AA Battery Help Needed

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tdgeek

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#165681 17-Feb-2015 10:08

I have an Olympus SP690Z or similar, (its not with me right now).

I used to use this, and quite a capable non dSLR. My 16yo daughter is now using it from time to time, and she now has a photography class

Back in the day I used rechargeables, purple ones from Jaycar, 2500 mAH I think.

I had trouble with the rechargeaabels after a while, so I was using disposables from time to time, and they didnt work, camera would start, take a pic, no flash, and it wouydl turn off. I eventually found it it was the battery type, cannot recall details. I got some disposables the other day, they also do not work. Energiser High drain The ones that did were alkaline Duracell Ultra, although on Googling, Alkaline arent ideal? Or are they not ideal but better than whatever the other disposable type is?

Can I ask for recomendations on disposables? She took 3 pics then it turned off, indicating not enough power

The recharger issue I had is that they seemed not to charge after a while. I didnt use them heaps, and occasionally the usage was well spaced. I see lithium ion AA rechargeables are now the go, is that correct? The charger I had was not intuitive, it didnt really indicate when it was discharging

I'd like to ask for recommendatiion on rechargeable battery type and brand, or required tech specs, and also a good, solid fair priced charger, or will any do these days?

Cheers Id like to put this battery thing to bed and her just use it as I used to

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#1240625 17-Feb-2015 10:23

Hi - yes, I believe that you'll generally find that digital cameras are unlike other devices that may take AA batteries - they are a huge draw on power and do require particular batteries. I've found that nickel metal hydride batteries work well in cameras (Ni-MH).

Someone else may be able to give you specifics on battery types & chargers, but I think that Maha brand chargers are good and Panasonic Eneloop batteries seem very good as they hold their charge well when not being used.

Cheers,
Mike

Photographer/Videographer clickmedia.nz

tdgeek

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#1240667 17-Feb-2015 10:43

clicknz: Hi - yes, I believe that you'll generally find that digital cameras are unlike other devices that may take AA batteries - they are a huge draw on power and do require particular batteries. I've found that nickel metal hydride batteries work well in cameras (Ni-MH).

Someone else may be able to give you specifics on battery types & chargers, but I think that Maha brand chargers are good and Panasonic Eneloop batteries seem very good as they hold their charge well when not being used.

Cheers. NiMh, I thought those were memory losers, but the eneloop seems excellent. Hopefully they are available here easily in Pro or Normal or if normal is ok. In fact I do recall seeing that word at Countdown the other day when I got the Energisers.

I'm sure i got told to sue Alkaline, maybe it was more the type of battery that mattered. Life is hard when I have to post to ask abiout AA batteries!! Hopefully Timmay and other photography experts can throw in some comments as well

timmmay

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#1240684 17-Feb-2015 11:13

Eneloop AA are worth looking at. Alternately lithium disposables. There's another rechargable battery chemistry that's higher voltage, but it can burn cameras out, it's nickle based from memory.

tdgeek

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#1240690 17-Feb-2015 11:24

timmmay: Eneloop AA are worth looking at. Alternately lithium disposables. There's another rechargable battery chemistry that's higher voltage, but it can burn cameras out, it's nickle based from memory.

Lithium disposables seemed very good, are they easily available here?
Would the normal Eneloop rechargeable be sufficient, or the Pro?

I will get her a set of rechargeables, maybe two sets if they have a long shelf life.

tdgeek

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#1240695 17-Feb-2015 11:25

And if I used the higher drain variety, they are ok to use in other devices that are not high drain?

timmmay

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#1240716 17-Feb-2015 11:49

tdgeek:
timmmay: Eneloop AA are worth looking at. Alternately lithium disposables. There's another rechargable battery chemistry that's higher voltage, but it can burn cameras out, it's nickle based from memory.

Lithium disposables seemed very good, are they easily available here?
Would the normal Eneloop rechargeable be sufficient, or the Pro?

I will get her a set of rechargeables, maybe two sets if they have a long shelf life.

tdgeek: And if I used the higher drain variety, they are ok to use in other devices that are not high drain?

You can buy lithium in supermarkets or hardware stores I think. Eneloop standard is fine, no idea what the pro model even is - they have higher capacity model which won't last as long. White ones are good. High drain means high maximum current can be supplied, fine in low drain devices.

A good charger is key to keeping batteries healthy. Maha chargers are great, C9000 is awesome as it has break in and reports on cells and has all available functions, C801D is good with fewer functions but most things you need.

dolsen

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#1240718 17-Feb-2015 11:52

tdgeek:
timmmay: Eneloop AA are worth looking at. Alternately lithium disposables. There's another rechargable battery chemistry that's higher voltage, but it can burn cameras out, it's nickle based from memory.

Lithium disposables seemed very good, are they easily available here?
Would the normal Eneloop rechargeable be sufficient, or the Pro?

I will get her a set of rechargeables, maybe two sets if they have a long shelf life.

I think the issue is the high current draw from powering the flash. I used to have a camera that would eat normal energizer batteries like they were nothing. Moving to nickel metal hydride batteries solved the issue as the high current draw did not phase them. Lithium should also work well, however, the cost of lithium batteries is quite high so would not be a good investment. You would be better buying a few sets of rechargable ni-mh batteries and using those. More environmentally friendly as well.

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tdgeek

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#1240751 17-Feb-2015 12:16

timmmay:
tdgeek:
timmmay: Eneloop AA are worth looking at. Alternately lithium disposables. There's another rechargable battery chemistry that's higher voltage, but it can burn cameras out, it's nickle based from memory.

Lithium disposables seemed very good, are they easily available here?
Would the normal Eneloop rechargeable be sufficient, or the Pro?

I will get her a set of rechargeables, maybe two sets if they have a long shelf life.

tdgeek: And if I used the higher drain variety, they are ok to use in other devices that are not high drain?

You can buy lithium in supermarkets or hardware stores I think. Eneloop standard is fine, no idea what the pro model even is - they have higher capacity model which won't last as long. White ones are good. High drain means high maximum current can be supplied, fine in low drain devices.

A good charger is key to keeping batteries healthy. Maha chargers are great, C9000 is awesome as it has break in and reports on cells and has all available functions, C801D is good with fewer functions but most things you need.

Tks muchly for the info, I'll probably get Eneloop rechargeables, and Ill look for a Maha C9000 charger

timmmay

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#1240752 17-Feb-2015 12:17

The reason I suggested lithium instead of just NiMH is I think they're a higher voltage, which some fussy electronics work better on.

tdgeek

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#1240757 17-Feb-2015 12:20

dolsen:
tdgeek:
timmmay: Eneloop AA are worth looking at. Alternately lithium disposables. There's another rechargable battery chemistry that's higher voltage, but it can burn cameras out, it's nickle based from memory.

Lithium disposables seemed very good, are they easily available here?
Would the normal Eneloop rechargeable be sufficient, or the Pro?

I will get her a set of rechargeables, maybe two sets if they have a long shelf life.

I think the issue is the high current draw from powering the flash. I used to have a camera that would eat normal energizer batteries like they were nothing. Moving to nickel metal hydride batteries solved the issue as the high current draw did not phase them. Lithium should also work well, however, the cost of lithium batteries is quite high so would not be a good investment. You would be better buying a few sets of rechargable ni-mh batteries and using those. More environmentally friendly as well.

The Energizer was actually for other stuff the other day, mainly controller batteries, then at last minute yesterday she said camera was out of batteries. But I got 3 seconds notice, not bad for a teen

But yes, I'll get Enelpp rechargeables, I like the long life charge they have these days thats pretty darn cool.

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#1241074 17-Feb-2015 19:32

Is there a local source for the C9000 charger?

freitasm

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#1241078 17-Feb-2015 19:45

I searched for the Maha chargers on Amazon: the most expensive ones are fullfilled by Amazon, the cheaper ones by third party sellers. Will probably get one as our rechargeable ones have only been used on a cheap Energizer charger...

There are some Eneloop on MightyApe, but it seems Dick Smith lists then cheaper - currently they have an Eneloop 8-battery pack for the price of four pack, so worth it.

timmmay

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#1241088 17-Feb-2015 20:10

Got mine from ecobatteries, years ago now.

tdgeek

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#1241089 17-Feb-2015 20:13

freitasm: I searched for the Maha chargers on Amazon: the most expensive ones are fullfilled by Amazon, the cheaper ones by third party sellers. Will probably get one as our rechargeable ones have only been used on a cheap Energizer charger...

There are some Eneloop on MightyApe, but it seems Dick Smith lists then cheaper - currently they have an Eneloop 8-battery pack for the price of four pack, so worth it.

Tks for the URLs. I see ecobatteries.co.nz has them, $89 and 4 packs aren't bad for the 2400 or 2700 mAH.

Or Eneloop charger pack, designed for, if that matters.

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#1241092 17-Feb-2015 20:22

And he's Paremata based. Might get the charger from them.

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