[OutOfFocus]

There should be a sticky for this.
Eneloops and Maha C9000 charger will take care of your battery problems.
SANYO ENELOOP AA 2000 mAh 4 Battery Pack Ultra Low Discharge..
MAHA MH-C9000 Advanced Battery ChargerFree Deluxe Storage Ca..
Cheers, Mike.

Seconded.

Sticky should be in this forum, because that's where everybody posts their question.

[Marc Sabatella]

I agree, although it also seems appropriate for the beginner's forum. Anyhow, for now, I've "stuck" it here. Slight title change to make it clear it isn't just about the K-x but all cameras that take AA'a.

[foivosloxias]

I like the IKEA/LADA NIMH. I have used them on my K-x for more than 5000 shots, (LV use 20-25% - flash use 10 %), and they average 650+ shots per charge before turning red.
The charger is the most important thing. I use a Maha MH-C401FS 100 Min Cool Charger with Car Adapter.
It came with a set of 4AA Imedion which like eneloops have a slow discharge cycle.
I keep a set of charged eneloops and imedions in my bag just to be safe. I did use them once to test durability and they seem to be 580-600 shots worth.

[NecroticSoldier]

The charger that comes with the Eneloops is fine. It will properly charge Eneloop batteries. The higher dollar chargers will also work but I've been charging my Eneloops for a year and a half with a Sanyo charger that came with one of my sets of Eneloops with no problems at all.

Hope this helps,

What would getting a more expensive charger do though? help make the battery last longer? or something? I am considering getting the normal Eneloops charger though.

I am currently using the Energizer Lithium Photo AAs and it seems to last really well!

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Last edited by NecroticSoldier; 03-10-2010 at 02:00 PM. Reason: Accident button press.

[kkoether]

What would getting a more expensive charger do though? help make the battery last longer? or something? I am considering getting the normal Eneloops charger though.

I am currently using the Energizer Lithium Photo AAs and it seems to last really well!

I don't really know. People swear by them and I keep thinking I'll get one but the slush fund has been empty for a while so I haven't. Like I said I've not had any problems with my stock Eneloop charger. I get close to 2000 pictures on my K200D with the battery grip before I have to charge both sets.

[UnknownVT]

The oft recommended Maha/PowerEx C9000 is a really good charger with several end-of-charge detection strategies/fallbacks for charging batteries safely. It is also a comprehensive analyzer and conditioner.

However even the low price is about $60 shipped -
and for that price one can buy a few more sets of eneloops have them not last as long if charged on the Maha C9000 and still come out well ahead.

The problem with cheap chargers is that their quality is not well known -
people generally find it's not worth the time to check them out.

So one is in a quandary about these cheaper chargers -
eneloops "charged" in a poor or even bad charger may not charge them properly leading to fewer shots or even premature demise -
ie: cheap chargers may not be reliable in charging, or even damaging.

Generally the eneloop chargers are going to be OK -
some are better than others - some may verge on being not so good.

Here are a few known good less expensive chargers -
they all have a common trait of having independent charging channels
(many cheaper chargers only can charge in pairs -
this "works", but just not so good)

Sanyo eneloop MQH03 (if you can find it - available in Asia, esp Singapore - see CPF thread)

Sony BCG-34HRMF4 - $27.65, with 4x Sony 2500mAh NiMH

Soshine SC-C3 Intelligent Rapid Charger - $13.98 shipped - but ships from Hong Kong, and does not have UL listing, however it does have CE mark. (my review on CPF)

[Pablom]

I use GP recyko 2050ma batteries and they are excellent. I very rarely use flash and even less live view but I play around with the menus a lot.
I believe each charge gives me at least 1000 shots

[UnknownVT]

I use GP recyko 2050ma batteries and they are excellent. I very rarely use flash and even less live view but I play around with the menus a lot.
I believe each charge gives me at least 1000 shots

Yes, GP (Gold Peak) ReCyko are indeed very good LSD batteries -
I suspect the more commonly available (in USA) Kodak Pre-Charged maybe clones/re-badged GP ReCycko.

Please see: Post #57 in eneloop vs. Kodak Pre-Charged Voltage Maintenance

[OutOfFocus]

If you want your batteries to last a long time, you should avoid chargers that cook your batteries (15 minute chargers or ones that leave your batteries HOT at the end of the charge period).

Ideally, you should get a charger that can charge any number of cells (1, 2, 3, or 4). This means it charges each cell individually. A charger that only charges pairs of cells may chronically undercharge one of the cells.

I love my Maha C9000, but I have lots of AA's and use them in lots of devices. Besides being a quality charger, I really like being able to measure the capacity of my cells. It helps me identify cells that have developed rapid self-discharge or high internal resistance. It can also let me determine how close to fully exhausted a set of cells became after use. Sure beats guessing these things.

[Marv Toler]

Consumer Reports tested AA batteries and recommends the Sanyo Eneloops and Sony Energy Cycle batteries. The Rayovac Hybrids tested well but not quite as good as the first two. The Duracells finished even further down, but there was no indication whether they were made in China or Japan. That seems to confirm the general advice in this forum. I generally prefer chargers that will charge or discharge batteries individually because it's easier to tell when one battery is becoming weak. I also would never use a 15 min or one hour charger. I may be overly cautious, but quick charging can shorten the battery's life and I'd rather not take that chance.

[UnknownVT]

The general advice from the battery experts is to charge NiMH (and LSDs are NiMH) at between 0.5C to 1 C - that is roughly at 2 to 1 hour charge times.

The reason for the recommendation is the detection of the delta V the very slight drop in voltage when the battery has reached full charge (strictly speaking it has just gone over-charged). Anything below 1/3C that delta V becomes hard to detect - so when people suggest lower currents are kinder - that might be the case - but the charge termination may be missed leading to over-charge which is way worse for the battery.

Good chargers have in addition to the delta V detection -
other fallback/safety strategies such as:
temperature detection - if batteries become too hot.
peak voltage detection - if batteries reach voltages that are deemed too high.

Rather than study charger specs on one's own it is probably better to go with recommendations from knowledgeable people.

On NiMH, LSD, and chargers - the place I would seek advice from would be -

Flashlight Electronics - Batteries Included over at CPF

checkout this post -

TTA's Picks for Best Answers to Rechargeable Battery Questions

[Pak]

Anyone has any experience with the POWEREX AA 2700mAh batteries and the Kx. I cant seem to find much info about them, are they LSDs?

Newegg.ca - POWEREX MH-C401FS 100 Minute Cool Charger w/ Car & Switching Adapter and 4 x AA 2700mAh Rechargeable Batteries (Made in Japan)

[silent89]

does anybody know if the k-x discharges all the batteries at an even rate? when i was charging my batteries, 2 of them were "full" quicker. i let them trickle charge just in case.

[UnknownVT]

Anyone has any experience with the POWEREX AA 2700mAh batteries and the Kx. I cant seem to find much info about them, are they LSDs?

No those 2700mAh PowerEx are NOT LSDs -
most LSDs are advertised as "Ready to Use" or "Pre-Charged".

The current highest capacity in LSDs are 2100mAh (LSDs with higher capacities are probably "wishful" advertising).

Very high capacity regular NiMH >= 2500mAh are made with very thin materials to cram all that capacity into the limited space. Therefore they tend to be more fragile and prone to damage. Hence the numerous reports of higher capacity NiMH developing early high self-discharge some losing their charge within days - not a very desirable state.

At one time higher capacity regular NiMH were all the rage since people thought they could just buy by capacity - higher the better - after a few years when high self-discharge became obvious - these have now gradually fallen out of favor - fewer and fewer high capacity NiMH are now introduced, in fact many more reputable manufacturers have scaled down their capacities - so that now there isn't much advantage of higher capacity NiMH over the LSD.

does anybody know if the k-x discharges all the batteries at an even rate? when i was charging my batteries, 2 of them were "full" quicker. i let them trickle charge just in case.

The function of uneven discharge of batteries when they are in series (as in the K-x) is not the device -
but the state of the individual batteries -
if they start off unevenly charged, or if one or more cells are sub-par/damaged -
when discharged - they will have uneven remaining capacities.

[benjikan]

Simple question here, I'm using a K-X and I don't have any rechargeable batteries. Anyone have a good suggestion for rechargeable AA batteries?

When Pentax sent me the K-x and lens kit, it came with the Eneloops charger and 4 2000 mAh batteries in a box wrapped all together. That should answer your question.