Batteries for S3

[danidabi]

I'm looking to buy a second set of rechargeable batteries. I currently have a pack of 4AAs duracell rechargeables with a 1hr quick charger. What would you guys recommend for a second set.

I don't mind ordering them online, if it'll save me some money:D

[truflip]

is this second set your back up?
back up usually used when the main ones die
so really, the back ups sit in ur camera bag for days/weeks till ur mains die out...

[GaryS]

I always have a spare set in my bag, and I cycle through the two sets so they all get used on a regular basis. They are all regular NiMH rechargeable batteries, whatever brand is around when I am shopping. And they are all at least 2000 mah.

[danidabi]

Yes this is my backup set. But I would also rotate them with the set I have now so they get dont just sit in my bag doing nothing.

Does anyone know of any good online deals. Just trying to find a good deal for a poor nursing student with little money.

[GaryS]

Since you are in BC.... Canadian Tire is were I usually get them, they have Rayovac rechargables which are $12.49CDN for 4.

Online, not sure...

[danidabi]

cool thnks. Ill check them out. there only a few blocks from my place. Cheaper then what I pay at staples

[reppans]

Normal Ni-Mh batts *need* to be constantly used/cycled, they self-discharge quickly (around 2+% per day, more for higher capacity batts), and as a result have poor self lives. Unless you shoot a lot, say 200 shots per week, you could be losing more power to self-discharge than from actual use, esp. if you back-up with another set of normal Ni-Mh.

So I would cycle/charge your Ni-Mh's a bit more often, condition them (run them down) occasionally, and use either alkaline or lithium AAs as back-ups which can just sit idle with their great shelf lives.

If you don't take a lot of pictures (say around 200/wk), I'd consider getting Sanyo Eneloops rechargables as your main rechargeables. They are one of the only rechargeables that do have great shelf lives.

I bought batteries and charger from here:
http://ripvan100.com/
I've learned more about batts from this guys forum, then anywhere else.... Just to give you sense he knows what he's talking about, I got over 3.5 hours of video, 15 gigs of recording, from 2 AAs (sanyo 2700s) in a canon A710. But I don't think I shoot enough to beat the self discharge problem and will be switching to the Eneloops.

Follow the link at the bottom of this thread:
http://www.stevesforums.com/forums/view_topic.php?id=96500&forum_id=51

[Wesan]

I'd like to "warn" you a little about quick chargers. I got one for the 8 batteries I bought for my S3. It charged 4 2500 mAh batteries in about 2 hours. But these quick chargers "wear out" the batteries in advance. I got my camera and the batteries at the end of May or beginning of June last year (forgot excatly when... :o ) and have used the quick charger only since then. A while ago, the batteries started to run out of charge very quickly after I had charged them. You're supposed to be able to charge them 1000 times, but I'm sure I have not done that by far.

This is also something that seems pretty well known - that quick chargers "wear out" your batteries in advance. I have another set of batteries, which I have used a few years, but with a slower charger, and they are still keeping their charge much better.

Last week, I replaced my quick charger and batteries with a new "slow" charger and 8 new 2700 mAh batteries.The new charger charges these batteries in about 7 hours. I'm sure my new batteries will last much longer, with the new, slow, charger.

So it seems that if you want your rechargeable batteries to last, don't use quick chargers... :( Give your batteries time to charge. :)

[danidabi]

I had no idea^^ thanks for the tip!

[truflip]

i would recommend the new eneloops..
theyre 2000mAh's but they feel like they last almost as long as my 2500mAh energizers..

i also disagree with those silly quick chargers.. they heat up the batteries a lot which degrades the battery life and probably quality. dont know exactly but point is, dont rush it ;)

you can also opt for 2500mAh energizers from walmart. they cost $3 more than the Rayovacs from Canadian Tire.. and youre gettin a well known brand which are on the top of many battery reviews ;) Japanese made too believe hehehe

Anyway, the Eneloops are good as backups because u can let them sit in ur camera case without recharging for a long time. Normal batteries degrade much much faster. but then again this depends on your shooting style.
if you go out every few days n shoot till ur memory card fills up then go for the energizers, if u shoot like couple hundred pics every weekend, the eneloops are your best best since u wont have to recharge them or worry about them self discharging =)
a set of 4 lasted me almost 3 months lol.. i shot maybe 50 in a week.. barely have time now :(

[FLiPMaRC]

I have 8 2500mAh batteries from Batteries.com (http://www.batteries.com/productprofile.asp?appid=369262) and 4 2500mAh Energizer batteries that I cycle through. I use to use a quick charger until it burned a set of my batteries. I only use a 15 hour slow charger now ... LOL :D I would like to buy MAHA Powerex C401FS battery charge (http://www.thomas-distributing.com/mhc401fs.htm)r in the future :cool:

[Wesan]

I had no idea^^ thanks for the tip!

Neither had I! And you're welcome! :)

[drama]

I am not sure how true that tip is
Some quick chargers are designed to fully discharge your batteries before they charge them, this gives you more usable battery life

Slow chargers, do not have this ability
Most people tend to recharge batteries before completely discharging them
This leads to a decreased charge cycle

Not all quick chargers are created equal, most of the cheaper ones cannot give sufficent current for charging high power batteries

[Wesan]

I think you're right, that not all quick chargers are created equal. Mine was probably not that advanced. Still, it can be hard to know exactly how a specific quick charger is made and how it works, even if you read the manufactureres information about it. If you're not that very familiar with the different techniques they can use, it's difficult to know what separates one quick charger from another. And the manufacturers always try to make their products seem "perfect", of course... :rolleyes:

So you are probably also right about it, that there are other quick chargers that "treat" the batteries better than the one I had. :) But if you're not sure about how the quick charger YOU are using, or are thinking about buying, works and what technique it's using, it might be a better choice to get a "slow charger" that takes 4, or more, hours to charge your batteries.

Well...just wanted to share my experience and thoughts about quick chargers... :)

Does anyone perhaps have extended experience from an "advanced" or "intelligent" quick charger, as described by drama? If so, what are your experiences with it? How does it treat your batteries? How long have you used it and how many times have you charged the batteries in it, roughly? Have you noticed any change in the capacity of the batteries?

[RJC]

Id go for a quick charger, but a good quality one.

I have the energizer quick charger with two sets of NiMH for my S3.

It is really convenient being able to charge the batteries in 15 minutes. Good for when you want to go out shooting, but forgot to charge your batteries. Also, the charger has a built in fan to keep the batteries from overheating.

Also, I find they charge the batteries much better than "trickle" chargers.

Batteries charged with my energizer 15minute charger will last alot longer than the same batteries charged in my duracell trickle charger.

[danidabi]

I had to take back the batteries and charger I got with my camera. I only got 15pics the first day before the batts died, today I got 5 pics before they died. Either they were dudds or the charger sucked. Bought 8 new recharge batts and a regular charger.

So frustrating when they died so quick:mad:

[oj88]

@Wesan,

Were the the 2500 batteries you mentioned (the ones which died prematurely) made by Sanyo? I believe there was a batch problem specific to the Sanyo 2500 AA batteries. And since Sanyo also manufacture batteries in bulk and usually sold them to be repackaged as OEMs, this might not be exclusively true for Sanyo-labeled 2500 batteries.

I have about 12 pcs of Sanyo 2700's and are working fine with a Sanyo charger (the model with the "Refresh" feature). In my S3 bag, I keep three sets of batteries when I go out on a shooting spree; 2 sets of 2700 NiMH, and 1 set of ordinary Alkalines as backup.

[Wesan]

oj88:
I don't know if mine are made by Sanyo originally. But the brand name on them (and the charger) is Uniross. I suspect it could be the charger, that was not "advanced" enough - I don't think it fully discharges the batteries before recharging them, for example.

I hope my new batteries and charger will work better. Their brand is GP.

Both the new and old batteries and chargers can be seen in "Battle of the batteries", BTW. ;)

[danidabi]

My new batteries are working great. I've gotten at least 500 pics out of them. I thought they would have died yesterday but they went through a whole day of shooting plus the 200 pics taken in the past few weeks.

[de8212]

I just bought some energizers from home depto on sunday (had a gift card so they were "free"). They are 2500 mAh and charge in 8.5 hrs. One thing I liked about them is that they said they can't be damaged if you charge them for too long.
But my real question is approximately how many pics can be taken with them? I realize there are various factors (flash, LCD, etc.) but does anyone have a rough #?
Also what would the standby time be? Say I didn't even use the camera after I fully charged them. Would they trickle down slow/fast?

With the included charger can I charge other brand batteries without any issues?

THanks.

[drama]

You will get about 500 shots with a fully charged battery set
You can charge other batteries of the same mah rating in the charger
There will be charge loss over time if kept unused, if youare not using the Camera for a prolonged period, removing the batteries is a good idea
Leaks happen rarely & can be devastating

[sHanzek]

I have been using the Ray-o-vac 15minute quick charge batteries. But now they are being discontinued, so for the time being I've been buying some spares on clearance - about $9 for 4 AA's. I have two chargers, and a car adapter. I shoot jr. high basketball games, maybe 50 photos per game, all with flash. Between games I switch batteries and plug the used ones back into the charger. About once a month I'll put them all into cheap dollar-tree flashlights and run them totally down. As long as I don't drop them on the hard floor, they hold up pretty nicely. But drop them just once, and they are dead...
For backups I like the ever-ready titaniums from Sam's Club. I think you can get 3 or 4 4pks for under $15, and they last forever. And when I do need them, I get pretty good life out of them.
Steve
S2-IS, A-620

[JimBollman]

I have carried Energizer Lithiums as my back up batteries for years. 10+ year shelf life so you don't have to shuffle sets of batteries. For the last 2 years I have used them as primary and backup. A set last long enough with my off and on shooting that it wasn't worth the effort to keep a set of rechargeable ready.

Anybody tried the new "Hybrio ULSD" NiMH AA rechargeable batteries? They claim to still hold 90% charge after 6 months. For $14 I'm tempted to try them and maybe go back to my old mode.

http://www.greenbatteries.com/hybrionimhaa.html

Jim...

[JC_PHOTOGRAPHY]

I Got 12 Duracell Rechargeable 2650mah Batteries 1 Set Of Four Last 1 Day Continus Uasge:)