MAHA 2700mAh NiMH Batts: What Have You Heard?
I am hearing that these are very good rechargeable batteries. Any of you guys have experience with them?2700mAh is very high capacity for a AA NiMH battery, so they could be a very good choice for strobes.
Please let us know via the comments section of your experiences with them.
Here is a source to get them, if you are interested. They also have a great selection of rechargeable batts at good prices, and do not jack you on the shipping.
(Thanks, Alan.)
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by David, at 1:44 PM.
18 Comments:
I ONLY use Powerex batteries and I always get them from thomas-distributing. So thumbs up from me. My best set right now is still the 2400 mah and they work just fine so don't feel the need to get the best (most expensive) unless you know you need it.
Ditto re thomas-distributing. I've ordered from them with no problems at all. Recommended vendor. Can't speak to the 2700mAh batteries either, but the 2500's are great.
Good choices on both counts. NiMH batteries have a limited life (measured in charge/discharge cycles) and they self-discharge at a fairly high rate (some sources claim as much as 15 to 20% in the first 24 hours and then 1 to 2% per day after that).
Given this, I think it makes sense to buy the biggest batteries that your budget allows -- you'll have more power available when you use them and a bit more time between recharge cycles, which leads to a longer battery life, which means lower overall battery cost.
Slightly OT -- but, I have found the Sunpak 1600 mah to outperform all the increaseed capacity batteries I have bought. Energizer 2500 mah, "Digital" 2000 mah, and the no-name green wrapper 2000 mah.
Looks like I should consider a set of these for next season's basketball fun.
Regards,
RES
Here's some background information on batteries that may interesting.
I might be daft with this but .. these are only 1.2 Volts & ¿ isn't voltage the important bit with reacharge time ? & the SB800 cycles slow enough as it is ..
NiMH will recycle much faster than alkalines.
Recycle time has more to do with current than with voltage. The internal impedance of NiMH cells is lower than alkalines and so they are able to charge the strobe capacitors faster. Also, NiMH cells have a much flatter voltage curve. They will be at 1.2 volts long after an alkaline cell has dropped from 1.5 volts to well below 1.2.
Thanks for the clarification "Recycle time has more to do with current than with voltage. The internal impedance ..."
I have been using lithiums left over from my F5 ...
In the past when I have used NiMH battery they tended to explode or deform & leak after a bit is this still an issue?
I've been happy with the 2500s as well. I picked up a dozen of those and a RipVan100 charger and have no complaints.
I use rayovac 2200 mah 15 mintue rechargable bat's. I use 4 vivitar 285's and shoot through a whole week (about 500-800 or so with the strobes) exposures with no problems. I shoot magazine work (not high paced news paper) so I have a lower shoot rate. My power settings vary from 1/16 to full power. Having them charge in 15 minutes (whether or not they fully charge in that time) is a great assest. Say I am shooting all day, at lunch with 2 chargers, I can recharge all 16 bat's in half an hour!! Can't beat that with any other rechargable system.
I have been using the same set of bat's for over a year now, no problems.
I can't find the rayovac bat's anymore, so I am thinking of changing over to either durracel or energizer 2500mah 15 minute systems. This is the only way I will go.
Something interesting that I found on the Thomas Distributing site:
Lower capacity rechargeable AA batteries -1700 up to 2000mAh mAh can be recharged up to 1000 times in overnight slow charge mode.
2100 to 2400 mAh can be recharged up to 600 to 800 times in overnight slow charge mode.
The new Higher Capacity AA 2500 mAh rechargeable batteries have greater storage capacity but can be recharged approx up to 500 times in the overnight mode.
Capacity improvement or Quick charging will always decrease the number of cycles. Most cells available on the market above 2100 mAh will provide below 1000 charge cycles.
Any of you out there got first hand experience of the new Sanyo ENELOOP NiMH batteries?
Their claim to fame is that they have a much lower self-discharge rate than present NiMH batteries, (although they do have a lower capacity at 2100 mAh)
If the claim is valid, it sure would be great knowing that you could charge up a set, and use it couple of weeks later and still have nearly fully charged batteries. I know you can keep NiMH's on trickle charge, but it would convenient to have them in the flash and ready to go.
By the way, just got my Nikon SD-8A battery pack, and with freshly charged 2500 mAh batteries, the SB800 flash recycles in Full Manual in about 1.3 - 1.5 seconds! Fantastic!
Mike
Beware the quick chargers. Heat is the greatest enemy of the batteries. If you blast the battery with high current for set period (no smart cutoff), the batteries get hot. Unless you absolutely need to quickly recharge the battery, a smaller current will be easier on them.
I bought a few (supposedly) smart chargers and most of them made the batteries rather hot. I finally found La Crosse BC-900 charger (I have no affiliation) and I am very happy with it. It is definitely on the pricier side but it has been very reliable and useful (ability to test and condition the batteries) for the past year I used it.
As for batteries, most are manufactured by a handful of companies (Sanyo makes most) so any reputable brand should be OK. Somewhat older NiMH battery test results may give you an idea of honest capacity claims.
I've been using the Powerex 2700's for about 9 months with my Canon A610 P&S camera. The camera holds 4 AA's. The batteries, coupled with the Maha MH-C204W charger, was a definite step up from the suggested set-up from BH Photo I had been using. I can't say they're the longest lasting, or have the slowest discharge rate, or that they're simply the best batteries known to man. What I can say is that they last a LONGGGgggggggg time. The charger does it's job with no fuss and, more importantly, with no worry of having flames coming from the outlet - it never gets warm to the point of worry. Actually, it just doesn't get that warm at all. It's another of those instances where you gulp alittle at the price but never complain afterwords. Thomas-Distributing was the vendor I used and the transaction was timely and hassle free.
I use a lot of batteries in some radio electronics and the ACCUPOWER 2900MAH from Thomas rock. They battereis and company are highly rated in portable radio scanner circles.
I love the 2700 mAH batteries, I own about 60 of these cells and charge them with two of the MAHA 8 cell smart chargers + 2 of the MAHA 4 cell portable chargers that come with the 12v Auto Adapter for portable use...
I use them to power both my (4) SB-80DX Speedlights and my (2) Minolta 5600HS Flashes and I also use them to Power my Camera Backs with the exception of my D100 which has an issue with the AA holder that prevents it from working well.
I have had all of these batts for over 2 years now and they all still work very well, but I charge them all regularly even if they have not been used recently.
I bought these cells from Thomas Distributing, and they threw in little plastic cases that hold (4) or (8) cells each when I bought them so keeping them in groups is easy.
I never carry my 8 cell chargers on assignment, rather I put 4 cells in each flash, plus 4 in each charger and keep a plastic case with 8 cells in my belt bag. This way I have both chargers ready to charge a set of 4, but with a jot set ready to take out if need be...
Also, as a backup to my NiMH cells, I keep an 8 pack of Energizers in my Backpack Just in case there is no where to plug my chargers.
I have many times considered buying an external battery pack for my strobes, but ever since I bought my (2) Nikon F5's I have gone to powering everything off of AA's since that was the only way to run those cameras... and I have never looked back...
I have gotten over 1000 shots on my Minolta A2 with AA's in the Grip when not using the on camera flash.
and close to that with several of my Nikon backs...
Today, I shoot a pair of D200's and I have gone to using the EN-El3a batteries because they seem to last longer with (2) in the grip, but also because then I have more cells avalable for my strobes...
If I shot basketball or other fast moving sports, I would for sure have to move to an external battery, mainly for the huge capacity needed to cover an entire event without a battery change... but with the shooting I do, it is not an issue to take 60 seconds to change batteries.
Also, AA cells allow you to distribute the extra weight better as opposed to the big clunky battery box that is the Quantum or Lumadyne... and since I trek off into nature a lot...weight is a concern to me.
Great site, I have greatly enjoyed reading all of the articles and have learned a great deal about off camera flash and the lighting of many types of subject material.
Keep it up man!
RMG
I decided that I should come back and post the exact chargers that I use with these batteries in order to continue getting good service from them and enshure long lifespan...
I have from the beginning used the, MAHA C801D 8 Cell Charger, of which I own 2... and the MAHA C401FS 4 Cell Charger of which I also have 2.
These work great, and are designed to work with these high capacity cells.
I just wish MAHA made a 16 cell Charger :) as I now have nearly 100 AA Rechargables (60 2700 MaH Powercells) and that is a lot of charging!
RMG
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