Rechargeables in flash?

[table1349]

I'm thinking what I may do is keep some Lithium batteries in the flash for cases where I have a "oh geez, I need a flash", and on the more usual occasion where I have some warning to plan ahead, I'll use the Energizers.

I also wonder, though... the energizer chargers say they can charge the batteries in 15 minutes. I can't imagine too many situations where I don't have 15 minutes warning or more before I wind up needing my flash. Granted, the fast charge kills the batteries faster (Energizer says you'll get 150 charges out of them instead of 300-500), but that's 150 times I didn't toss my batteries into a landfill, right?

I need to figure out if you can get slow trickle chargers for them, too. In my initial investigation I ONLY found the rapid charger.

One of the worst thing you can do is to charge them fast. It can drastically shorten their life and reduce shooting times. A slow charge with an intelligent charger like Big Mike suggested is the way to go. I ended up with the MH-C801D. It will do 8 batteries at a time. It is twice the price of the MAHA-C900 but well worth it. If I had it to do over again I would get the new MH-C800S. It has slower charge times for better battery life.

 

[JerryPH]

I'm thinking what I may do is keep some Lithium batteries in the flash for cases where I have a "oh geez, I need a flash", and on the more usual occasion where I have some warning to plan ahead, I'll use the Energizers.

As long as you are aware that the recycle times of the lithium batteries are much longer than that of the rechargeables. Using Lithium batteries my SB-800 takes almost 3 seconds vs 1 second at 1/2 power when fresh... and closer to 5 seconds after 200 or so pics... and the rechargeable ones are maybe 1.5-2 seconds.

You see not many people take the time to understand that your batteries do not charge the flash, they refill the capacitors... and lithium batteries cannot deliver as big of a charge as quickly as NiMh batteries, this is where they really excel... besides the fact that they last longer and are rechargeable.

I also wonder, though... the energizer chargers say they can charge the batteries in 15 minutes. I can't imagine too many situations where I don't have 15 minutes warning or more before I wind up needing my flash. Granted, the fast charge kills the batteries faster (Energizer says you'll get 150 charges out of them instead of 300-500), but that's 150 times I didn't toss my batteries into a landfill, right?

Just moving from a 15 min charger to a 2.5 hour recharger moves you from 300 charges to something like 1000 charges! How many times in your life are you not able to plan ahead enough to slap the batteries into the chargers a couple of hours in advance? Unless the batteries are completely depleted, it is usually in the 1-2 hour range to boot.

The Energizer chargers that you most see (the black and silver ones) are the 2.5 hour chargers and I have 4 of them and able to charge 16 batteries at a time. Perfect compromise... long battery life, faster than the 8 hour chargers and they are cheap.

I need to figure out if you can get slow trickle chargers for them, too. In my initial investigation I ONLY found the rapid charger.

3rd party chargers like MAHA can do a lot like tell you the condition of the batteries are, re-condition the batteries and charge each battery individually. There are even models that do 8 batteries at a time.

For me, the ability to compromise at 2.5 hours for a charge, get near 1000 recharges out of a set and do 16 at a time for less than half the cost of a single 8 battery charger is for me, the perfect compromise.

 

[ThePup]

Useful site on Battery care / charging for anyone interested

Charging nickel-based batteries

Trickle charging is a bad thing for NiMHs, as is super-fast charging. Best to aim for charging around 1C, which equates to about 1.5 Hours charge time.