Powering my flashes!

[Uncle Frank]

Alkaline batteries are best for the equipment I don't use a lot, like my wife's P&S camera. They don't have a lot of capacity, but they have great shelf life, so they have power on the rare occasions when she uses it.

Rechargeable NiMH batteries have lots of capacity, but not much shelf life. I have to top them off before every event.

The new ultra low discharge NiMH batteries are a good compromise. They have very good shelf life, and pretty good capacity. My old set of batteries was getting old, so I decided to try some Maha Imedions. The test went well, so I decided on a complete change-over. I ordered enough to power all my gear:

16 AAs for my 3 sb800s
4 AAs for my sb600
2 AAs for my soon to arrive sb400
6 AAs for my d200's battery grip

That comes out to 28 batteries, leaving me a backup set of 4. I'm topping them off right now, and look forward to my worry free battery supply.

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[garyosborne]

Wow, thats a fancy charger. LCD display and all...nice. The sooner we get small nuclear power sources for our electronics the better. I have lost count the amount of times i have switched out my nimH's for the so called "fresh set" to be dead too ( and the 2nd back up set), and these are eneloops too. I just seems such a wastes of resources to have the chargers constantly on 24/7 to stop this

 

[davemackie]

My patience for AA batteries ran really short, really quick

It always seemed that one would die, or I'd forget to charge them, or mix up the discharged vs. charged.

I went to the Al Jacobs blackbox for a remote power supply for my flashes. Since 99% of the time my flashes are set up remotely (sports action photography) the bulk and weight of the units don't bother me. 1000 flashes per charge, and you leave them on the charger when not in use so you're always ready to go.

http://www.aljacobs.com/THE BLACK BOX.htm

 

[jfrancis]

I use Eneloops for the same reason (and the same charger . . . ). I'm guessing these are even more efficient at retaining power.

 

[Donald Yungling]

Hello Frank,

I soundly agree with your choice for batteries and their charger. Since changing to the Imedion and Eneloop batteries I have now basically eliminated one source of frustration with my photography.
In fact I am expecting 3 more sets of the Imedion AA's for the flashes and a set of the AAA's for my wife's portable MP3 player. They work for me!!

Take care,

Donald

 

[Uncle Frank]

I have lost count the amount of times i have switched out my nimH's for the so called "fresh set" to be dead too ( and the 2nd back up set), and these are eneloops too.

Why so? Did you forget to re-charge the eneloops after you had used them, or was there some other problem?

Using standard NiMH batteries, I felt compelled to fully charge them before each event to offset self discharge. But they can only go through so many recharge cycles before they go bad, and I used a lot of those up just topping them off. These ultra low discharge rate batteries shouldn't require topping, which means less work and longer useful battery life. I hope.

 

[Uncle Frank]

I went to the Al Jacobs blackbox for a remote power supply for my flashes. Since 99% of the time my flashes are set up remotely (sports action photography) the bulk and weight of the units don't bother me. 1000 flashes per charge, and you leave them on the charger when not in use so you're always ready to go.

Sounds like an excellent solution for your type of work, Dave.

 

[Bubble]

beside the brand you mention, i also use ANSMANN AA 2850MAH (higher mAh with the same low discharge)

 

[iShoot]

What type of charger is that Uncle Frank?

 

[Uncle Frank]

I use Eneloops for the same reason (and the same charger . . . ).

Since changing to the Imedion and Eneloop batteries I have now basically eliminated one source of frustration with my photography.

You guys are way ahead of me, so I find your remarks encouraging. My collection of batteries was pretty ragtag... different brands, heavily used, and aged between 2 and 4 years. The needed to be replaced, and the price for eneloop type units wasn't much more than for standard AAs. I'm confident it was the right move, particularly after your feedback. Thansk.

 

[Uncle Frank]

beside the brand you mention, i also use ANSMANN AA 2850MAH (higher mAh with the same low discharge)

Are we on the same page? I looked them up, and they are advertised as ultra high capacity, not ultra low discharge.

 

[genehsu]

What type of charger is that Uncle Frank?

The charger looks like (and probably is) one of these: MAHA MH-C801D
If you're not in a rush, one of these will do nicely: MAHA MH-C800S
I'm geeky enough to have one of these: MAHA MH-C9000

Uncle Frank, any particular reason why you chose this brand (vs any other) for your batteries?

 

[Uncle Frank]

MAHA MH-800S[/URL]. I've had it for almost 2 years, and have been very pleased with it. It charges 8 batteries in a couple of hours, so I could top off my entire collection of 32 batteries the day before an event.

Uncle Frank, any particular reason why you chose this brand (vs any other) for your batteries?

It was an impulse buy, Gene. We had a discusion about the merits of the low discharge batteries, and I checked the Thomas site for information about the technology. I noted that they had the MAHA version on sale (4 batteries for $9.97), so I decided to give them a try.

 

[genehsu]

...

It was an impulse buy, Gene. We had a discusion about the merits of the low discharge batteries, and I checked the Thomas site for information about the technology. I noted that they had the MAHA version on sale (4 batteries for $9.97), so I decided to give them a try.

Ahh... I see. I was wondering if you did any special research that compared the different battery brands to influence your choice.

When I was searching last night, it seemed that the MAHA Imedions had some of the best capacity batteries of this type. Though the Eneloops seemed to be able to deliver its charge more quickly. What it really means is that for most people with a good charger, get the cheapest reliable brand, for some definition of reliable brand.

 

[Kemnik]

Frank, I definitely took your advice and that last wedding we did, my D700 took 1,400 or so shots using nearly only the 8 AA eneloop's. At the end of the night about 45 minutes before leaving, it just switched over to the built in battery. Now that is cool! As for the flashes, same thing, switched batteries ONCE. I through my old batteries in the closet and am only hanging on to these new low discharge units.

 

[pbcstylez]

eneloops have eliminated buying batteries and carrying extra weight in my bag. I used to carry a case of AAs like 20-40 on outings. Now I carry 16 total, and 8 are backups.

 

[roger1011]

i use eneloops too! however it seems to take a while to charge. maybe i am just not very patient lol

 

[Uncle Frank]

i use eneloops too! however it seems to take a while to charge. maybe i am just not very patient lol

You can solve that with a good charger. Life's much easier since I picked up a MAHA MH-800S.

 

[taat2d]

I switched to the Eneloops and the Nikon SD-9 external battery for my SB900 and I couldn't be happier.