Speedlight batteries 2900 mAh?

Chris Primadona

Chris Primadona

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I'm about to order a few packs of batteries for the Canon 580exII and I'm not sure if I should go with the 7dayshop 2900 mAh ones or the Eneloop 2000mAh ones. I will be picking up quite a few packs as I plan to buy a external battery holder later too.

They both have good reviews etc but I'm wondering if anyone has tried both and found one to be better than the other? or if theres something better out there that I should consider. Also, do the 2900mAh just last longer or will they be slightly faster at refreshing the flash too? :thinking:

I will need to get a decent charger too, I guess the charger doesnt really make much difference apart from the speed they will charge?

Any advice would be appreciated! :thumbs:
 
Haven't looked into them for a while, but when I did, a little while back, what I found is the higher capacity batteries can last longer, however they don't charge as fast.
 
More is more in capacity, meaning extra shots. However Eneloops will stay charged in the bag and are ready when you need them - even if you didn't remember to recharge them within the last week.

Also Eneloops have a good discharge rate, meaning they can top off the flash capacitors quick. Don't know about 2900mAh cells as I've only used 2700mAh and lower.
 
I use 7DayShop 2800mAh for my speedlites and they work just fine. I'd also suggest you get there V8 battery charger allowing you to charge up to 8 rechargeables at a time.

Ian
 
I have 50 AA 2900 from 7 day shop along with 3 of their fast chargers.

Get all of them charged in less than 3/4 of an hour.

All get used in my SB 900's and belt fitted power packs
 
I found it important to get a good charger that will allow you to monitor charge levels and discharge them too - to prevent memory build up and therefore lower cap holding - im trying to remember the one I bought...........
 
Syd said:
I found it important to get a good charger that will allow you to monitor charge levels and discharge them too - to prevent memory build up and therefore lower cap holding - im trying to remember the one I bought...........
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Cheers for the replies everyone. Syd, I'm pretty sure the memory issues you mention only occur with NiCd batteries and not NiMH ones.

I have checked out some chargers and some of them claim to charge a battery in under 1 hour, others are over 7 hours. I read mixed reports about how this can effect the battery life and performance. Anyone got more info on this?
 
Chris Primadona said:
Cheers for the replies everyone. Syd, I'm pretty sure the memory issues you mention only occur with NiCd batteries and not NiMH ones.

I have checked out some chargers and some of them claim to charge a battery in under 1 hour, others are over 7 hours. I read mixed reports about how this can effect the battery life and performance. Anyone got more info on this?
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All batteries are effected by ageing/deterioration by some extent, NiMH are just much better at it than NiCd, so you don't need to worry about it much.

As for the fast chargers, if you get a reasonable one, you should be fine, however I imaging the cheaper ones wouldn't monitor as much about the battery. Slowly charging batteries is always better for them, however, if the charger is good enough, and monitors enough of the battery stats, they can be charged faster, without much issue, as they can insure they charge within the battery's limits.
 
Yes, BL 700 is a great charger for the price. Have a MH-C9000 myself though (it performs great but a horror in the usability dept).
 
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Ive been using the energizer batteries and 15 min charger with no problems for a couple of years now, they work well for me!
 
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Got 7 packs of the 2900 and have used them quite a lot. They hold their charge really well and I got over 600 flashes with my Nissin Di866 Pro before they started slowing down and over 800 before they were charged. New duracell crapped out at about 450 alltogether. Got a vapex tech 8 cell charger to go with them that takes about 3 hours to charge. Best 20 quid I spent in ages.
 
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Great, I ordered a single pack of the 7dayshop 2900mAh ones to try them out before buying the big value pack. I also stuck a few other bits onto my order (Just cant help myself lol)

Got two diffusers, the dome and Lambency Flash Diffuser, the 7dayshop Wireless Flash Trigger Set, the big camera backpack and a charger. So much for spending less than a tenner lol!
 
RCAnderson said:
Haven't looked into them for a while, but when I did, a little while back, what I found is the higher capacity batteries can last longer, however they don't charge as fast.
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That might be to do with the capacity. ;)

In real terms these very high capacity (>2200mAH) batteries are less likely to reach their nominal charge and will not last as long in terms of charge/discharge cycles.

Stick with Eneloops or Vapextech lower capacity.
 
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