"AA" Batteries

I had another quick question. What kind of "AA" batteries does everyone use in your speed-lights? I've been using energizer, but they don't seem to last more than a year and the overall battery life seem to shorten fast. In my research so far I've found that a lot of people like the Sayno Enelope's and few that like the Powerex brand. Honestly I didn't know that this would turn into a big project. I just want a good battery that has a shelf life, provides plenty of power and will last. Any ideas?

Only had Sanyo Eneloop for a month, no long term data.
When I bought them in costco they had about 25% charge, which means according to their marketing they were years old!
I've run them through a conditioning cycle in the Maha charger and in about 6 months I'll know how good they are.

In the UK my battery of choice is Uniross Hybrio, totally reliable in use and stores a good charge for my 580EX and 580EXII for over 3 months.

Funny you should say that, I've just had a problem with mine. Start of a fashion shoot, third garment and all of a sudden the flash won't come ready - and I charged the batteries only two nights before. I managed to borrow some batteries from the guy next to me.

I'm using Duracell 2850ah, had them about a year. Lots of power just after charging (normally) but leave them for 10 days maximum and my SB800's won't come ready. I'm testing them tonight, marking the ones that have funny voltages.

I'm about to ditch several sets of batteries.
Panasonic - not good when new, useless after 3 years.
Energiser 2500mAh - two years old.
Varta 2100mAh "ready to use" - two years old.

My older Hybrio are still going well, and so I'm still buying new ones.

I find the Maha MH-C9000 diagnostic charger is very useful.

Well, I think I'll have to try the eneloop's. From the reviews that I've seen they're pretty good. I think I'm going to pair them with the the Maha MH-C801D, from what I've read its pretty good too. I'm not going to order til later next week, so if there are anymore recommendations post them. I'm in the US, we don't get the good products here... LOL... :cryin:

I haven't ever used rechargeable batteries in my speed-lights. I just cycle through alkaline, I thought the lower voltage of the rechargeables would not pair well with a speed-light, I guess not. Do you guys use rechargeable batteries for anything other than cost/convenience?

Lower voltage, but lower internal resistance so they deliver more current.
Your speedlight is converting the battery power up to a higher voltage for charging the capacitor to fire the tube anyhow, and so it makes little difference.
What matters for performance is a high capacity and a flat discharge curve, so you don't lose recharge time until the very end of the batteries' charge life.

Reasons to use rechargable batteries:

- Bring the flash to ready faster than alkalines (see Paul's explanation)
- Can be charged just before you go out so you know you have a full charge. You don't HAVE to carry spares (though its a good idea)
- Less toxic waste

Problems with rechargable batteries

- Lose their charge over time. Seems like the greater the capacity the faster they discharge
- Need to be managed. Make sure all the batteries in the flash are of the same type/capacity and they all have the same voltage after charge

I just rechecked mine after recharging last night. Three have already dropped from 1.37v to less than 1v so they are out.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Franglais

I just rechecked mine after recharging last night. Three have already dropped from 1.37v to less than 1v so they are out.

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When you test the voltage of the batteries, do you use an average volt meter? And how much difference do you notice if the batteries aren't at the same voltage when you go to use them?

Yes I just use normal voltmeter (digital - more accurate). When I finish charging the batteries are at about 1.46v then they fall to about 1.37v overnight. After that they don't change too much

With 3 batteries at less than 1v I notice that my flash won't fire. It's actually worse than that. A battery that is seriously under-voltage will actually be damaged by the others by reversing the polarisation, overheating... Don't ask me to explain it - it's in this wiki article

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel-...ydride_battery

BTW I was grumbing about my Duracell batteries, but while I was hunting for the wiki article I came across some tests where my batteries came out pretty well..