Recommendations for good rechargeable AA batteries?

[thegrandpoohbah]

Just ordered the flash, now I need some batteries to power it. Any good ones out there or are the Energizer NiMH batteries sufficient?

[Samanax]

A lot of people like using eneloop low discharge rechargeables from Sanyo.

I prefer to use the regular NiMH rechargeables from Sanyo in my Speedlites and use the eneloop rechargeables in my radio triggers (Cyber Syncs).

[acedrew]

Sam's and Costco (in the US) have the energizers so cheap, it's hard to go wrong with them. I have 6 sets of 4. Dealextreme has some cool color coded cases that I use to keep up with which ones are charged or not. Don't use a 15 minute charger, the cost in battery life isn't worth it! I use a 1 hour charger and haven't noticed any significant drop in life, 10 Mos+.

Andrew Rodgers
Perfected Perspectives -- Photography by Andrew Rodgers | Andrew Rodgers (acedrew) on Twitter | Login | Facebook

[thegrandpoohbah]

Options here in town are very limited but the Energizers were cheap so I got a set of 4 2450 mAh AA batteries and a charger. We'll see how that goes. Those eneloop batteries look interesting though. I may have to order some when I get my 580EX II and see if they perform any better.

[sybren]

I love my Eneloops. Varta also makes batteries with the same technique, and call them "Ready to use", they are also very good. I use both brands in my strobes, and they last so much longer than regular NiMH batteries.

[mipo]

Hi, check out the Maha/Powerex
MAHA / POWEREX MH-C801D Eight Cell 1-Hr Charger

Great battery & chargers.

I have purchased from this Montreal cie. great & quick service.

Maha Chargers & Batteries - PSS Enterprises - PaulsFinest.com

And the Maha web site lists 2 dealers in BC.
Maha / Powerex Corporate Site : NiMh Batteries and Chargers from Powerex, Digital Cameras from Maha, Powerex 2200 Rechargeable Batteries and Chargers, AA, nimh, lithium ion, 2000 mah, 2200mah, charger, battery

[acedrew]

You will actually notice that the capacity of the eneloops and other "ready to use" batteries are lower than the conventional NiMH, the advantage of such batteries is that if they're in your camera bag for weeks without use, there will still be enough charge to squeeze off those 50 shots that just presented themselves. I use my regular NiMH enough, that I have never had an issue where my batteries were dead when I needed them. If you use your flash a lot get several sets of regular NiMH and get a set or two of the eneloops to act as backup. It is great tech, and eventually it will catch up to the conventional tech in power density.

Andrew Rodgers
Perfected Perspectives -- Photography by Andrew Rodgers | Andrew Rodgers (acedrew) on Twitter | Login | Facebook

[gfPHOTO]

I strongly recommend low-discarge units (I have both Eneloops and the MaHa brand ones.)

I like to charge my batteries well ahead of time, and keep spares on the shelf ready to go. Even though their max capacity is lower, I get much more use out of them. Everything else goes dead on the shelf so fast, I get caught with my pants down.

There is anecdotal evidence that the MaHas and Sanyos are the same cells. There may be a lot of brands, but there are far fewer battery factories in the world, and the Sanyos and MaHas perform so similarly they are most likely the same battery in different clothes.

[Aegea]

Sanyo Eneloop. No worries about having to keep the charge topped up.

[Incisive]

While eneloop holds a charge longer, for me its not a concern. Having a battery nicely charged sitting in a bag for days is not as important as having a battery hold its recycle time down.

For this reason, I use Powerex instead of eneloop