Flash batteries...

MLeeK · Sep 4, 2012

I know we discuss this often here. But... I spotted this today from SLR Lounge and I thought I'd share.
The result? Eneloop XX.

The Best AA Battery for Flash - The Ultimate Practical Review of AA Batteries for Photography - Part I tutorial

OLaA · Sep 4, 2012

Interesting article. Look forward to the all rechargeable comparison!

bratkinson · Sep 5, 2012

Why am I not surprised that Eneloops was the winner? After much ballyhoo on this site and others about Eneloops, I made the switch from Energizers in my 580 EX II. The difference was immediately noticable! Both in terms of flash recovery time and number of flashes before recovery time gets too long, Eneloops beat the daylights out of the little pink bunny with a drum! Poor little bunny...

12sndsgood · Sep 5, 2012

I used to run the costco batteries but took the plunge a few months ago and switched to enerloops and have been happy with the switch, no more buying batteries for awhile.

MLeeK · Sep 5, 2012

I've been using eneloops for quite a while now. Although I have found ONE cheap CHEAP brand of plain old batteries that work really well in a pinch. I am interested to see how they compare with all of the other rechargeables on the market. Mike was talking about something the other day that got me to wondering. We shall see!

Mike_E · Sep 5, 2012

Battery Pack for SB800 Flash - Photo.net Nikon Forum

Pay attention to the 6V 4.5ah portion.

Big Mike · Sep 5, 2012

I've been using these and found them to work great. They don't seem to hold a full charge after weeks of sitting, but performance is great and the price and availability was right.
Amazon.com: Energizer Rechargeable AA NiMH Batteries, 8-Count: Electronics

Boney · Sep 5, 2012

My Canon S3 had a problem with standard NMH rechargeable. Even when just recharged it would only go a few shots. Talked to a repair person and his recommendation was to use new NMH batteries, which worked. Then I tried the eneloops and all problems gone. The eneloops hold a charge for months, but the big thing is that the open cell voltage is 1.5V whereas the NMH is only 1.2V. This will help all kinds of electronic devices.

12sndsgood · Sep 5, 2012

Big Mike said:
I've been using these and found them to work great. They don't seem to hold a full charge after weeks of sitting, but performance is great and the price and availability was right.
Amazon.com: Energizer Rechargeable AA NiMH Batteries, 8-Count: Electronics

Enerloops are the same price at Costco as well.

2WheelPhoto · Sep 5, 2012

yeah I've seen Eneloop doubters and haters........ but some of us knew

Big Mike · Sep 5, 2012

Enerloops are the same price at Costco as well.

I see that they are the same price on Amazon too. I've seen them at Costco, but only once. I went back to buy them at a later time...and they were gone.
I bought a few packs of the Energizers at a department store that was going out of business. I think I paid $6-$8 per 4 pack...but I think the usual in-store price is $16 or so.

I'll pick up some Eneloops when I get a change, just to see if they live up to the considerable hype.
Keep in mind, they are only rated at 2000 mAh (capacity). The Energizers linked above are 2300 and I've older Energizers that are 2500 and some Duracells that are 2650.

MLeeK · Sep 5, 2012

Big Mike said:
Enerloops are the same price at Costco as well.

Click to expand...

I see that they are the same price on Amazon too. I've seen them at Costco, but only once. I went back to buy them at a later time...and they were gone.
I bought a few packs of the Energizers at a department store that was going out of business. I think I paid $6-$8 per 4 pack...but I think the usual in-store price is $16 or so.

I'll pick up some Eneloops when I get a change, just to see if they live up to the considerable hype.
Keep in mind, they are only rated at 2000 mAh (capacity). The Energizers linked above are 2300 and I've older Energizers that are 2500 and some Duracells that are 2650.

Somewhere along the line I read something about the ULD or Ultra Low Discharge compensating by giving you a full push to the flash instead of a lesser amount as the battery is recovering.
Did that make sense to you? Cuz it did to me, but that's kind of scary.

Big Mike · Sep 5, 2012

That's why I'd like to test them for myself. It's so hard to say that one battery recycles a flash faster than another...as every flash model is different and the battery's performance always changes, even if just a tiny bit, depending on the charge level etc.

Either way, they are all way, way better than Alkaline batteries.

Another important factor is the charger. From what I've read, and what I've seen myself, many rechargeable batteries don't live up to their rated capacity level. And most people would never know because they seldom use them one at a time, or measure their power time accurately.
That's why I really liked the one charger I had (it died). It could run a test on the batteries and report their actual capacity. Most of mine were pretty close to the rated capacity, but a couple were much lower. This usually happens after many, many recharge cycles, but it also shows up in new batteries...which is why it's so important to test them.

Some chargers even have a 'break-in' mode, which is meant for the first charge cycle to fill up and set the capacity...but it also works to revive old batteries that don't have their full capacity anymore.

MLeeK · Sep 5, 2012

Big Mike said:
That's why I'd like to test them for myself. It's so hard to say that one battery recycles a flash faster than another...as every flash model is different and the battery's performance always changes, even if just a tiny bit, depending on the charge level etc.

Either way, they are all way, way better than Alkaline batteries.

Another important factor is the charger. From what I've read, and what I've seen myself, many rechargeable batteries don't live up to their rated capacity level. And most people would never know because they seldom use them one at a time, or measure their power time accurately.
That's why I really liked the one charger I had (it died). It could run a test on the batteries and report their actual capacity. Most of mine were pretty close to the rated capacity, but a couple were much lower. This usually happens after many, many recharge cycles, but it also shows up in new batteries...which is why it's so important to test them.

Some chargers even have a 'break-in' mode, which is meant for the first charge cycle to fill up and set the capacity...but it also works to revive old batteries that don't have their full capacity anymore.

I am going to see if I can find the info I read on the Eneloops/ULD's. I'll be back!