6,560 FLASH POPS LATER: The Results of "AA" Rechargeable Battery Tests

I like the picture in the OP.

Bagman wrote in post #12839281
I like the picture in the OP.

Thanks, I've been hoping that someone would...

Although looking at the results and hearing reviews I was initially swayed towards PowerEx's (for wedding photography mainly), I went out and bought some Eneloops this afternoon. They seem to be much more available than the PowerEx's, and I have to say, i'm not disappointed one bit. 8 batteries with a charger cost me $45, and straight out of the packet in my 580exII at full power i'm getting 2.8-2.9s recycle times. Obviously i'll have to wait and see how they perform after a bunch more pops, but my initial impressions are very positive.

Thanks for the excellent writeup!

TristanCardew wrote in post #12921321
8 batteries with a charger cost me $45

Wow, that's fairly expensive actually. Which charger was included? Some of those bundles include a charger that only does pairs of cells -- probably not an issue if one only uses the cells in a flash that takes a set of four, but some other devices want one or three cells, and a pair-only charger confounds the strategy of using and charging them as a set. This is one reason I bought a cell-only package and a La Crosse BC-9009 charger.

I've gone to using Eneloops (Sony Cycle Energy batt's are identical) exclusively in my flash units. I have two eight cell chargers. After a long wedding shoot, it's no problem having them recharged for the next days event. I have not been disappointed at all. They work very well.

The eneloop chargers are cheap. A Maha 801D is a good 8 cell charger that'll look after your batteries. The C9000 has a break in function that I find useful.

TristanCardew wrote in post #12921321
Although looking at the results and hearing reviews I was initially swayed towards PowerEx's (for wedding photography mainly), I went out and bought some Eneloops this afternoon. They seem to be much more available than the PowerEx's, and I have to say, i'm not disappointed one bit. 8 batteries with a charger cost me $45, and straight out of the packet in my 580exII at full power i'm getting 2.8-2.9s recycle times. Obviously i'll have to wait and see how they perform after a bunch more pops, but my initial impressions are very positive.

Thanks for the excellent writeup!

Up to around 100 flash pops, neither Powerex 2700 nor eneloop has any noticeable advantages over the other. The longer you shoot, though, say around 200, they do start to make a noticeable difference in how long it takes to recycle. But then, and by then, you'd probably want to replace them with a newly charged set of batteries for the sake of maintaining a fast recycle time. My point is that it makes no difference whether to go with either of these outstanding brands.

Great work..

and... ALL this started from a 4th grade science project?? I feel so inadequate for doing a project on soap...

Nice review. it's too bad you didn't have my batteries I would have loved to know how they fare. Sony Cyber energy. I have been using them for 3 years without any issues.

sebmor,
I had 4 of the Sony Cyber AA... two of them started to leak after a couple years of use. I trashed all of them just incase.

I have 48 of them without any issues!

Great thread. Subscribed.

Thomas distributing is offering an upgraded Sanyo Eneloop,, at 2500 mAh. Nevertheless, having been satisfied with them for over a year, I went with the 16-pack of 2400 mAh Imedions at half the price.

http://www.thomasdistr​ibuting.com …tery-Specials_c_1019.html

After realizing I'd spent over $600 on AA batteries in the 2010 season I decided to try some rechargables last year. I'd heard good things about the Eneloops so I bought eight of them along with two charger units. The very first time I used them was in my off-camera 580EXII unit. They were fully charged, as was indicated by the charger unit the morning of the wedding. As soon as I made my first shot, my flash failed; it wouldn't turn on and the LCD was blank. I thought it must be the flash; it surely couldn't be the brand new, fully charged batteries I'd just put in. I switched out the OCF with another speedlight, loaded with the other 4 eneloops. That flash also fired one shot and stopped working. Needless to say, my clients were wondering what was going on, as was I. I still had a bunch of Energizer lithiums in my bag so I swapped everything over to those and was relieved to find both of my 580EX units working like normal again. I will never use rechargables again. I wish I could trust them, but that situation was too scary for me to every want to rely on them.

PhotoMatte wrote in post #13970011
After realizing I'd spent over $600 on AA batteries in the 2010 season I decided to try some rechargables last year. I'd heard good things about the Eneloops so I bought eight of them along with two charger units. The very first time I used them was in my off-camera 580EXII unit. They were fully charged, as was indicated by the charger unit the morning of the wedding. As soon as I made my first shot, my flash failed; it wouldn't turn on and the LCD was blank. I thought it must be the flash; it surely couldn't be the brand new, fully charged batteries I'd just put in. I switched out the OCF with another speedlight, loaded with the other 4 eneloops. That flash also fired one shot and stopped working. Needless to say, my clients were wondering what was going on, as was I. I still had a bunch of Energizer lithiums in my bag so I swapped everything over to those and was relieved to find both of my 580EX units working like normal again. I will never use rechargables again. I wish I could trust them, but that situation was too scary for me to every want to rely on them.

Wow thats a first, I have 32 eneloop AA and 12 AAA eneloops for my flashes and triggers and I've never seen a problem like that! Sorry hear about your bad experiance.