NiMH Batteries, does the brand matter?

rgrebby

rgrebby

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Im guessing that using the same brand in something is a good idea but is it better to get whell known types of NiMH batteries?

Also, the higher mA rating the better right? But is too high an issue?

Thanks in advance.

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Generally Nope. I've got a load of 7day shop own brand 2500mA and 2800mA things, and they work just fine for me.

And no you can't damage anything with a higher mA rating, its just how much charge the beasties can store. So more is better, ish, lower rated ones might have longer life spans, but they are cheap enough to chuck in the bin when they wear out
 
i bought a cheap (£8 for 4) set of 2700 batteries and they lasted almost a full day in my flash at a wedding with the flash on ettl all day so i'd say no, brand doesn't matter
 
I use 2500mah and 2700mah, encore are basically rebranded uniross and can be found cheaply and are good.
 
another thing, are they all pretty much the same, or is there some type that last a little longer when not in use?
 
Nope. Thats what the mA rating tells you.
(though cheaper brands may stretch the truth)
 
IIRC uniross released a set of batteries that keep their charge like disposible batteries, i've only used them once and was impressed as they hadn't been charged (they come ready charged) i put them straight in my flash, used them all day, when i got home i stuck them on charge then they got stuck in my camera back for about 2-3months untill a friend's batteries ran out, they done her the full day and night in her point and shoot
 
They're called Hybrio. Sanyo do them as well, however from memory they're only about 2000mah.
 
thats new, and news to me.

Most rechargeables lose 0.1 - 1% (depending on brand and size) of their charge per day, per day, per day
 
Brand isn't as important as supplier. I'd rather buy a no-name brand from Tescos than a major name from a random Ebay shop .
 
i've got a set of Uni-ross 2500 and they came with a fast charger, charges them in about 2hrs. but the price was higher for that reason
 
In my experience, the higher the capacity of NiMH batteries the greater their rate of self-discharge. I think they get higher capacities by adjusting the electrolyte in the battery and whatever it is that increases capacity also increases self discharge. It's the self discharge which makes these cells less useful than "normal" alkaline batteries, rather than a limit in capacity.

Since discovering "instant" rechargables which don't self discharge I haven't looked back. I use Vapextech cells from component-shop.co.uk or the ebay seller Vapextech. They are instant NiMH rechargeables which are like the Sanyo eneloop cells. I really do think they're fantastic and it's amazing that they're not more widely known but like the camera market being fixated on megapixels the rechargeable battery market seems fixated on capacity so the instants (which typically have a capacity of 2000mAh instead of 2400mAh for standard NiMHs) seem to get overlooked.
 
I've found the fast chargers ruin the batteries, we had a 15min one, after a year or so the batteries were completely gone.

I now have a Encore/Uniross charger which does it in 3hrs and batteries are fine.

That Uniross one @ Argos looks good to me.

Yes, and the Vapex ones are good, i have a set of those but couldnt think of the name. The little battery cases from there are excellent too.
 
rgrebby said:
In fact 7dayshop looks better,


Instant rechargables? So they are recharged instantly? Thats pretty cool
Click to expand...

They take the same time to recharge as "normal" rechargeables. Instant refers to the fact that when first supplied they come precharged (unlike normal rechargeables which are normally flat when you get them).
 
those Hama ones are the cheap ones i've got, my opinion of them is above.

the best batteries that i've ever had were the 2500 uniross ones with the 2hr charger as i had a Fuji S7000 at the time which took 4'AA's and one set would last almost a full day on the side of a cold race track in Fife.

i've still to test the Hybrio's properly
 
I use Ansmann MaxE which hold their charge much better than normal rechargeables, I think there are another type called eneloop that do the same things. Useful for me as I can sometimes go a week or two (or more) between using batteries in my flashes.
 
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