FEEDBACK

FEEDBACK
I read about you on the Miranda Forum. Could you tell me more about this product? How do you support it after purchase, and how can you afford to sell it for so cheap? It looks like an elegant solution, and I am very interested.

REPLY: Thank you, those are the kindest words I have received to date. Unfortunately no one will believe someone wrote it. They'll think my wife "sent it in for me".

For the Record:
I am a one man company, I believe in no waste, was retired, keeps me busy, prevents boredom, and I have contacts in the electronics fields that allow me to purchase quantity and quality. I eliminate all "drag", no corporate meetings, no stocks, no options, no employees, no headaches. I build limited numbers, no advertising, all is word of mouth and people like what I make so they tell their friends. No middle man , no distributors, no retail stores. No sales teams, rallies, parties. or win a trip for sales excellence. No nothing! And no secrets...... ...... basically you are dealing direct, no markups, and from a fellow photographer who kind of learned from shooting what works and what's ridiculous. Hope this answers your questions. I keep it simple, very simple.

Alan,
I got the flash battery and it's great! I like the chunky and substantial battery charger and its nicely done terminals. Thanks again for the quantum plug adapter as I was able to test it out immediately. It's great knowing that the next time I have an indoor shoot, I won't need to think about battery power. I appreciate the extra din cable and fake batteries too. Those suckers are DOBA (dead on balls accurate) size wise! Great quality equipment makes photography much more enjoyable and satisfying!
Talk to you soon.
Jeff Benedict (your Atlanta buddy).

Alan:
First, I finally got to try your batteries out on my SB800 since the Quantum cable came in from B&H. Very nice! Recycle speed, although maybe a second slower than my Turbo is adequate for my work. I think I’m going to really like the batteries. I now have two batteries to use instead of just the one Turbo and I hope it’s going to be safer to run this one than the Turbo. My SB800 kept shutting off after a while on the Turbo and the Vivitars just never worked at all on the Turbo. I had to shut off the battery and then turn it back on again to get the Vivitars to work with it.
R.

What is the status of the 283's I sent you?
They were received Friday at 6 pm. we have a late UPS guy. Worked on them Friday night. Going out this weekend. Your 69 dollar (B&H) 283’s were just at three seconds when I tested them, one cord has a blue band on it and the other red, you can see just for identification. (3 seconds = perfect) and that’s just at full power dumps and with the blinking ready light which is full power. Solid only being 83%. That split second is the fifth of a stop, but with my system and the cord the jump from 83% to full is imperceptible. That’s the difference. LOW RESISTANCE CORDS. BIG CONNECTORS. GOOD CONTACT. The capacitor thinks the batteries are right there, not from a pack they have to go thorough with electronics, then they have to burn out from the thin wire and travel six feet. Then I ran some tests on his Turbo cords. Remember many may hate my straight cords, but 16 gauge of pure copper that can be replaced and updated for 6.00 dollars including the plug and runs ZERO resistance and brings a SB-800 or a Vivitar 283.285 to within a second of the 400 dollar toy isn’t so bad. Tests with a continuity tester tell you nothing, just that you have continuity. Run a load through the wire and you'll see a real difference.

Hi Al:
Yes, it's 3:50 AM as I'm sending this message! I'm working way too late tonight Photoshoping my wedding images. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I received the two 283's in the mail today. Thanks so much for working on them so quickly. I actually like the straight cable more than the coiled! The flashes do recycle very quickly with your batteries! I can't wait to try them at next Saturday's wedding. I don't think I'll miss that Turbo battery at all. The guy who bought it just received it yesterday. Took a long time compared to all the things we've done in the past several days! :) I received two shipments from you and I shipped to you once in the time period it took for my Turbo to get to them.
Thanks again.
Russ

Note: People wonder why I ship United States Postal Service. Simple, we have our own postage, depot and great packaging supplied by the Postal Service. This allows us fast turnarounds, usually measured in hours not days. USPS does a better job than UPS waiting for them for a pickup. Saturday deliveries help a lot. Money laying on a bench means nothing to my customers. Packages shipped and received does. We have a small place and getting stuff shipped and out the door allows us more room.

Hi Al:
Just wanted to let you know that I used one of your batteries at my last wedding yesterday. It worked great!
I used only one battery the whole wedding. Shot probably 500 or 550 flash shots during the reception (wedding was outside and didn’t use fill flash). It worked just perfectly. Recycle time was fast enough for me. I don’t miss the Turbo battery one bit and the 283 had NO problems at all with the batteries.

I tried the Nikon SB-800 on it and had all sorts of problems with that flash though. Ever since I got it, sometimes I get great exposures and other times it is so horribly underexposed no matter what settings I use on it. Maybe I just don’t know how to use that flash, but it just is not reliable for me. And, to top it off, the locking connector on the Quantum cable got stuck so tight on the RCA plug that I had to pull it hard to get it off. It just would not screw on or off any more so the only solution was to pull straight up to get it out. No hard done and now that it’s off, I can loosen that locking barrel. I’ll never lock that thing again… too risky! Your DIN connectors are far superior to RCA’s!

Just thought you’d like to know that I really like your batteries.
Russ Lowe
Nikonguy59

JUST ANOTHER DAY...in Nikon Ville....
I get a couple of SB800’s brought in from one of the stringer for a paper south of here. Both SB-800’s had an odor, combo of heat and electrical. It was using the five battery setup and an accelerated pack. I know that problem, he probably put five Lithium’s or Kodak Oxy Digitals and had the Turbo going. Not the Turbos problem, the over juiced AA cells were. TURBOS work fine with regular four batteries for the LCD. The AA cells were getting hot and this kid almost had a meltdown. Anyway after an hour there was no problem on my battery pack. We lost the second one, it was DOA.

Batteries were literally melted, toast. Off to Nikon. Verdict, the Nikon can take five batteries, the Nikon can use a fresh Turbo BUT the Kodak Oxy-Digitals at almost 1.75 or 1.8 volts will smoke. Also combinations of both batteries are deadly. Guaranteed 140.00 for the repair. Wrong Class C repairs average about $160.00 with freight now.

Then Billy Smith, my friend who does my color printing for 20x30’s, drops in. He bailed my arse out a few times with big trade show stuff, drags in his bag, hello! Brings in his Nikons. Normally a METZ potato masher user his SB-28 is his backup. Billy does Wedding and PR work for organizations, so with no dead line and being a crackerjack printer he uses film a lot.

The Nikon just sat there on camera and on bracket with my shortened Sc-17’s and went off by itself. I shorten SC-17's, even do them for one guy on the web who resells them. The cord was perfect. I have seen this on the 28’s a defective foot shorts on the 28’s. On the SB80, one-two of the Alkaline had leaked left in strobe, Florida heat. Off to Nikon. Less than the space of two hours… I was shipping two back to Nikon. Update Week Later: Estimate Back from Nikon $169.00

I spoke with friends at Nikon. They were adamant about accelerated packs and the fact they spend a lot of money tweaking those strobes and do offer a very conservative pack by Nikon. BUT everybody wants them faster and when they blow they send them to Nikon to fix.

Now on Galbraith when XXX battery company blew the Canons with accelerated packs the owner admitted the fly back transformer was set at 340 volts, just too much. Not wanting to destroy Nikons he admits he tuned his down so Nikon will restrict to 2.3 seconds on full, throughout the power curve.

Here's why I’ll take a second more and not burn up my gear. I think Nikon has pushed the capacitor and its ability to absorb juice when they came with the five battery setup. It’s apparent they were under some kind of strong pressure to speed up things since the use of NiMH with higher delivery rates also delivers them at lower voltages.

Simple math 4 x 1.2 = 4.8 to 5 volts. That's a six volt unit. Like running your car on tires with ten pounds in them. Also we know that NiMH batteries dump faster to the capacitor, so we know they made a change. If your Turbo was getting old around the electronics. (What in the name of same hill do I preach all the time, more junk in the box, more bunk in the box to go wrong) The capacitor in the Turbo stepping the 330 volts direct I feel is going to ruin a few of the Nikons. Just my two cents. With Nikons repair bills running more than two cents, about $159.98 dollars more, I play on the side of caution.

Used on a CANON
I got the new battery pack ("Black Box") I ordered from here Al Jacobs. I've tested it and I'm very impressed with it. My Quantum adapter fits the RCA plug jack on the new pack as is. I took several test shots using my Metz 54-4 in auto mode +1 and +2 FEC, and in ettl mode +1 and +2 FEC and the flash refreshed almost immediately. This is much faster than it does with my Quantum 1 pack. It comes with a smart charger which goes to a trickle mode once the battery is fully charged.
That is more sensible than the charger I have for the Quantum. I've not tested it with a full field test, both shooting and charging, so can't give you any report on that yet. The Quantum weighs 1 lb 11 oz and the Black Box weighs 2 lb 8 oz.

Also shown in the shot is the Metz 54-4 and the cable coming from the adapter. I would have liked to have shown you the adapter, but the battery compartment door fits so tightly on the Metz that I cannot easily open it, so the install is permanent. The adapter used is the Quantum MKZ3 which is available at B&H The same adapter fits the Canon 550/580ex flash units. The black box has a second port on it, which takes a 4 pin DIN plug. The unit ships with a dummy DIN plug that those in the know could wire to fit whatever fake battery cable they are now using. Or you can send the plug to the seller with your cable and for no charge (except shipping) he will wire the plug for you. I'm thinking particularly of the Vivitar 283/285 flash units and possibly some Sunpak units. This pack is really a nice unit and is very competitively priced. I'm so glad now that I missed the auctions on Ebay for a bigger Quantum unit as I think I got a unit here that is just as useful and much less expensive.

Bruce Ward

Fred Miranda's Website: Al Jacobs Black Box - Sweet! Hello, everyone!
I just wanted to give some quick praise to Al Jacobs and his black box. My partner and I just ordered a pair a week ago and needed them for a wedding the following week. We ordered them late Friday night on the west coast and Al had them in the mail the next day... on a Saturday! He called me personally (as he does with each order) to talk about the boxes and just to get to know me. What customer service!

The black boxes arrived by Thursday giving us plenty of time to get accustomed to them. And they worked exactly as well as advertised. We shot all day without having to worry about switching batteries all the time.

The whole experience was great and I wanted to give Al some praise because it's rare to find a great product and equally as great customer service. (He even called again to make sure everything went well for the wedding we shot.)

Mike
Storyteller Photography

Mr. Jacobs
I've read over your photographers guide I found at the Fred Miranda website. I thought I would take this opportunity to thank you for the free, accurate and most entertaining journal. If I didn't know you were from Florida, I'd have guessed you lived in my neck of the woods since the same goes on here in Canada.
It was a pleasure.
Once again Thanks.
Vince Gircys
www.imagebyvincent.com

Hello Al,
A little over a year ago I built one of your battery pack hookups for my Vivitar 285HV flash, with some good help from you via email. Last week I purchased a Canon 20D camera, and I would like to use the modified Vivitar flash with it. I have read that the maximum flash sync voltage the camera can withstand is 250 volts. So I would like to know whether I can use my Vivitar flash, mounted to the hot shoe of the Canon 20D, without damaging the camera.
If I recall correctly, the output voltage of the modified flash is only 12v, but I read somewhere that I also need to be concerned about "deep discharge," whatever that might mean. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Speaking of advice, thanks for writing your excellent BRIDEZILLA essay. It certainly provides more of a "real world" perspective than I have seen in any of the other wedding photography books I've read.

Q-How can you tell how old my 285HV is?
If your Vivitar is Chinese made you most likely are quite safe. It is printed in myopic text into the plastic near the base. Then most likely it is low voltage and will work. If it says "JAPAN". Japan most likely is high voltage. Caution with the HIGH VOLTAGE model. The real answer is to test the shunting.

Q-What is a Deep Discharge Battery?
Ones they used in the movie "DEEP THROAT". Actually a specific type of battery designed to recoup when a battery is so far down it might forget to come back up. It also denotes the most common types of batteries used for trolling motors or kids toy cars or golf carts where typically they are run to exhaustion. Sometimes we use resistors in series for example (10 ohms at 10 watts) to drag a battery down to a point and then recharge it to rid it of sulphating.

Hi Al,
Have now received everything. Battery unit and charger, cable and also the Fuji S3 battery tray with cable has arrived. All look and perform flawlessly. I'll probably be ordering another battery unit before long to power some remote units. Thanks for the great service and speedy shipping! It's hard....if not impossible.....to find quality, service, reliability, fair pricing and reputation in one place for anything. Heck it's hard to find even two of those qualities anyplace. I'll keep in touch.
Thanks again,
Steve
Steven G. Michener, mich@dataloc.com

Allen:
Just wanted to say that I got the Black box. Wow.. I'm impressed with the build!. Still waiting for the cable to come from B&H (should be this week). Two things: The ground plug on the charger was a little bent. It moves a little freely. I can still plug it in fine (it doesn't fall off). I just want to know if that's ok.
Also, when I plugged the box in to the charger for the first time, the light was green. I assume that's because you charged it before sending it, but just want to make sure

Thanks!
Matthew.

REPLY: Yes the ground pin on the charger is a dummy made to satisfy polarity outlets but the polarity is electronic. It might work if you took a direct Lightning Hit other than that it is for show. Also we do charge and check every unit before it is shipped.

Al:
I received the two power cords today. Everything works fine. Thank you again for converting them. You are a true gentleman. I will sing your praises whenever I can.

Hi Al:
Thanks for sending me the bounce card. Boy, that brings back memories! I haven’t done a bounce card in YEARS! Companies like Lumiquist have made a lot of money making the Pocket Bouncer and that’s just the same thing only packaged more commercially with Velcro. I’ve been using the Pro Max system (80-20) for a while before switching over to Gary Fong’s Light sphere II. I’m expecting the new Light sphere Photojournalist version any day now. With so many light modifiers out there, this bounce card just brings me back to the basics… and it works too! J
Russ
Roy

Al,
I just got your Black Box and I am very pleased I can't imagine why I wouldn't want 3 Black Boxes's vs. 1 Quantum. Great value, excellent build quality and comic relief; what more could you ask for?
Thanks Again

Al,
I wanted to thank you for making such a great product. I received the 2 Black Boxes and the reworked Quantum cable a few days ago and simply could not be happier with the product or your service. I will be doing a complete, detailed review of the product and posting it on my website after a shoot this Saturday and I can assure you that it will be very favorable.

One suggestion for a possible enhancement. It would be nice to have a female 1/4" 20 mount (or 2) similar to what is found on the Pocket Wizard Plus receiver/transmitters. This would be a simple way to expand the possible mounting solutions that whacko like me often desire. In fact. Maybe the existing Clipit mount could be attached to one of them, for example. Just a thought. Thanks again for a truly great product.
Kent

Al
I received the Black Box a couple of days ago and I finally got to check it out. Works great!! Thanks for all your help. I'll be bragging about it to my photog friends. Let's see how envious they will be.
Regards,
Kin

Hi Al,
Thank you so much for sending the batteries so promptly and including the belts at no charge. That was very kind of you and I really appreciate it! We'll be using them this weekend so I'll let you know how it goes. Also, thanks for taking the time and having my bracket fixed, it works so much better.
Leslie

If you had green lights they were charged. I always bench check before sending and the capacity will grow as they are used and left on the charger.

Thanks so much for charging them, you are a life saver

Thanks,

Leslie

Al,
I want to say thanks for your PDF article on wedding photography and let you know how much I appreciate the information. I've had a C330 for over a year now, working with it while I build up some kit including a spare body and getting the whole lot CLA'd. I'm not stupid and so have been approaching my first foray into wedding photography and the photography business with some degree of trepidation. It's what I want to do however, so finding your article was great. I both laughed and cried, and you confirmed everything I've been expecting, as well as a few things I wasn't including the fact that there are professionals out there willing to help newcomers.

Since the article seems to be a work in progress you've got an avid reader here. I'll be back looking for more so please don't stop. My first photo course was a Cert IV Photo course 24 years ago, and they never told us any of this. Might have saved me 24 years if they had.

Regards,
Chris Robinson
Brisbane, Australia.

Al,
You're the very, very, very best.
I have to say, I am quite impressed with the longevity of my Black Boxes. They outshoot my Quantum 2x2s twofold, and the difference in size and weight is nothing I've ever worried about. I'm really excited to try out my Tuxedos, and your customer service is FANTASTIC.

This has been a hectic week, and I want to make sure you know how much I appreciate you jumping through all those hoops to take care of me. I'd be pleased to continue recommending your battery packs to other pro shooters.

Al, I hope you're doing well and doing lots of shooting!
Michelle

Thanks Alan, you made my day. I’ll refer you to anyone that asks about an external battery.
Have a great weekend.
Mark Chang

Al,
Just wanted to drop you a note to let you know that I have mastered that black box technology! I sure thank you for developing a product that does what it should and isn't saddled down with a bunch of gages or instrument panels and the like. My S3 is so much more fun to use with that box.

Thanks again.
Lisa

Al,

I receive the black box and charger today and it looks awesome! If it works half as good as it looks and feels (sturdy), it'll be one heck of a piece of gear.

I called and left a message about the Metz cable not being included in the box, but when I got home and read all the packaging I read that it is probably coming separately. Sorry about that. You know how it is when we get new gear...can't wait to take it out and give it a test drive.

I'll drop you another email when the cable gets here. Thanks very much; it's been a pleasure doing business with you. If you ever need an endorsement or feedback of any kind, anywhere, just let me know and I'll be glad to help.

Best regards,

Scott Sewell

FROM FRED MIRANDA THREAD
Bob Swanson Photography
Al Jacobson

I've just had my first opportunity to use Al Jacobson's batteries at a wedding. I can't relate the confidence that Al's batteries gave me during my 6 hour event. Al just bends over backwards to guarantee that his product is the best common sense products for the photographer.
His battery system will allow me to wean my systems away from the Quantum's of which have been a question mark for a few years now.
His pricing is extremely fair and his service is unbelievable.
Thanks Al
Bob Swanson
Fuji S-1, S-2, Nikon D-70
usual studio lighting and location gear.

Re: Al Jacobson
Ditto on that. I used the Black Box for an event on Saturday night and it worked flawlessly.

Paul Friedman
http://www.paulfriedmanphotography.com/
Canon bodies, Canon lenses, Mac and Alien Bees

Re: Al Jacobson
I've used his Black Box for the past several months and have to agree with the above. I also just purchased the smaller Tuxedo unit that is nice too. The recycle time for both are faster than the AA batteries I use and both units easily last all day regardless of the volume of shooting.

Cordell Willis

Re: Al Jacobson
I've never tried Al's battery but I must say I have observed him on a number of forums over the years. He's always very nice and willing to answer any questions and help whenever he can. Seems like a class act.
Rick
____________________________
Best regards,
Rick Rosen
Newport Beach, CA

Alan,
I received both in great working order. Thank you very much for your service and your courtesy.
We hope Ernesto is kind to you.
Best Wishes,
Ron Vandermyde

Mr.Jacobson,
My package arrived this morning and everything is fine. Thank you again and I am sure we will be doing business again.

Jesse

Al,

I just wanted to let you know that the package arrived at my office this morning. Many thanks for the prompt service (I'll have to wait to use the battery since the cable from B&H hasn't arrived yet).
As discussed, in a couple of weeks I will send the Quantum cable to you for a retrofit.

In the meantime, please accept my thanks for:

The battery
The charger
The belt clip
A few sections of the St. Petersburg Times
More interesting and humorous reading material authored by you

BTW, your secret is safe with me: I won't tell anyone you shipped the box on Saturday (Shabbos!)

Regards,

Howard

Al,
I received an email showing you have already shipped the 283 and cord back to me. Wow, you are fast. Thank you. Now, how much do I owe you? And don't tell me it is free. I'm looking forward to using your batteries with the 283.

By the way, used the black box for the first time at a wedding last Saturday. It worked flawlessly. So nice to not have to worry about if my flash (580EX) is going to recharge or not. Several times in fact I shot frames in quick succession (maybe 2-3 fps) and the black box kept up with the camera just fine. I probably shot 400-500 shots with the black box powering the flash and it showed no signs of slowing down just like you said. It is an awesome product. In fact the power output is so smooth and consistent, towards the end of the night when I was getting accustomed to it's recharging cycle, I could actually hear (on the dance floor at the reception of all places) the flash capacitors chirp when they were recharged and it was the same short amount of time each recharge cycle. So fast, powerful and consistent. Awesome. Tough too.

Thank you, you are awesome. I has been a true pleasure doing business with someone who values the customer and quality above all else. I know all about the battle between cost reduction and quality. You see during the day, I work in a factory for a company you have probably heard off, XXXXX XXXXXX The company focuses on cost reduction of the products. They choose the suppliers with the cheapest bid and pressure them every year to make the bid even lower. They have reduced the inventory levels in the factory to extremely low levels to get assets off the books. Then we pay all kinds of money to expedite parts in here when we run short, and wonder why our supplier of the year can't produce parts in time or to our quality levels. By reducing the assets and quality, they think they are saving all kinds of money. But in reality they are spending money to cover the suppliers mess-ups, they higher more internal people to handle the defective parts and logistically coordinate the expedited shipments and low inventories. Overall the rest of the factory runs at much less efficiency because we are always a scramble mode for parts or a firefighting mode for quality defects. Planning for the future always comes last.

Name and company withheld, I call this Wal-Mart Theology.

Al:
I just received the battery. Thanks for being so quick. Your shipment went priority mail, so I’ll bet you beat me to it!
Hey, I like the new racing stripe you put on the battery too! J Flames! Does that mean the battery will go up in flames if I don’t treat it right? lol It will help me identify the newest pack over the other two I have. By the way, I’ll be using the prototype Tuxedo battery you sent me during my 30^th year High School reunion this Saturday. It’s smaller, slimmer and easier to deal with. Thanks again for that too!

Russ

Alan,
I wanted to write and tell you how much I'm enjoying the battery pack you supplied. Your service was excellent and your product is top-notch. I also enjoyed reading about another kid from Brooklyn who is also a pilot.

You do good work!
Regards,
Dick Capuozzo

Hello Al,
I have just used my black box for the first time. I LOVE it! What a great product. I'm shooting with a Vivitar 258HV with a Quantum cord and I have a full power recycle time of approx 5 seconds. Woo Hoo! Thank you for making this awesome product! I will recommend you to everyone.
Erica Letchworth

Hi Al,

I want to thank you again for everything. I received the 3 BB , chargers and cards. They look great and will get a thorough workout on Saturday (Quincenera 140+ people). I shot the Quinceneras portrait last week and am printing the cards today . I settled on 4-(2x3) cards on one 4x6 photo. My company name on the bottom, a sticker ( printed on Picture It) for the back with the Tel # , web site and password for the event. I will print 100 for $19.00 , best twenty bucks I will spend. I will email you a copy .

I hope you make Expo-plus and get well soon! I am stuck working , maybe next time.

-Rick Quiroga

Al,

I just wanted to inform you that the setup arrived today, and greatly appreciate your willingness to help me out. The flash is perfect and the battery couldn't be better. I know I'll be in style know with the nice sticker on the box :)

I'll show you some photos of my setup now. The bracket is a great tool to setup for my softbox, or an umbrella mount. This flash is much more powerful than I had imaged, definitely. I'm not selling this thing even after I'm dead. Thanks again, and tell me when you have another setup to sell me as well! I'm wanting to get 2 of them now!

Spencer

Hello Al.
I received my Black Box today and everything was just as advertised. It was charged. I connected it to my Canon 580ex and it fired away. Initial quick test seemed to recycle the flash much quicker than AA batteries.
I will provide feedback on your website shortly.
Thank you.
Regards,
Jose Alonzo
Pixel Image Photography.

Hello Al.
I just wanted to write you a quick thank you note for the Black Box Experience.
Everything was true to the letter of your statements posted on aljacobs.com.
The transaction was completely painless.
Now the real killer - functionality.
I secured the Quantum MB-5 cable to my 580EX and started shooting.
I fired off about 900 shots on a single charge. These were fairly rapid shots for a teen/pre-teen fashion show.
The recycle time was excellent (as compared to using AA batteries).
Great product, excellent service.