My Year Long Non-Scientific AA and AAA Battery Test

jhelms

At least a few times a week for the past year I utilize various portable multi-strobe/speedlight setups in conjunction with several radio triggers (I use the Bowens / Pulsar ones). My remotes use 2 AAA's and I have 10 remotes, 10 speedlights and 3 AC/DC strobes that I use on location (enough batteries to drive me crazy until I developed my 'system' to keep track of them).

I've got a fairly large collection of good rechargeable AA's and AAA's - Powerex Maha / Imedions / Eneloops / Energizers / LaCrosse. I mark the date of purchase on each battery with a fine tip Sharpie and remove batteries from lights and remotes in between shoots and check them with a BTS battery tester EVERY time. Constant testing, careful charging (Maha and LaCrosse chargers), sorting and Sharpie marking help me keep my sanity with this many batteries.

I always use the slow charge (200mAh on the LaCrosse charger and 500mAh on the Maha charger), and then every 10th time or so I use the Maha conditioning along with slow charge (which can take a couple of DAYS just on one set!).

Something I've noticed during the year is that the Powerex Maha's constantly perform better in my speedlights (no surprise there). My D700 grip gets better life though from AA Eneloops, and my radio triggers REALLY get a long life from AAA Eneloops.

This matches what I've heard for quite some time; that the Powerex Maha's pack a better bang/punch for quick recycle, but don't hold as much of their charge over time - and the Eneloops (while decent in recycling my flashes) are really good at holding their charge when used in devices that need slow constant power.

Side note - I've also used Energizer and LaCrosse rechargeables (and continue to use them in a pinch), but the Maha's and Eneloops are my first choice.

Any thoughts? I'm also always open to suggestions and comments or questions for clarification - and I can't forget one of my favorite posts on testing rechargeable batteries: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=677074

tmelo

I just read a review of Syl Arena's new book which mentioned that he tested and found the Sanyo 2700 batteries to last quite a few recycles. Not sure of price but thought I would mention it.

jhelms

tmelo wrote: »

I just read a review of Syl Arena's new book which mentioned that he tested and found the Sanyo 2700 batteries to last quite a few recycles. Not sure of price but thought I would mention it. puke1

Cool, I might check those out - but what do you mean by 'last quite a few recycles'?

Do you mean they lasted over months/long periods of time going through several discharge and recharges?

tmelo

Sorry, I should have linked the article before but I was lazy. The article inferred that you could flash and recycle "average of 296 flash pops before missing a beat". I took this to mean that the recycle would still be there upto 300 times before it would not recycle quickly enough. What the review did not include is what power output was used on the flash...i will probably scamper over to Borders to read that chapter for myself.

jhelms

tmelo wrote: »

Sorry, I should have linked the article before but I was lazy. The article inferred that you could flash and recycle "average of 296 flash pops before missing a beat". I took this to mean that the recycle would still be there upto 300 times before it would not recycle quickly enough. What the review did not include is what power output was used on the flash...i will probably scamper over to Borders to read that chapter for myself.

Ahh.. gotcha; that's cool but I'd bet that's definitely at a reduced power (you'll overheat the flash after too many full power pops in too short of a period of time).

Art Scott

For the price of rechargeable AA for flashes I would really recommend looking into AL Jacobs Black Boxes........I am still using Quantum for my 622 but now that there has been lots of testing on the black box and also cables are available for the SB900.....I am going to go back to battery packs......when I did my cost analysis the battery packs came out on top..... just like you mine was totally unscientific........and really I do not mind the slight weight difference and I should not have to worry about over heating the strobes.......

jhelms

Art Scott wrote: »

For the price of rechargeable AA for flashes I would really recommend looking into AL Jacobs Black Boxes........I am still using Quantum for my 622 but now that there has been lots of testing on the black box and also cables are available for the SB900.....I am going to go back to battery packs......when I did my cost analysis the battery packs came out on top..... just like you mine was totally unscientific........and really I do not mind the slight weight difference and I should not have to worry about over heating the strobes.......

I have 3 Quantum's and rarely use them except to power my AC/DC studio strobes. My main reasoning is portability (many times when covering VIP tours that visit I setup outdoor lighting for a group photo, then breakdown the lighting immediately and follow the group to the next location).

divamum

Somebody here recommended tenergy AA's - I've bought 3x sets of four as recommended in this thread, and have been very pleased with them so far. They're a touch cheaper than the eneloops, but use similar technology and are, I believe, comparable.

That said, of all my batteries, the ones which charge fastest and work longest are still the LaCrosse - I just wish I could buy a few more sets of the batteries separate from the charger!