Maha ~ Mh-c204f Charger

[NIKKOR]

I've been using this charger for about a year and a half now without problem. It will charge 2 or 4 batteries at a time. It also quik charges -- 4 AA's about 4 ~ 5 hours from "dead". Travels well and takes up very little space.

[SSonnentag]

After reading a few reviews of the MAHA MH-C204F charger and Powerex 1800 mAh batteries I decided to buy 4 chargers and 16 batteries. I just leave the batteries in the chargers all the time so they are always ready when I need a set. Supposedly the 24 mA trickle charge current won't harm the batteries no matter how long they stay in the charger. We'll see. :)

Shawn

[Lita]

Hi, I just bought this camera and am getting acquainted with it. I was out shooting yesterday and noticed the low-battery indicator in the back display screen. I mistook this to mean the *lithium* batteries and went out and bought a bunch of them. When I read the manual, I discovered that this was the indicator for the *AA* batteries. I followed the advice of the technical person at the store where I got it, and bought some rechargeable Ni-Mh batteries. I read in website review that the lithium battery powers the pop-up flash only. Is this true? I never use the pop-up flash because I am a professional shooter and have no use for it. Does this mean I can just ditch the lithium batteries altogether? Thanks...

[dienkwik]

Lita:

I don't have an S2 yet, but from what I gather from reading forums and reviews of the S2 is that the lithium batteries (CR123s) are used to not only power the flash but also to perform auto focus, and a bunch of other things.

If the CR123s are not there I believe the AA batteries will take over, but this results in the AA batteries becoming depleted fast.

Also, I believe Fuji does not recommend running without the Cr123 except in emergencies.

This is one area of the S2 which seems kind of awkward because you now have to have 2 sets of spare batteries available at all times. :(

Dien.

[Lita]

Oh, okay, so the lithium batteries are necessary after all, even if I never use the pop-up flash. Well, thanks for letting me know this, and having to have two spare sets of batteries is no problem, it's a small inconvenience which is no hassle. Not having to buy film and deal with labs definitely makes up for this!

[rwniel]

Hi Lita,

Initially, I was pretty disappointed by the fact that the 'S2' requires two battery types for general use. But then I did a search online and found sources for the CR123A lithium batteries which mean you can replace the set of 2 for around US$5 (UKP3-30). If you buy them in bulk you can get them even cheaper.
http://www.botachtactical.com/toscr123a3vo.html

There is also a rechargable CR-123A battery and charger available but it is relatively expensive compared to the above option and they do not last as long so you would probably need two sets as well. Thus it's debatable whether this is a worthwhile option in practice.
http://www.2cr5.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Shopping_Rechargeable_CR123A_Batteries_and_ Chargers_2.html

I do think it would have been enterprising of Fuji to at the very least come up with a dual AA/CR123A battery charger and supply these instead to make things a little simpler for us users - but yes, that would have given us less to talk about. :-)

Regards

Robert

[zig81]

I thought that this horse was beaten to death with the S1. So it takes 2 different, readily-available-off-the-shelf batteries. The first time that I was without my charger and had left other camera (the one with the proprietary Li-Ion battery) in the sun, the battery was dead, dead, dead. If that happens with my S1 or S2, all I have to do is find a Walmart, Walgreens, Eckerd, etc. Spending an extra $15-$20 and getting the pictures I want is worth it.

[Lita]

Thanks for your replies, people. Yesterday I was out shooting with a set of fully charged AA Ni-Mh batts. Because these are expected to last a lot longer than alkalines, I neglected to bring along the second set of Ni-Mh AAs.

I was in the middle of shooting when the AAs died again!This was just a test shoot, luckily! I was shooting on *Program* with the Nikon flash set to *TTL*.

I switched to the pop-up flash as a last-resort and the photos were passable for my test shoot, but since my next location was Times Square at night, I had time to buy AA batteries the moment we got there.

I guess every photographer should know that you should always bring an extra set or two of batteries to every shoot!

:(

[Lita]

Thanks Robert for the advice on cheaper sources for batteries. I bought four Lithium batteries last week for $7 each! It was nearly $30 with sales tax. Wish I had known sooner...well, at least I'm well armed for the next few shoots.:cool: