[RKKS08]

About 5-6 years ago, I gave Eneloops a try, coming from standard (but still higher capacity than Eneloops) Sanyo NiMH cells (AA and AAA).
The reason was, that my new K200D did not really like the Sanyos anymore if they were older than 5-8 months. That means, the camera started and worked alright, but only if recharging had been less than 8-10 days before. After that, the camera would or wouldn't accept the cells, randomly.

Then I switched to Eneloops, and no problems anymore. To make sure, I do recharge them about once a month. The first set I bought in January 2011 is still ok.
2-3 times a year I do a full cycle, which may help to keep the maximum capacity.

I use an Ansmann charger (of course, I am in Germany). It was the first one with micro-controller, I think I bought in 1990-1992, and it handles each cell completely seperate (cells can be mixed AAs and AAAs, and single ones can be exchanged during the loading process). 25 years ago, these were features unheard before.

[aleonx3]

Thanks for all the replies. I think the thing to do for now, is to get a better charger.



How about their chargers that take more than 4 batteries? Would you recommend them? I sometimes shoot on 2 and even 3 sequential days which is the main reason I'm using the current charger I have. It charges 12 AA/AAA batteries at once.

Or, would a single C9000 be enough to do periodical maintenance stuff, if such a thing is even recommendable?

Btw, I've always labeled my batteries in sets of 4, but thanks for the tip.

Edit: The C9000 appear to be very hard to come by - none what so ever in my country and only few listed on Amazon UK.

I think there are other brands similar to the Powerex MH-C9000 if you can find them locally where you are. I am in Canada, and that is available at a reasonable price (under $50). IMO, it is the charger that you will need in order to keep your rechargeable batteries charge up effectively and keeping it longer lasting. The charger has 4 slots (AA and AAA) with individual circuits (that is important) as each battery may need longer/shorter time to charge up. Also, as each battery with indicator "done" also shows the capacity and voltage. If it is still too low, you will need to use different charge/discharge options to refresh the battery. Recyle-ing a battery may taken a long time (up to 14 hours), so in your case, I suggest you get 2 of these chargers to make sure you have enough batteries charged up for the gig.

[jatrax]

This is the one I use: https://www.amazon.com/Powerex-Maha-MH-C801D-Eight-Charger/dp/B003OU51LG
Not as many details as the C9000 but has worked for me.

[Zafar Iqbal]

I was at a wedding yesterday and just had my first bad experiences with the Eneloops.

Because of the experiences with the Sanyo XX batteries, I've developed a panicy habit and charging all batteries about a full day before they need to be used, and then go through all batteries again the night before an event.

I deliberately did not do this for this wedding, and at least one flash reported low battery much much earlier than usual - ordinarily I can shoot for 4-5 hours before needing to change batteries. Last night It ran dry after an hour or so. My oldest Eneloops are max 1 year old.

[BrianR]

Many "Dumb" chargers just pump out a set amount of current for a set amount of time when activated - these can be harmful and especially shouldn't be used to top up batteries if you can avoid it.

The 'smart' chargers like the maha ch9000 or c801d will detect when each individual battery is at it's full capacity and slow down to a small trickle to avoid damaging the batteries. These are safe to use the night before your event to top them up without worry about damaging them.

If you're firing off tons of flash pops at your weddings, I'd probably go with quality high capacity AA's instead of eneloops (but keep a few sets of eneloops as backup).

[aleonx3]

Good chargers give you the charged information of individual battery when it is completed, not just a "green" LED light. Since we use all 4 AA batteries in the flash at a time, all you need is one bad "low charged" battery to ruin the whole thing. Therefore, a good charger telling you the health of the battery is critical in order not to mix a "bad" battery in the pairs of 4 that you put into the flash.

Another thing is how you use your flash... I don't normally use full power flash to avoid getting the "flash" look in my photos; try bumping ISO higher instead. I seldom need to change batteries during a gig. Recently, I use the same set of batteries for two gigs (in 2 days) without having any problems (delay). My duraloops (Duracell brand of Eneloop) just keep going and going without slowing down.

[Zafar Iqbal]

Hah, I never light the colored light indicators - the heck does it really mean when you start to become suspicious of something?

I've ordered the Maha C9000 and for now I'll use just one and see how I like it. I might buy more.

I try to balance flash with ambient - mostly I'm not interested in that flash look at all and secondly, it can have an severe impact on shooting rate. Mostly I'm at 1/32 and sometimes 1/16 but rarely 1/8 or higher. 1/32-1/16 typically lasts for 4-5 hours of shooting with flashes like YN560 (i never really timed it tbh, but battery changes are far apart).

[shardulm]

I would rather use a slower release and lower power battery to get the non-flash look, Most of the time, I just need a tad of light to lift up the shadow area instead of a full blast of flash. Again, it is just a matter of style and taste, as yours would be different from mine.

I appreciate your style and I like the low light feeling that comes with low intensity pops. But the batteries don't really determine the flash intensity its the setting on the flash and flash EV that does it. Batteries supply consistent power until they drain and don't really govern the intensity of the flash output. When I say more pops I meant the number of pops that I get from a set of batteries and not the intensity of the pops. Intensity is not a function of the batteries. The flash stops operating if there isn't juice in the batteries.

[Zafar Iqbal]

Got the c9000 and have completed Refresh & Analyze on one set of Sanyo XX batteries - then the next 16, the charger wouldn't do anything with them. It just keeps asking me for settings/what I want to do, but with only a few here and there where it reports "high".

I read somewhere that I might need to use a dumb charger to get these going a bit, before the c9000 will take them - or is it something else?

[rawr]

or is it something else?

As the manual suggests under 'Battery Rescue Steps, just run ''refresh and analyze' for a few cycles on the problem batteries. That should do the trick.

With my Eneloops, all I do is just put them in the Maha charger and walk away. The default charge settings seem to do the job. Never had a problem with my 20+ Eneloops (and also my Varta 2100 mAh rechargable NiMH AA's).

[Zafar Iqbal]

As the manual suggests under 'Battery Rescue Steps, just run ''refresh and analyze' for a few cycles on the problem batteries. That should do the trick.

But that's just it, it will not accept the setting. Discharge is the only thing I've got it to accept, and it says done just after a few seconds. With everything else, it resets and wants me to pick what I want to do all over again.

If I only have one battery inserted, the charger briefly turns off and on again (or at least the display does), after I dial in the settings, and then asks again what I want to do.

Edit: I'll ignore it and see if anything happens, after the batteries have been in the charger for a while.

[Zafar Iqbal]

The display reset apparently happens because the internal resistance of the battery is so high, that it is out of the chargers testing boundary... lol :P

[Tonytee]

I am in the market for the best rechargeable batteries out there. Having done some extensive research I have come to the conclusion that the Panasonic Eneloops AA Pro rechargeable batteries would be a wise investment. However, recently I had read where several consumers of this battery, discovered that once they attempted to load up the batteries in their digital cameras, they did not fit. The reason being that the manufacturer had increased the width of the batteries, making them unusable,

The only thing that makes sense would be to create a wider battery in order to store more power. Seems like a moot point if the batteries cannot be installed on devices that only use the AA size.

Any comments, knowledge or first hand experience will be greatly appreciated when shared.

Regards,

Antonio

[Paul the Sunman]

I bought a set recently, and have not noticed any change. They fit fine in both by Pentax and Metz flashes. Great batteries.

[Tonytee]

I bought a set recently, and have not noticed any change. They fit fine in both by Pentax and Metz flashes. Great batteries.

Thanks Paul. I was hoping to receive information regarding issues with the batteries fitting into a digital camera. Any experience in this area?

Thanks again,

Antonio