rechargable AA cells

Maine Sail · Apr 13, 2009

Batteries

Ross said:
These seem like such a good idea, so I bought some with a charger. But they self discharge like crazy, 30 days and they are dead. then I saw some Duracell precharged rechargable AA cells so I tried those and they keep! Six months now in my GPS without recharging. The ones in my camera get more use and they have just been recharged for the first time since August. They cost about 5x what conventional cells cost.

The speedlight/flash on my camera uses 4 AA batts I tried the rechargeable ones but they don't have the oomph to recover quickly. Regular alkaline batts work far better than any of the rechargeable batteries I've tried, at least in a flash. More often than not I just use Lithium AA's and buy them in bulk at Sam's Club. They recover the fastest flash to flash and last about four times as long as any other AA battery I've tried including the rechargeables.

You are right about the self discharge and it is a royal PITA. I tried some pre-charged Duracells in my flash but they did not have the power to recover quick enough. For a GPS or point & shoot they would be perfect though.

All my safety equipment, strobes etc. runs Lithuim batteries. I also run them in my headlamp for night ascents when winter mountaineering as they are not as affected by cold.

Which Duracells were they? I wonder if they are the same ones I have?

jackhartjr · Apr 13, 2009

I do underwater photography, my main problem was finding them at 1.5 volts as opposed to 1.2 volts which is more common.
Any more I am using throw aways!
Jack

sailingdog · Apr 13, 2009

THe AA lithiums also have the advantage of really good shelf life...which helps in emergency gear like strobes.

Maine Sail said:
The speedlight/flash on my camera uses 4 AA batts I tried the rechargeable ones but they don't have the oomph to recover quickly. Regular alkaline batts work far better than any of the rechargeable batteries I've tried, at least in a flash. More often than not I just use Lithium AA's and buy them in bulk at Sam's Club. They recover the fastest flash to flash and last about four times as long as any other AA battery I've tried including the rechargeables.

You are right about the self discharge and it is a royal PITA. I tried some pre-charged Duracells in my flash but they did not have the power to recover quick enough. For a GPS or point & shoot they would be perfect though.

All my safety equipment, strobes etc. runs Lithuim batteries. I also run them in my headlamp for night ascents when winter mountaineering as they are not as affected by cold.

Which Duracells were they? I wonder if they are the same ones I have?

sailaway78 · Apr 14, 2009

AA's

I have found the AA Duracells to be the best out there. Have tried several other brands, and nothing does as well. A report I read somewhere rated the Sanyo batteries better, but have never seen them for sale anywhere. On the other end of the spectrum, the Digital brand from Wally World are the worst I have tried. And the Panasonic brand of non rechargable batts will not even turn my camera on when new.

BobM · Apr 14, 2009

Same problem here...have been buying the Energizer rechargeable batteries in AA and D. They lose charge in about a month or so.

sinnettc · Apr 14, 2009

Sanyo Eneloops NiMH batteries, available at Costco and elsewhere, are pretty much the favorites amongst the camera folks I hang out with on the www.dpreview.com forums. They come pre-charged and hold a charge for a long time. They're white as opposed to the standard sanyo NiMH batteries that are white/orange/blue.

Chris