Any pointers on best life AA batteries for digi cam?

Jay D

As title says. I have atm, Energiser 1300s and wanted to get a few spares for when I'm away. Now that I've checked on eBay I'm seeing a bit of a variety.

From what I can make out the 2450 range seem to be the best option. Is this the case?

Advise appreciated!

TinyExplosions

Sanyo Eneloops are what I use for just about any task that needs long life batteries

5uspect

+1 They're Hybrid NiMHs. If you can't find them you can get Uniross ones in Maplin.
All Uniross are hybrid now iirc.

Go for at least 2000 mAh.

Normal rechargable batteries discharge over time when not in use. Vanillia NiMHs discharge over a period of days. The Hybrid versions extend this to about a year.

Jay D

Thanks lads. Not seeing them on eBay although have found an Irish site doing them for €18.

Nforce

I'm using Uniross 2700mAh in my Flash...bought from here

cnocbui

5uspect wrote: »

+1 They're Hybrid NiMHs. If you can't find them you can get Uniross ones in Maplin.
All Uniross are hybrid now iirc.

Go for at least 2000 mAh.

Normal rechargable batteries discharge over time when not in use. Vanillia NiMHs discharge over a period of days. The Hybrid versions extend this to about a year.

The very latest Eneloops (Tone) will hold their charge for three years and can be recharged 1500 times using Sanyo's matching charger. The capacity remains the same at 2000 mah.

They are not 'hybrid' batteries. Hybrid implies a mixture of two types, which they aren't, they are still NiMh batteries, they are just made with improved technologies.

Jay D

so for the case which is mine, where I'll be using the batteries on a daily basis, does it make any difference if I get say the Energizer 2450s?

5uspect

cnocbui wrote: »

The very latest Eneloops (Tone) will hold their charge for three years and can be recharged 1500 times using Sanyo's matching charger. The capacity remains the same at 2000 mah.

They are not 'hybrid' batteries. Hybrid implies a mixture of two types, which they aren't, they are still NiMh batteries, they are just made with improved technologies.

No need to be pedantic. They offer hybrid performance. It's just a name that has stuck to them. I have no idea exactly how long the Uniross versions last, a year is only the order of magnitude offered to compare them to the older NiMHs which discharge very quickly.

Jay D wrote: »

so for the case which is mine, where I'll be using the batteries on a daily basis, does it make any difference if I get say the Energizer 2450s?

I'd go with the hybrids. As pointed out they generally have more recharge recycles in them and they deliver more juice on demand which is handy for a flash.

Wikipedia wrote:

Other benefits

Low self-discharge NiMH batteries typically have a significantly lower internal resistance than traditional NiMH batteries. This has a number of desirable effects especially for high-drain applications:

* Voltage is more stable (less load- and capacity-dependent). This can have a beneficial effect on runtime in electronic devices, which typically have a cut-off voltage per battery that is not much lower than NiMH's nominal voltage. (However, this can also cause some devices with battery status indicators to overestimate the remaining capacity of a nearly drained cell.)
* Reduced heat buildup when the battery is quickly charged or discharged
* Higher efficiency
* Higher instantaneous current discharge capability

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_self-discharge_NiMH_battery

cnocbui

You are the first person I have seen refer to them as hybrids. To say the name has 'stuck' to them implies it is a commonly used term, long in use, when it isn't. Nowhere in the Wikipedia article you quoted from, do they ever refer to them as 'hybrids'.

The old, commonly available Eneloops retained 70%+ of their charge after a year. The NEW Eneloops, called Tone, will retain 75% of their charge after 3 years.

http://www.eneloop.info/products/batteries/eneloop-tones.html

If the batteries are to be used frequently and will be recharged regularly, you could get normal NiMh batteries with a higher capacity than the Eneloops, which will then provide more flashes per charge cylce than the Eneloops. I can highly recommend the Fujicell 2800 mah batteries, which are readily available on eBay:

http://shop.ebay.ie/i.html?_nkw=fuji*+2800+aa&_sacat=0&_sop=12&_dmd=1&_odkw=fuji*+3000+aa&_osacat=0&bkBtn=&_trksid=p3286.m270.l1313

These have about 40% greater capacity than the Eneloops if freshly charged.

NakedDex

There are "hybrid" NiMH cells in the sense that Uniross brought out their improved NiMH cells with the word Hybrid slapped onto the packaging to explain why they came pre-charged for immediate use.
The idea behind it being, if someone is willing to spend €8-12 on Lithium cells for their camera, it's easier for the salesperson to shift a €10 pack of recharged cells and then upsell a charger.

The chemistry is the same, they just behave more like alkaline disposable when stored.

5uspect

cnocbui wrote: »

You are the first person I have seen refer to them as hybrids. To say the name has 'stuck' to them implies it is a commonly used term, long in use, when it isn't. Nowhere in the Wikipedia article you quoted from, do they ever refer to them as 'hybrids'.

Oh noes!

cnocbui

Tannoys, Hoovers and '76 strand' cable all over again.

Fair enough, I can see how you could have accepted the word of Amazon's acne faced teen geeks reasoning, my apologies.

I am off to take some photos with my 'super-zoom'.

5uspect

Hey we agree they're awsome batteries regardless of what they're called.

cnocbui

You are right there - peace.