which AA batteries?

[Dave Scanlon]

Dear All, just a quick question, although I suspect the answer might be anything but..
which batteries give the quickest recycle time in flash guns?
I have a 420EX speedlite on an EOS 350D, fully charged NI-MH give a recycle time of @ 4 sec, has anyone tried lithium AA's?
are they worth the extra expence?

Cheers

Daveyboy

 

[AdWright]

Good thread about it here:
http://photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00EoAe

It seems NiMH have a lower resistance hence recycle a lot faster than alkaline cells

 

[Matt]

ive got a set of Eneloop rechargables to trial, i will let you know how i get on with those

 

[AdWright]

I think that I saw those advertised in a magazine, but can't remeber what they are - isn't there some sort of new tech. in them?

 

[RobertP]

I just use basic 7dayshop own brand NiMh 2600 mAh in my 580EX. I put in a fresh set just now (well been in the drawer a couple of weeks since charging) and set the flash to manual and full power. Recharge time to the light coming back on was 3 seconds - which is fast enough for me as I'd hardly ever use that power level.

If you do go for Lithium let us know how they perform.

 

[antonroland]

I have used Uniross 2300 mA H in both my 580s for going on 2 years and have had no hassles whatsoever.

I cannot discern any improvement in performance of alkalines over Nimh or vice versa but know this....

Nimh cells die on you very quickly when they EVENTUALLY die, alkalines give a bit of warning.

Cheers

Anton

 

[Witch]

Over the winter I bought a set of 7 day shop 2700 mA H rechargeables specifically because I wanted something with a bit more juice for my flashgun. Used them for the first time in anger on Thursday night and was extremely impressed - the flash was happily firing for two consecutive shots in high speed burst mode and I had barely any unflashed shots all night (one of those I did get was my own fault as I went back for the first race after the interval without remembering I'd need to "wake the camera up"!

 

[Steep]

I have two sets of the same ones as witch, they last so long in the flash gun I forget they are there.

To answer the original question I think NiCad batteries will give you the fastest recycle time since they have very little resistance, unfortunately they would only last a very short time before going flat.

 

[hypnotic]

I have a couple of sets of 2800ma AA's.

Think I got them from Ebay.

Only problem I sometimes find is that they are a bit longer than most AA's and can on occasion be a bit of a struggle to fit into some battery compartments.

They do seem to last for ages though.