AA Battery test on Canon speedlites [Archive]

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admirable

24-02-2009, 09:33

This is not an exact test as such but I felt it would help others if I noted my observations on here. Perhaps it may stimulate discussion, especially with wedding togs.

I was doing a shoot last week using a 580EXII and two 430EXII's.

In the 580 I had Uniross 2700 rechargeables.

In one 430 I had Kodak Alkalines (this flash was borrowed and the, new, batteries were supplied with it).

In the other 430, my own, I had Duracell plus alkaline mn 1500.

All 3 flash units were off camera and triggered wirelessly using a ST-E2 and all flash units were used on full power.

The Duracell and Kodak were new out of the packet and the Uniross were fully charged.

I'm unsure how many shots were taken as there were a good few test shots during setup but there was quite a lot. In total I would say there was close to 3 hours worth and all shots taken were with flash and it was fairly fast shooting at times.

None of the batteries failed completely but what started to happen was the recharge times became longer and I was having to wait on them or taking a shot and the flash would 'fail'.

The 1st to slow down were the Duracell which quite surprised me! They were closely followed by the Kodak batts.

The Uniross rechargeables were still going strong without fail at the end of the night. Bearing in mind the 580 has a stronger output than the 430's I think this is very good!

fletch5

24-02-2009, 09:36

not surprising really

Richard T

24-02-2009, 10:42

look at the power of them... 1500 against 2700 almost half the power

oohweewee

24-02-2009, 15:23

So does 4-digit 'mAh' figure relate to the battery power/charge then? What is normally recommended for flash lights?

CScottMcQueen

24-02-2009, 15:28

look at the power of them... 1500 against 2700 almost half the power

mn1500 is their model number :D

Im suprised by this tbh, the recharge rate at 1.5v should be quicker than the NiMH batteries at 1.2v although there is less resistance in a NiMH cell so maybe thats the reason :shrug:

Raymond Lin

24-02-2009, 15:39

I have some unicross 2700 and Energizer 2500 rechargables, both 1 year old.

I charged them both for a wedding reception on saturday, both on a slow charger, over night until light on the charger went off. I also took with me 4 Energizer Lithium AA batteries as backup, and 4 Energizer Alkaline.

Went to the venue and got out my 550EX and did a few test shots, it took forever for the rechargable Energizer to ready the flash, so slow that i know i wouldn't be able to get any shots on demand that night. Took it out and wacked in the Lithium, did over 800 shots with them and they were still going strong in the end !

Think my rechargables are pretty much dead and i need some new ones.

Syx

24-02-2009, 15:40

Ni-MH stand up better to high-drain usage than alkaline batteries (which are generally pretty poor) which explains the difference.
Here's a graph.
http://site.greenbatteries.com/documents/alkaline-vs-nimh.jpg

Edit: Another plug for the Energizer Lithium batteries - they may cost more but they truly are fantastic.

keith.l

24-02-2009, 18:59

David Hobby has a post on this (http://strobist.blogspot.com/2007/09/feed.html). He sees Ni-MH as better on just about all fronts. His paper supplies him with free Alkalines, but he buys Ni-MHs instead.

Flash In The Pan

24-02-2009, 19:04

derek773

24-02-2009, 19:55

Just a quick reply for the mAh question. This refers to the amount of current a battery can supply as in 2700 milli Amps per Hour (mAh) and generally speaking, the higher the rating the longer the battery will last between charges. Oh, and yes, if your still getting long recycle times after recharging, new ones would be good. Hope this helps

keith.l

24-02-2009, 21:17

Not any more they don't he got made redundant :lol:
Really? I didn't know that. Probably wishes he'd stashed a few of the batteries now :)

oohweewee

25-02-2009, 10:05

Not any more they don't he got made redundant :lol:

For steeling batteries? By any chance.

oohweewee

10-03-2009, 10:40

I found this kit at just £14.99 - any good? Or do I need something with higher mAh figures?? :thinking:

http://images.maplin.co.uk/full/N55GN.JPG

Byker28i

10-03-2009, 11:54

Not a bad price.

I've switched to the Annsmann low discharge batteries for all our games console controllers, my flashguns and spares.

http://www.tantronics.co.uk/acatalog/Pre-charged_AA_size_Rechargeable_Batteries.html

V8burble

10-03-2009, 12:21

I've got Maplin ones at the moment, and more than happy with them. 2500mAh with a multi-source fast charger/discharger (was about £20 with 4x batteries). Unless I'm up at full power on the SB600 I can run on CL for about 5 or 6 shots before it needs a seconds rest. Full power recycle normally about 1.5 seconds.

Al de Man

10-03-2009, 16:10

NiMH are considerably better than alkaline for flashguns because they are able to cycle power to the flash quicker, meaning the flash is ready quicker.

I use Vapextech 2900.

chris321

10-03-2009, 16:14

If anyone's interested in a cheap solution, I picked up x8 2500mAh Ni-MH and a 4-battery charger from jessops for £12.50. I haven't given them a proper test yet, but for the price I thought it was pretty decent!

Chris

Borats Baby

10-03-2009, 16:52

I got some from Aldi. Pack of 4 Nimh 2300m Ah badged up as Activ Energy.

Cost £2.99

I used them when I borrowed canonbob's 550EX.

I didn't actually count the hours/flashes, but they lasted for ages. I remember being suitably impressed.

Bill Roberts

10-03-2009, 17:41

Gofer

10-03-2009, 18:25

I'm using eneloops. The best offer I've seen lately is this one... LINK (http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=777_3&products_id=105240)

The eneloops on their own are £7 to get them with a charger for £9 isn't bad!

I don't know how good the charger is (I'm using a Technoline BC-700) but even so...

That's got to be the deal Bill especially considering Tantronics want £13 + P&P for the same charger and four batteries. I've just received two packs of Eneloop batts from 7day and at just under £14 delivered I reckon that's a bargain too.

oohweewee

12-03-2009, 20:39

I've noticed that those batteries have limited number of re-charge's - is this normal?

Bill Roberts

12-03-2009, 20:43

I've noticed that those batteries have limited number of re-charge's - is this normal?

The eneloops?
Well it states up to 1000 times, that's quite a lot of charges, and I'd think quite normal yes.

cheers
Bill

oohweewee

12-03-2009, 20:49

The eneloops?
Well it states up to 1000 times, that's quite a lot of charges, and I'd think quite normal yes.

cheers
Bill

Thanks Bill.

I'm not familiar with the Eneloop brand; is this popoular with you other togs?

Bill Roberts

12-03-2009, 20:57

I think they're getting fairly popular. They don't have as much capacity as some of the other NiMH batteries, you can get almost up to 3000 mAh ones but the eneloops are only 2000 mAh. The big advantage is that they hold their charge very well over a long period, much longer than the standard NiMH batteries. It really depends on what you're using them in I suppose.

To put the 1000 re-charges into context though... if you needed to charge them up every week, then in theory you'd get over 19 years use. I'd guess we'll be on different technology by then anyway :)

cheers
Bill

tbm

12-03-2009, 22:46