[Kwong]

just out of curiosity has anyone tried AA rechargeable Lithium batteries and how do they compare.

[i_trax]

Only lithium-ion can be recharged , I never used them.
Lithium batteries were invented before lithium-ion batteries. Despite not being rechargeable, lithium batteries have a greater capacity than their lithium-ion counterparts. Their higher energy density means they are able to go for longer on a single charge—even if they only ever have one charge in the lifetime.

[reduno]

just out of curiosity has anyone tried AA rechargeable Lithium batteries and how do they compare.

It looks like the rechargeable Lithium Ion or Lithium Polymer AA batteries may not be much better than a NiMH Eneloop. Many of them appear to list the capacity in mWh (rather than mAh) to make them look more powerful. At 1.5V, a 3,000 mWh battery is only equivalent to a 2,000 mAh battery. As I-trax indicated, the non-rechargeable Lithium batteries have the highest capacity overall.

[JimJohnson]

Hey folks,

Heading out this week on a trip - lost my charger at some point - I have two dead D-Li90's. Isn't that always the way things go before a trip. I'm out of practice since we haven't been able to go anywhere in so long I guess. No hope to get a new charger before we leave.

Luckily, I have the battery grip and AA tray - what's the battery life when powering the K-1 II with 6xAA batteries? Just wondering how many I should plan to buy on the way to the trip.

The AA tray holds six cells. Being rechargeable, eneloops are each just shy of 1.5v - so call it 7.8v. The Li-90 is 7.2v. Each cell is rated at 1,900mAh, so a total of 11,400mAh of power (in real life less, but good enough for this discussion. The Li-90 is rated at 1,860mAh. You can draw power from a second Li-90 using the grip, so a total of 3,720mAh (again less in real life). By my math using eneloops I can carry 3X the power as I can carry using a pair of Li-90's.

Alkaline AA batteries are often rated at 2,500mAh, but the voltage fall-off is much faster than most rechargeable batteries, so the useable power is often less. As previously mentioned non-rechargeable lithium batteries are going to give you more useable power than any other battery.

[reduno]

The AA tray holds six cells. Being rechargeable, eneloops are each just shy of 1.5v - so call it 7.8v. The Li-90 is 7.2v. Each cell is rated at 1,900mAh, so a total of 11,400mAh of power (in real life less, but good enough for this discussion. The Li-90 is rated at 1,860mAh. You can draw power from a second Li-90 using the grip, so a total of 3,720mAh (again less in real life). By my math using eneloops I can carry 3X the power as I can carry using a pair of Li-90's.

Unfortunately, you cannot simply multiply the mAh capacity of the Eneloops. In the tray AA the batteries are in series, so the capacity is still only 1,900 mAh (using your numbers). The voltage is increased, which makes the mWh capacity higher (volts x amps x hours) but the mAh capacity is unchanged.

The slightly higher voltage with Eneloops will likely only result in a marginal increase in life, as only the internal switching regulators will draw less current. Any linear voltage regulators will draw the same current regardless of the voltage (only the dissipated power will go up). Basically, the life with a set of Eneloops or a single D-Li90 will be similar. Having a second D-Li90 in the grip will double the available capacity.

[JimJohnson]

Unfortunately, you cannot simply multiply the mAh capacity of the Eneloops. In the tray AA the batteries are in series, so the capacity is still only 1,900 mAh (using your numbers). The voltage is increased, which makes the mWh capacity higher (volts x amps x hours) but the mAh capacity is unchanged.

The slightly higher voltage with Eneloops will likely only result in a marginal increase in life, as only the internal switching regulators will draw less current. Any linear voltage regulators will draw the same current regardless of the voltage (only the dissipated power will go up). Basically, the life with a set of Eneloops or a single D-Li90 will be similar. Having a second D-Li90 in the grip will double the available capacity.

My bad. You are of course correct. mAh will only increase in parallel. Maybe I should repeat my high school electronics course?

[reduno]

Maybe I should repeat my high school electronics course?

Not a problem. Maybe I should repeat my high school English class at the same time? I just noticed I said "AA the batteries", rather than "the AA batteries".

[TwoUptons]

Hey folks,

Heading out this week on a trip - lost my charger at some point - I have two dead D-Li90's. Isn't that always the way things go before a trip. I'm out of practice since we haven't been able to go anywhere in so long I guess. No hope to get a new charger before we leave.

Luckily, I have the battery grip and AA tray - what's the battery life when powering the K-1 II with 6xAA batteries? Just wondering how many I should plan to buy on the way to the trip.

Can you take the AAs and order a charger to be delivered to where you're going?

Best of both worlds, in a sense...

-Eric

[madbrain]

From my memory of Pentax K200D : four Lithium AA Batteries lasted around 1000 shots while four regular AA lasted less then 200. Obviously numbers for K-1 would be different but relatively it should be the same.

My memory of the K200D is completely different. I have shot 1500 - 2000 pictures in a single day on my K200D + grip filled with eneloops. That was a long time ago. Daytime, no flash.

I use my K-1 II almost exclusively with 6 AAs in the grip, and no battery in the camera. The battery life is not nearly as good as with the K200D, though I have never measured it, and I haven't had any occasion to shoot that many pictures in a row again.

---------- Post added 05-03-21 at 12:39 AM ----------

I actually switched from Eneloops to LADDA ( IKEA ) , they perform much better , I think.
I have and use a large number of AA and AAA , I still have 1 set ( 4x AA ) Eneloops left.
But , while traveling I use The Energizer Ultimate Lithium only.
I know , it is not politically correct but they just last forever.

I have a lot of Eneloops (1800-2000 mAh versions), LADDA (2600 mAh versions) and Amazon Basic high capacity AAs. And when I say a lot, I mean a few hundreds.

Nearly all of my Amazon Basics high capacity AAs purchased in 2016 could no longer hold a charge, and had to be discarded. Some have claimed they are the same as Eneloops. I don't believe that's the case.

I have probably discarded 5% of 120 eneloops over a 13 period since I started using them.

For the Ikea LADDA, the jury is still out as far as I'm concerned. After a full charge and sitting for 6 months in my battery case, they definitely don't hold the charge as much as the Eneloops charged at the same time. They just wouldn't power the cameras, no matter which set I tried. Any randomly picked set of Eneloops would. I haven't compared the Ladda with Eneloop Pro, as I don't own any. Perhaps they are the same. But IMO, the LADDA are inferior to regular Eneloops when it comes to retaining charge in the long run.

And no, I don't use the batteries just for cameras. I have dozens of devices that need batteries, such as air fresheners, door locks, Roomba virtual walls, etc. For the Roomba VWs, I use adapters to convert 4 AA to 1 D cell, and 3 AAA to 1 C cell. That's why I need so many cells.

I also have a lot of battery chargers when the periodic recharging time is due, enough to recharge 100 batteries in a day. I only use chargers that have separate circuits for each cell, to fully charge each one.

[brofkand]

Can you take the AAs and order a charger to be delivered to where you're going?

Best of both worlds, in a sense...

-Eric

That is exactly what I did, the charger arrived Monday when I got home from Adorama. The Eneloops were dying just as the trip was about over. Granted I was more judicious with the camera this time (not really a bad thing to be honest) so if I used the camera like normal it may not have worked out. Still wish I could find my original charger, but we did a lot of spring cleaning this year and so we're pretty sure it accidentally got put in the sell or donate pile.

---------- Post added 05-05-21 at 09:14 PM ----------

My memory of the K200D is completely different. I have shot 1500 - 2000 pictures in a single day on my K200D + grip filled with eneloops. That was a long time ago. Daytime, no flash.

I use my K-1 II almost exclusively with 6 AAs in the grip, and no battery in the camera. The battery life is not nearly as good as with the K200D, though I have never measured it, and I haven't had any occasion to shoot that many pictures in a row again.

---------- Post added 05-03-21 at 12:39 AM ----------



I have a lot of Eneloops (1800-2000 mAh versions), LADDA (2600 mAh versions) and Amazon Basic high capacity AAs. And when I say a lot, I mean a few hundreds.

Nearly all of my Amazon Basics high capacity AAs purchased in 2016 could no longer hold a charge, and had to be discarded. Some have claimed they are the same as Eneloops. I don't believe that's the case.

I have probably discarded 5% of 120 eneloops over a 13 period since I started using them.

For the Ikea LADDA, the jury is still out as far as I'm concerned. After a full charge and sitting for 6 months in my battery case, they definitely don't hold the charge as much as the Eneloops charged at the same time. They just wouldn't power the cameras, no matter which set I tried. Any randomly picked set of Eneloops would. I haven't compared the Ladda with Eneloop Pro, as I don't own any. Perhaps they are the same. But IMO, the LADDA are inferior to regular Eneloops when it comes to retaining charge in the long run.

And no, I don't use the batteries just for cameras. I have dozens of devices that need batteries, such as air fresheners, door locks, Roomba virtual walls, etc. For the Roomba VWs, I use adapters to convert 4 AA to 1 D cell, and 3 AAA to 1 C cell. That's why I need so many cells.

I also have a lot of battery chargers when the periodic recharging time is due, enough to recharge 100 batteries in a day. I only use chargers that have separate circuits for each cell, to fully charge each one.

I am using the Watson black rechargeables from B&H, they are quite good. I do need to get a better charger for them, it basically takes overnight to charge them in the Eneloop charger I have.

[madbrain]

I am using the Watson black rechargeables from B&H, they are quite good. I do need to get a better charger for them, it basically takes overnight to charge them in the Eneloop charger I have.

Not familiar with those. I have 8 different Sanyo/Panasonic Eneloop chargers that came with Costco eneloop bundles.
As far as analyzing chargers, I have 3 : MAHA C-9000, PSPower DC5000, and Opus BT-C2400 . All are very capable. The MAHA is probably the best of the 3, followed by the Opus.

[brofkand]

Not familiar with those. I have 8 different Sanyo/Panasonic Eneloop chargers that came with Costco eneloop bundles.
As far as analyzing chargers, I have 3 : MAHA C-9000, PSPower DC5000, and Opus BT-C2400 . All are very capable. The MAHA is probably the best of the 3, followed by the Opus.

These are the batteries: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1227067-REG/watson_aa_ld25508_mx_aa_n...981&

I usually use them in my flashes, but for this trip used them in the camera and they did what they needed to do.

I'll look into those chargers, thanks.

[madbrain]

I was bored, so I ran a little battery life test on 6 Ikea Ladda 2450 batteries. No Di-Li90 battery in the body.

Turned the display off. Turned off instant preview. Set the intervalometer to shoot every 2000 frames, interval every 2 seconds. AF only on the first frame. All image correction is disabled in camera. So far it's shot 1500 RAW FF images. I won't be one bit surprised if it manages to shoot all 2000.

[madbrain]

I ended up having to restart the test and reformat the 128GB twice. In the end, I was able to shoot 5330 RAW frames on a single set of AA batteries.