Choosing The Best Rechargeable Battery

My Nikon D300 digital camera with an MB10 accessory grip and three Nikon Speedlight flashes use twenty AA batteries just to get started. After I throw a few radio triggers in the camera bag it adds six AAA batteries and at least one CR2 battery for the transmitter. That is a whole lot of batteries before considering the fact that you are likely to need that many more as backup units. I counted all the batteries I took on one recent photo shoot and came up with a total of 68.


It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to arrive at the conclusion that you will soon be bankrupted by using disposable batteries in such large quantities. In addition to camera equipment, you probably have many other devices around the house adding to your total battery consumption. Some people tell me they can’t be bothered with charging batteries before using them and they will not buy rechargeable batteries for that reason but for people like me who use batteries constantly and in power gulping devices like electronic flashes, the rechargeable option makes much more sense.


The good news is that you can now buy rechargeable batteries that come pre-charged from the manufacturer and can be used straight from the package. These batteries are often referred to as hybrids because of the way they combine the benefits of pre-charged disposable batteries and those of multiple use rechargeable batteries.


A big problem with traditional rechargeable batteries is their characteristic high self-discharge rate, sometimes referred to as “shelf discharge,” meaning that rechargeable batteries loose power even when they are not being used. The newer rechargeable hybrid or low self-discharge (LSD) batteries can retain up to eighty percent or more of their charge for six to eight months depending on the brand and the power rating of the battery.


Even though rechargeable batteries generally start out at a slightly lower voltage than non-rechargeable batteries, they make up the difference because they tend to use the power at a more consistent rate as the battery is discharged. The way a battery consumes power has a lot to do with how you use it, another reason why it is often difficult to do meaningful comparisons between battery types or brands. Testing may give you an idea of how the batteries perform within the parameters of the test and not how they will perform in actual use.


For example; one battery may do well in a device that draws power continuously as in a flashlight that is left on until completely draining the batteries, while other batteries are better at delivering large bursts of energy at random intervals in devices like cameras and electronic flash units. The problem is that you may use batteries in a way that is completely different from the way they were tested, making the test results slightly or totally misleading.


After doing a some investigation I came to the realization that I would need to test a lot of batteries in order to gather enough information to be meaningful. Testing four brand A batteries against four brand B batteries does not provide conclusive information because of the small sample size and because one bad battery can completely skew the test results. There is no simple battery test that will tell you if one brand is a significantly better performer for every intended use, especially when testing in very small quantities.


There are many online sources for battery tests including the battery manufacturer’s websites, which can teach you a lot about batteries (and marketing). You can also check out user reviews on retail sites like www.amazon.com It’s not a perfect decision making tool but it may provide some insight using other peoples experience.


There is a very good battery comparison at http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=79302 where you can compare the discharge rates of many different batteries.


There is also a pretty good discussion of low self discharge batteries at http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1023&thread=26078814


An interesting result of all this testing is that the performance of rechargeable batteries seems pretty consistent between many of the top brands. What this means in practical terms is that you can choose the lowest cost battery that is readily available where you live and by purchasing locally you can pick up spares as needed. I was able to offset some of the cost of my initial rechargeable battery purchase by surfing local sales and using discount coupons. It may be more difficult to find a specific brand of low self discharge batteries locally.


So you’ve made it this far and may be asking what type of batteries a person who has spent way too much time researching batteries uses. I was pretty stoked about the Powerex Imedion 2100 (LSD) batteries when they came out but those have now been eclipsed by the recently released Powerex Imedion 2400 batteries. That’s a 14% increase in power! The best part is that they come pre-charged and ready to go right out of the package.


Don’t get me wrong, you can’t go wrong with Sanyo Eneloops or many of the other major players either. Right now I have the Powerex Imedions in my NIkon SB900, SB800 and SB600 flash units and the Sanyo Eneloop batteries in all my wireless flash triggers. I’m also currently testing some of the Rayovac Hybrid batteries in my Nikon MB10 battery grip. I’m using low self discharge batteries as my primary power source and regular rechargeable batteries as backups or for bigger jobs where I need to use more flash units. The biggest difference is that I have to remember to charge the regular rechargeable batteries a day or two before I use them.


I have run across a lot of other good resources and information about batteries that are worth sharing so here are a few in no particular order.


http://www.mahaenergy.com Buy direct or use the store locator on the website. The local retailer in St. Louis did not have Imedion batteries in stock when I checked (August 2010).


Maha Energy Corporation 1128 Coiner Court, City of Industry, CA 91748


Toll Free: 1-800-376-9992 Office: 626-363-9017 Fax: 626-363-9010


http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/ReduceWaste/power/rechbattinfo.htm This is a very good eco-friendly site put out by the state of California with loads of great information on batteries. Watch out, they may convince you that you don’t even need batteries.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_self-discharge_NiMH_battery A short article on the basics of how a low self-discharge battery works.


http://climber.org/gear/batteries.html Battery wisdom from on high! Several mountaineers tell you everything they have learned the hard way about using batteries in cold and demanding environments.


http://www.rechargeable-battery-review.com/ All about rechargeable batteries and battery reviews. Do You Use or Are You Planning To Buy Rechargeable Batteries?


http://michaelbluejay.com/batteries/ A good battery guide and comparison. If you have no idea what to choose this guy will tell you. It’s a good plain talking guide about the good, the bad and the ugly battery.


One of the most consistently recommended sources for purchasing batteries and chargers online is Thomas Distributing.http://www.thomasdistributing.com/


For some of the world’s most powerful low self-discharge batteries you will ever see… as in, “Do you feel lucky punk?” go towww.horizonbattery.com where you can buy the Ansmann Max E 2500 mah AA batteries directly from the manufacturer.


I like also to use http://www.amazon.com for the service, convenience and customer reviews.

No Salt

It’s Saturday night and all is quiet… Too quiet and that’s what is irritating me for some reason. Nothing much is happening and that means not much progress is being made. The world has taken something out of me this week but rather than complain, I’ll try recapping my activities instead.

I ordered another flash on Friday and took some more demolition photos under bad midday light. This whole week has been slow as far as photographs go but I do have some ideas sloshing around in my brain for next week even though the new flash will probably not make it until Thursday or Friday.

I could use another flash (radio) trigger but I’m thinking of upgrading, so it will probably end up being a bit longer before I buy anything new since I don’t want to add stuff I’m not going to use going into the future. I’m hoping to test a few of the new flash triggers by Radio Popper and Pocket Wizard soon to see if I can settle on a clear favorite. Of course the reality is that you can only use what exists at the time you want to use it even though a lot of tempting things are in the works. New gear is always exciting but often more of a want or a wish than an actual needed item to get the job done.

On a more mundane level, I also need a few more reflectors. I have been using the plastic sheets that yard signs and store displays often made of. That material (Coroplast) seems to hold up better for me than foam core board which is also popular to use as a reflector. Coroplast can be wiped off when it gets dirty and is easy to cut like Foamcore material. You can also use it to make gridded snoots for your shoe mount flashes. I think I’m going to need a few more pieces of it for my outdoor photos next week. It’s pretty handy stuff and it is inexpensive when compared to the other options like collapsible reflectors.

David Hobby has a new Strobist Boot Camp assignment (sbc2assign4) going on right now over at www.strobist.blogspot.com so I am going to try throwing some effort in that direction because it is a lot of fun and a chance to interact with some other photographers as well as actually learning a new trick or two. The subject this time is “Transportation.” There are also some cool prizes for the winning shot to motivate you so go check it out.

Downtown Details

When the light is good you can take a photo of just about anything and create a pleasing image. When you are tired and have blisters on your feet it adds to the challenge. I got to go to Chicago on my day off and just spent the afternoon and evening walking around downtown taking photos of whatever caught my eye. In this case it was the light I was chasing.

I expected overcast skies and instead got sunshine and painterly clouds. I also took about half the junk out of my camera bag which made for a much lighter load. I used the 12-24 lens almost all day shooting at the wide end quite a bit. I still long for an 85mm for low light stuff though I get by with the less expensive 50mm pretty well.

I need to see if I can borrow the D90 and the 18-200 zoom with VR that the guys over at www.atomicdust.com bought recently. In an office full of gear heads it is still in pretty high demand after hours and on the weekends. After a crippling sore neck and pounding headaches during my vacation I can appreciate an all-in-one lens for walking around town.

My heavy lens is the one I use the least. It’s old and has all glass elements. It’s not even very fast but it still weighs a lot when you carry it around all day. If I had a lot of money I would probably own even heavier pro glass and complain about that too.

I have also started carrying around a flash unit more often and that along with the batteries also add weight to the bag, a Lowe Slingshot 200. I got this bag because it would limit the amount of stuff I could carry but somehow I have still managed to stuff enough in it to make a lumberjack cry. All the weight hangs on one shoulder which works very well, up to a point and I think I have gone past that point. Don’t get me wrong, I love that bag but I have just crammed too much in it and I’m going to have to back off of that.

After having a blast shooting downtown I met my lovely assistant at the train station and we went to the Hyatt to have dinner at the Red Bar. Walking around Chicago with a heavy camera bag for eight hours is good for the appetite.

To And Fro

What's the matter with me,
I don't have much to say,
Daylight sneakin' through the window
And I'm still in this all-night cafe.
Walkin' to and fro beneath the moon
Out to where the trucks are rollin' slow,
To sit down on this bank of sand
And watch the river flow.

- Bob Dylan, "Watching The River Flow."

It's been a weird week with people and dogs in the hospital. Not much happening photographically this week except for a couple of trips to buy supplies for lighting projects. The new flash should arrive this afternoon so I will be playing with that this weekend and reading the manual online at lunch time. I didn't win (didn't expect to) the Orbis ring flash in the Strobist Boot Camp II assignment, so I guess I'll have to get busy and build my own instead...

It's In The Mail

I bit the bullet today and ordered myself a new Nikon SB600 flash. I can’t afford the SB900 at the moment and I have come to the conclusion that two smaller flashes (thinking ahead) are actually more useful than one really big, powerful, good looking, sexy…

Everyone has to start somewhere. A flash is a flash but it helps when they all match and you don’t have to scratch your head trying to figure out different settings and controls every time you want to use them.

I wasted some more time at the hardware store today looking for things to use on lighting (light modifier) projects. I didn’t find the part I was actually looking for so I think I’ll just hold off on any projects until my new toy arrives. I just wanted to make sure it came in time for my vacation.

I went over to the park at lunch time. There was a blimp flying around downtown so that was sort of cool. No good sunsets lately but at least I came prepared today with my big-boy camera and manual flash (off camera) which someone asked me about so I gave a brief and confusing (I'm sure) explanation of why flat lighting is bad. Just trust me, it's bad.

I can't believe all the cameras (and tripods) I saw downtown today. When I say cameras, I mean big-ass DSLRs though there were plenty of people with point and shoot cameras with confused looks on their faces as though technology had somehow let them down when they were shooting directly into the sun with no fill flash. "Huh? They didn't say nuthin' about that in the TV ad."