to be recelled. The other two have been recelled a few times each, and are suffering other old-age problems, but these things really have gotten used and they're good value for the money, imho.