Right batteries for flash?

marsmark

Hey all,

I'm struggling with a problem using my flash (Sigma 500DG-super) with my 20D: the batteries just don't seem to perform well. It seems that after popping a set in fresh from the charger, the recycle times quickly go from a couple seconds to tens of seconds in only a few (~10) shots. It doesn't take a whole lot more before the recharge-ready light on the flash takes 30 seconds or more to illuminate...

Obviously, this makes candid flash photos a bit difficult. I've got a few sets of batteries (one set of Quest NiMh 1500's, and two sets of Sunpak's (2300 and 2500 mAh)). The charger is an 8hr unit I got with the Quests. It doesn't look like I'm really draining the batteries as the charging light doesn't always come on when I put the Sunpaks back in the charger.

Any thoughts? Is there a big difference in chargers for NiMh batteries? I was hoping to not have a charger for every different battery brand... What about the batteries themselves? And rechargeables in general - what performance should I expect for flash usage?

Thanks for your thoughts!

-Mark

ian408

You shouldn't need a charger for every brand. You do need different charging
characteristics for Li and NiMH batteries though--you can get one unit that
does both.

Note that if you are running the flash at full cycle, it won't take too long to
run the batteries down.

One question, are you sure you're getting a complete charge? Especially for
the 2300mAh batteries? If you've got the standard charger and it didn't
imply that it was a fast charger, then the batteries will take several hours
to fully charge. Another comment on the chargers. I've heard some say the
charger that comes "free" with the batteries sucks. I bought a rapid charger
for mine that works pretty well. Charges the batteries in about an hour (from
drained).

marsmark

One question, are you sure you're getting a complete charge? Especially for
the 2300mAh batteries? If you've got the standard charger and it didn't
imply that it was a fast charger, then the batteries will take several hours
to fully charge. Another comment on the chargers. I've heard some say the
charger that comes "free" with the batteries sucks. I bought a rapid charger
for mine that works pretty well. Charges the batteries in about an hour (from
drained).

I typically leave the batteries in the charger overnight, at least... often a day or two. It's not a quick charger, so I figure that should be sufficient. But, I guess that's one of the things I'm wondering about - am I really getting a full charge out of this trickle charger?

ian408

There's a camp that believes trickle chargers don't adequately charge the
batteries. In part due to the design. They believe that a fast charger does
a better job because it must monitor the charge more closely thus
providing a more accurate charge. I don't know.

mghaner

I am having super good luck with the 15min charger from Eveready with the 2500ma NIMA Everready batts. My Sigma 500 used to drain them much faster then my Nikon SB600 does but it sounds like your charger is not getting them filled up very well, maybe test the batts in something else and see how they perform there or check the batts with a meter after charging them. The other thing is that regardless from what they say the NIMH batts DO get a memory although not as fast as the NiCad type. I use my Everreadys in both my flash and my primary camera (Fuji S3pro) and was surprised to find out just how well the 15min charger and batts work. I usually hit them for about an hour in the charger and I get quite a few 1gig cards worth of juice int he camera and the flash hold up very good depending on how much full power fills I do with it. Just my .02 for you,

bham

marsmark wrote:

Hey all,

I'm struggling with a problem using my flash (Sigma 500DG-super) with my 20D: the batteries just don't seem to perform well. It seems that after popping a set in fresh from the charger, the recycle times quickly go from a couple seconds to tens of seconds in only a few (~10) shots. It doesn't take a whole lot more before the recharge-ready light on the flash takes 30 seconds or more to illuminate...

Obviously, this makes candid flash photos a bit difficult. I've got a few sets of batteries (one set of Quest NiMh 1500's, and two sets of Sunpak's (2300 and 2500 mAh)). The charger is an 8hr unit I got with the Quests. It doesn't look like I'm really draining the batteries as the charging light doesn't always come on when I put the Sunpaks back in the charger.

Any thoughts? Is there a big difference in chargers for NiMh batteries? I was hoping to not have a charger for every different battery brand... What about the batteries themselves? And rechargeables in general - what performance should I expect for flash usage?

Thanks for your thoughts!

-Mark

What ISO are you using? Realize that the higher the number the less power the flash has to put out. If you are using 100 or 200, try 400 or 800.

Besides that I don't have much advice. I don't use rechargables except for my rigged up 7.2v NiCd to my Sunpak that reclycles so fast that I call it speedy. I can shoot about 8 shot sequence one after another with maybe a half second at most in between. It rocks.

chrisjlee

marsmark wrote:

Hey all,

I'm struggling with a problem using my flash (Sigma 500DG-super) with my 20D: the batteries just don't seem to perform well. It seems that after popping a set in fresh from the charger, the recycle times quickly go from a couple seconds to tens of seconds in only a few (~10) shots. It doesn't take a whole lot more before the recharge-ready light on the flash takes 30 seconds or more to illuminate...

Obviously, this makes candid flash photos a bit difficult. I've got a few sets of batteries (one set of Quest NiMh 1500's, and two sets of Sunpak's (2300 and 2500 mAh)). The charger is an 8hr unit I got with the Quests. It doesn't look like I'm really draining the batteries as the charging light doesn't always come on when I put the Sunpaks back in the charger.

Any thoughts? Is there a big difference in chargers for NiMh batteries? I was hoping to not have a charger for every different battery brand... What about the batteries themselves? And rechargeables in general - what performance should I expect for flash usage?

Thanks for your thoughts!

-Mark

I use a set of energizer 2500mAh and I can go about 6-8 hours of shooting (100-150 photos) using a set of (four of) them. They charge quickly too. They're the quick charger kind that takes about 8 minutes or so to charge. They still take about a second to recharge. You can buy them everywhere, target, best buy etc.

I can't get two or three frames of consecutive shooting with a sigma. I just know better to wait a second. According to the spec sheet the Super sigmas require 4 seconds to recharge anyways.

binghott

believe it or not, i've gotten the best results from energizer e2 lithiums. sure, they're $10 for 4 and not quite environment friendly, but i've had great success with them. try them!

marsmark

Ok, I finally picked up a Powerex (Maha) C204W rapid charger... and a set of Maha 2700 mAh batteries.

After a quick test, I think I can say that the old trickle charger I had was certainly part of the problem (if not all). I was able to snap off around a dozen flash shots, about 1-2 sec apart, with no visible delay to the recharge lamp on my Sigma 500 dg super. Previously, I was lucky to get a couple shots off, with 5-10 sec separation, before the flash would cease to recycle.

I'm presently conditioning and recharging my other sets of batteries, so I'll be able to make a better assessment in a couple days when I have more time to shoot some more... but for now I'm relieved that my problems may be over.

-Mark