AA Batterys

I assume you mean rechargeables? If so Sanyo Eneloops are great, but what ever rechargables you pick make sure you also budget for a decent smart charger otherwise you'll soon knacker even the best rechargeables
 
Eneloop here as well...
 
No contest, Eneloops all the way! Last longer than any others I've tried and straight from the box too! As already mentioned, get the best charger you can afford.
 
Batterys? You meant batteries?

Well, for me, not only for the flashgun but also for the camera as well as the motordrive, examples being my Olympus Camedia C-3040ZOOM which takes 4x AA batteries, or the motordrive for the Minolta X-700 which takes 8x AA, or the Nikon D200's MB-D200 which can accept 6x AA batteries if I want to, I would prefer in this following order...

Rechargeables comes first...
Use rechargeable batteries, the higher the mAh the better, at the moment, my old rechargeable batteries have been used so much, it's time for them to be replaced. Normally I would prefer one fast charger (the sort that charges in 1 hour or less) and one standard charger (the sort that takes a few hours to change), usually take fast chargers with me when out and use the standard ones at home. I would prefer to have as many packs of fully changed batteries when going out, usually try to have 3 or 4 spare sets of 4x AA per set, plus those already put into the equipment. Actually if taking my film camera equipment which contents the Minolta X-700, then it would be 8x AA already in motordrive plus spare set of another 8, there would be 4 already in the flashgun plus spare set of either 4 more or 8. If using the Olympus, 4x AA already in camera, plus 12 spare AAs, (3 sets of 4x AAs). If staying overnight or few nights, then hence taking the fast charger.

Lithium as a back-up....
When not able to use rechargeable, ie: right now, I'm having my old ones replaced with new ones, or I forgotten to bring the batteries, or did bring the batteries but forgotten to bring the charger when being away for more than a night. Or for whatever reasons, even including actually used up all rechargeable batteries in my bag, etc. I tend to try to buy as many of the Lithium ones, like for example the Energizer Ultimate Lithium packs, from supermarkets or any other shops.

Alkaline as the last option....
If I do forgot to bring spare rechargeables or forgotten to bring the recharger, then I would try to buy Lithium, but bearing in mind, depending on where I am, say I am out in a village or small town, or that there is a local corner shop or general store nearby but the supermarket or Argos is too far away, I would buy Alkalines if there are no Lithiums around, such as having to buy Duracell. (Small corner shops in village are more likely to have a limited range of Alkaline batteries than a supermarket being able to stock a wider range of different batteries including supermarket's own brand.)

Failing all the above, good job that as long as there is still 35mm film to buy, I still got my good old Minolta SR-1 which don't need batteries, but of course, I would be unable to use a flashgun.

You can chose the option of rechargeables which you can reuse again and again, saving you money, and leave the Lithiums or Alkalines as a back-up so that if something gones wrong, you can pop out to the shop to buy those as back-up.
 
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The technology used in the Eneloops is now available elsewhere, I'm really impressed with my 7dayshops Good to Go.

Get a charger capable of refreshing them too and you'll be set.
 
As said, don't be fooled by the cheap Uniross chargers either, something decent that cycles the batteries correctly. I use 4600mah AA's in my flashes, they take a good hard 12 hours to cycle but well worth it!
 
Flightphoto said:
As said, don't be fooled by the cheap Uniross chargers either, something decent that cycles the batteries correctly. I use 4600mah AA's in my flashes, they take a good hard 12 hours to cycle but well worth it!
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What brand of batteries are those Dave?
 
Using 2900mah Vapex NiMH with a Vapex fast charger, always carry alkaline as backup, but so far not needed. The charger can be expensive, but I got it direct from the importer.
 
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Not as glamorous as Eneloops but I've had reliable service from plain Duracell NiMh's. My Energiser ones lasted for nigh on a year but died rather suddenly. Duracells, though lower rated in terms of mAH, seem to be (so far) holding up quite well.
 
omens said:
Any recommendations on chargers?

Yay or nay: clicky?
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That'll work fine, but appears to be a very slow, dumb charger (the giveaway for dumb chargers is the charging two or four cells at once, intelligent chargers will be able to charge single cells if need be). Best advice is indeed to always charge your cells as slowly as possible, but I've been using old school 2000mah eneloops in my flashes for a long time, and they do the trick very nicely. My eneloops are happy to charge at 700mA, meaning they never take more than three hours to charge.

Have tried another four or five brands in both AA and AAA and have always had failures, I use a LOT of battery power, not just for photography.

If you can afford it, go for a technoline / lacrosse BC-series intelligent charger, will set you back around £40 but well worth it IMHO.
 
Ansmann charger with their 2600mah cells, batterys, batteries whatever

Also use non-rechargeable Energiser Lithiums, not cheap, but last ages and light if weight is an issue for travelling (do not use in a Canon camera grip)
 
i use one of these
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pro-Peak-Sigma-II-Battery-Charger/dp/B004H0YBPY

charges pretty much any type of cell / battery without issue

these threads pop up regular and by far the weapon of choice is sanyo eneloops but iv'e got to say my favourite batteries for use in flash guns are the BPI NI ZN cells the recharge cycle time is definitely quicker than with eneloops or any other make of hybrid battery
iv'e no idea if they last as long as eneloops because iv'e not managed to flatten a set in one sitting yet but they last a good while
 
At the moment I am going through some Duracell Procell Alkalines that I go off of ebay. 50of them are £13.00 delivered at the moment. They come in boxes of 10 & from what I have read they are regular Duracell's in different packaging.
 
DNH said:
At the moment I am going through some Duracell Procell Alkalines that I go off of ebay. 50of them are £13.00 delivered at the moment. They come in boxes of 10 & from what I have read they are regular Duracell's in different packaging.
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I have 2 issues with using alkalines.

Firstly, they have a more pronounced power curve than rechargeables. So with flash, as the batteries are used, recycle times grow and grow. Whereas NiMH batteries have a fairly flat power output.

Secondly, the environment!!
.
 
Lyonspride said:
Using 2900mah Vapex NiMH with a Vapex fast charger. The charger can be expensive, but I got it direct from the importer.
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I use the 7dayshop 2900Mah AA's with a Vapex charger, actually I've got 2 chargers that charge 8 at a time but the whole family use the same batteries for flashes and bridge cameras.

I've got 3 flashes, a Canon, a Nissin and a Sigma ring flash with 4 in and 4 backup for each, the wife has a nissin with 4 in and 4 backup and the kids both have Fuji cameras with 4 in and 4 backup. That's a good lot of batteries but they do last a long time in the flashes and in the cameras but it's always handy to have the fast chargers around. IIRC they take about 1 1/2 hours to completely charge the batteries and they hold their charge very well when not in use. I had the same set in my ring flash for around 6 months and they still recycle the flash as quickly as they did when first installed but the ring flash doesn't get too much use, it's only had around 300 clicks on it so far.
 
Phil V said:
The technology used in the Eneloops is now available elsewhere, I'm really impressed with my 7dayshops Good to Go.

Get a charger capable of refreshing them too and you'll be set.
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I use those too they are excellent and cheap too
 
Sorry for the late reply guys! The batteries are some special Varta variety, and yes that's not a typo, 4600mah per cell. I got given them through work as they use them for the digital protractors etc. I'm sure they can be sourced on Amazon but never looked, I have 30 of them which does the trick for the Yongnuo's. I wouldn't touch Alkaline again! The discharge rate is crap on those things (without getting too technical)
 
Flightphoto said:
Sorry for the late reply guys! The batteries are some special Varta variety, and yes that's not a typo, 4600mah per cell. I got given them through work as they use them for the digital protractors etc. I'm sure they can be sourced on Amazon but never looked, I have 30 of them which does the trick for the Yongnuo's. I wouldn't touch Alkaline again! The discharge rate is crap on those things (without getting too technical)
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This is very interesting but surely there has to be a tradeoff? I've tried (allegedly) 2900mAh AA's vs 2000mAh and the performance is no better due to the inherent self discharge, and also a lot of "flexibility of truth" about the true capacity of the cells.

Some years ago when eneloops first came out, it was demonstrated in many tests that that a lot of the much higher output cells didn't come close to the stated output. The eneloops never seemed to finish up top of any test, but had the best overall score due to claim versus reality, hence why I've stuck with them. That, and Asda sold off a LOAD of old school eneloops for very little cash a few years back, I believe a bargains thread on this very forum alerted me to it... Which allowed me to augment my eneloop stocks somewhat :D
 
Anyone tried Imedion cells?
 
Been using 7dayshop rechargeables for a few years now, gradually replacing my older 2500mah ones with 2900mah, got an older Uniross charger but it works fine.

Can't fault the 7dayshop batteries at all, they power my Nissin Di866 well, seem to last for ages (generally 300-400+ shots on a charge but it could be more) and stay charged for a long time :)
 
energizer 7x i think they are, got about thirty of them - very good
 
buckas said:
energizer 7x i think they are, got about thirty of them - very good
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I also use energizer in my flash as well as other equipment such as apple key board and trackpad.

They seem to hold their charge for a long time and have never let me down to date.

hope this helps.
 
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