Speedlight Batteries
Posted on 28 January 2010
What AA batteries do you drop in your flashes? Alkaline? Heavy Duty? Nickel Cadmium rechargeable? Nickel Metal Hydride rechargeable? Lithium rechargeable?
According to my informal testing, Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMh) rechargeable batteries give me the most shots per charge. While the new Lithium rechargeables are getting good reviews on some tech blogs and supposedly have a somewhat longer overall life than NiMh batteries, the rechargeable Lithiums are too new for me to have tested. Another problem is that they still sell at a premium and aren’t widely available. NiMh batteries are available everywhere from Walgreens to Target and they’re really affordable online.
Another great thing about the NiMh batteries is that they recycle your flash faster than anything else tested by me or the manufacturers. (Keep in mind, rechargeable Lithium may recycle faster, I don’t know, but most Speedlight manuals don’t even mention them, manufacturers haven’t officially tested them, and they might even void your warranty.) So, I’m sticking with the safer, known NiMh rechargeables.
A couple things to note
When you buy NiMh AA batteries, look for batteries with the highest Miliamps Per Hour (mAh) rating. The higher the number, the more charge they can hold. Many less expensive batteries are rated at 2100 mAh but I use 2500 and 2700 mAh batteries.
Another BIG advantage of NiMh rechargeables over Lithium rechargeables is that I bought a 15 minute Energizer brand NiMh fast charger for around $30 and I haven’t seen any such fast charger for rechargeable Lithiums yet. When it comes to getting ready for a shoot, that’s huge! I have half a dozen sets of 4 NiMh batteries and I can charge them all in 90 minutes with one charger. The same charger is also available with a car plug. (Mine is 120 volts household.)
Oh, and one final note
In my admittedly informal testing, Energizer NiMh batteries seem to last longer and be more reliable than the Duracells I bought. Maybe there’s a problem over time with the fast charging method my Energizer 15 minute charger employs that caused my Duracells to go bad, but they did. And none of my Energizers have so far.
The key to flash happiness is a good set of fully charged NiMh AA batteries and I’m sticking with my Energizers and the rapid charger. That setup hasn’t let me down yet!
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11 responses to Speedlight Batteries
I use a combination of NiMh with NiZn batteries.
Let me correct that Miliamps Per Hour is written mAh not MaH.
Please pardon my capitalization dyslexia. I’ve fixed it, thanks.
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2010/01/new-nizn-batteries-offer-lightning-fast.html
You may want to check out this link to the strobist site.
All valid, good stuff. (I love Strobist!) But there aren’t any 15 minute chargers. The fastest I found is a 1 hour quick charger. I’m occasionally a procrastinator, so I guess because I love the thought of having 4 sets ready in an hour instead of 1, I just can’t peel myself away from NiMh. With all the other positives of NiZn, I may convert in the future, but what I have works so darn well, I’ll probably just stick with it.
David Hobby says in his Strobist DVD that 15 minute chargers wear the batteries out quicker than one-hour chargers. He recommends against the 15 minute chargers.
I know David. I like David. I regularly read The Strobist and follow much of his advice. I don’t even necessarily disagree that 15 minute chargers wear out batteries faster.
However… If I have to buy a few more sets (at $10 a set) in a couple of years, that’s a small price to pay for having the convenience of being able to charge all my sets of batteries quickly for the 2 years that they DO last me.
For me, it’s more about the quick charger than it is about the ultimate performance (NiZn is probably a little better) or durability (slower chargers are more longevity friendly).
It seems to me that everything in life is a trade off in one way or another. I get NEARLY the best performance and PRETTY GOOD pricing and GREAT convenience. Some will find my choice to be wrong for them. Some might agree. I’m just happy people are reading and thinking about it.
Been using the same sets of NiMh batteries for two years now and they’re still going strong. I’ve got two sets for each device so I keep one set fully charged as a backup and let the used ones run right out before recharging them. Don’t think this makes a difference to their life but it means I don’t have to charge them all at the same time.
BTW I expected you to be first with a post about the iPad. What happened?
Larry I could have written just about everything in your post. I use NiMh batteries and a 15-minute charger and love them both. The amount of money and time they have saved me is enormous. The only place that I differ is the brand. I have had the best luck with Ray-O-Vacs. Sounds weird, I know, but they seem to hold a charge better and last longer than the Energizers. Plus, the Ray-O-Vacs are much cheaper. I agree about Duracell; I only use the one set I have in emergencies.
I’ve also had bad luck with Duracell NiMH cells. Avoid them. Heat kills NiMH cells, so longer/slower recharge times are best when you’ve got the time. Have you tried the Sanyo Eneloops and other “precharged” cells? They hold a charge a lot longer when not in use. Though a recent addition to my AA battery fleet, I’ve been very pleased so far.
I switched to Sanyo eNelop Batteries and a pearstone charger/re-conditioner. The Sanyo need less charging since they do not loose their charge like common rechargeables.
Larry;
Your right on with battery choices. After a fairly new set of Duracells leaked in my flash for the second time I switched to Energizer and never had another problem with leaking batteries. It’s strange that Duracell batteries never leaked in my cheap probable radios only in my expensive photo flash.