holding charge

[daryll]

Hi all.
How long would you expect a set of branded 2300 AA batteries to hold thier charge ,after a full charge cycle.
I ask this because I charger up a number of batteries (brand new) 3 weeks ago ,only to find today I got one picture on the S2 ,then the batteries were dead :confused:.

Cheers.

Daryll

[Tom Nolle]

I never did a scientific test, but I usually charge all my 3 sets up and then use them as needed. Sometimes that could be 6 weeks later, and I've never had a set die after just a few shots.

Tom

[ballroom_boy]

The length of time a battery holds its charge is dependent on the brand/quality of the battery and the charger used, IMHO. Some manufacturers will also "overrate" the capacity of their batteries... I once bought some "cheap" 2100mAh AA's from eBay only to find out my 18 month old (at the time) 1800mAh Powerex batteries lasted longer - not to forget, the cheap eBay AA's won't hold a charge after 8 months of use. What a waste of $$$. :troutsmac The Powerex batteries are still going strong and they are over 2 years old.

I have used my 2300 mAh Powerex AA's after letting them set sit for 4 weeks, and I got about 300 photos from them. Not bad if you ask me. :righton:

So, IMHO, get the best batteries & charger you can afford (as you can tell, I love MAHA's Powerex batteries and chargers) - NiMH batteries do lose their charge (about 1-2.5% per day I am told) - some just perform better than others.

My 0.02

[proberts]

Hi all.
How long would you expect a set of branded 2300 AA batteries to hold thier charge ,after a full charge cycle.
I ask this because I charger up a number of batteries (brand new) 3 weeks ago ,only to find today I got one picture on the S2 ,then the batteries were dead :confused:.

Cheers.

Daryll

NiMH batteries lose some of their charge each day. The good news is that it's not harmful to charge them up again, unlike old NiCDs that'd have "memory effect" from topping off and not fully discharging. Opinions vary as to if you should leave them on a trickle charger until you're ready to use them or not. I wouldn't, I'd just charge them every two weeks- you can do that for ~20-40 years before you need new ones!

It should take one to two months to discharge the batteries if they're laying around *however* new NiMH's don't get optimal until you've charged them 5 or 6 times. So, you've probably got ones that'll go about a month until full discharge.

Paul

[sandman]

What you do need Daryll is a charger with a discharge function as well . and then do a full discharge after every 8-10 charges ,that way you'll condition the batteries and give them a longer life . Try Maplins they do a really good one .

Brian

[proberts]

What you do need Daryll is a charger with a discharge function as well . and then do a full discharge after every 8-10 charges ,that way you'll condition the batteries and give them a longer life . Try Maplins they do a really good one .

Brian

That was true of NiCDs, but I don't think a discharge does anything for NiMHs. Top-off charges should be just fine, as there's no "memory effect" with NiMHs, which was the reason for a full discharge cycle on NiCDs.

Paul

[frankgh]

Although there is no memory effect, it appears that NiMH do benefit from conditioning. Or, it might be a marketing scam but I don't think so :)
http://www.thomasdistributing.com/maha-powerex-mh-c204w-nimh-battery-charger.htm

[proberts]

Although there is no memory effect, it appears that NiMH do benefit from conditioning. Or, it might be a marketing scam but I don't think so :)
http://www.thomasdistributing.com/maha-powerex-mh-c204w-nimh-battery-charger.htm

http://www.thomas-distributing.com/maha-educate-batteries.htm

Q: How often should I condition my batteries?

Generally speaking, NiMH batteries do not suffer from the "memory effect" and thus do not require conditioning. Nevertheless, to ensure top performance, conditioning is recommended at once for every ten charges. For Nickel Cadmium (NiCD) batteries, conditioning is recommended every time you charge your batteries.

Sounds like marketing to me- but I haven't found any real data anywhere yet...

Paul

[sandman]

Why is it then , whenever we buy a product with rechargable batteries , you are advised to fully discharge the batteries for the first couple of times ?
When you do this , the battery life increases each time up to about 3 charges when it seems optamised.

Brian

[daryll]

Hi All.
Well I got the problem sorted ,it was nothing to do with the AA`s ,it was the CR123`s.
They were dead as a dodo ,and I never use the onboard flash ,so they must be powering something else AF maybe??.
In fact I took out the CR123`s and turned the focus control to "M" and it was fine ,turn the switch to "C" or "S" and all I got was "err" on the LCD.
This maybe due to the Sigma lens.

:cheers:

Daryll

[jhawk1000]

My Nikon D1 did benefit from the initial charge--discharge--charge--discharge--charge cycle. From then on, I kept one battery marked and never discharged it again and did the recommended discharge after 3 charges on the other two. Guess what folks, they gave almost identical number of shots.

When I bought my Powerex 1800 Mah batteries over two years ago, they did not require conditioning and they are still strong and more than usable. I bought Lenmar 2100s and they seem to discharge more rapidly than the Powerex even if just sitting unused. I also have some Eveready 1800s, some other brand (Nexcell) and they do very well without discharging fast while stored. I suspect the Lenmars are just not good batteries. They seem to last a long time if used right after charging.

My Nikon D70 does not have a charger capable of conditioning the batteries, or at least I have not found how to do it. I suspect the newer batteries need less conditioning than the 5 or 6 year old technology of the D1series. By the way, I bought some En-EL3 batteries for the D70 off of ebay from a vendor with the name "orphanbiker" for $10.99 (he has raised them now to $11.99 with $3.00 shipping) and to tell the truth, thiese batteries outperform the Nikon original battery in # of shots per charge. I suspect at $11.99 for a rechargeable Li-Ion that the need to condition might be moot. I have had these batteries before I even got my D70 since I did not want to wait to shoot until the battery charged :)

Mel

[Merle bleu]

Hi,

The small print near the end of the manual says that the S2 uses some power even when turned off.
It is also mentionned that the NiMh lose some power even when not used.
Regarding "memory" and contrary to the accepted belief, NiMhs built up memory when recharged from a partialy charged level. It is not as bad as NiCad, but it is there. The S2 manual mentions it as other manufacturers like Sony do.
We have at the office a $5000.00 (thousands) Sony charger for TV-ENG cameras batteries. It charges Lithium and NiMh alike and it has a built-in automatic discharger that brings the power to ALMOST zero before recharging; it operates only when we charge NiMh batteries.
I have a tendency to believe Sony when they take that precaution for $500.00 a piece batteries.

Regards,

Claude M.

Hi all.
How long would you expect a set of branded 2300 AA batteries to hold thier charge ,after a full charge cycle.
I
Cheers.

Daryll

[S_Leeper]

As so many have experienced, when the cr123's go down the whole camera seems to quit working...

When it comes to the AA's I have ended up with at least 20-30, mostly because I have two boys who use LOTS of AA's. Even with the 1600's I got from Toy's R Us way back when they seem to have no problem taking a full day's worth of photos*. I do carry at least two back up sets of AA's & one back of cr123's (as I do ocassionally use the on-board flash).

* A full day for me might approach 100 if I'm at a party, or some other pic taking event. If I let my boy's shoot (like when we went to the zoos yesterday) then the count zooms & one becomes thankful that S2 has a small buffer, else they could shoot dozens within a minute.

p.s. I started marking my batteries over a year ago, as I suspected (then confirmed) that some batteries tend to quit working well (even when others from the same pack are still doing fine). When I get such a battery I put them in a small flashlight to do a full discharge, then recharge, for at least three cycles. I'd say about 1/3 have been granted a reprieve from the recycle bin...

[easternherp]

I have just had a few battery problems too. I just did a wedding and had a set of fully charged 2300s in the camera. After 10 shots over the period of 30 mins the batts went down. I stuck a set of Duracel in and got a further 20 shots over the period of 30 mins. I then stuck a set of 1700s in and they lasted for another 10 shots and also a download to the laptop and have charge.
I use a fast chrger on the rechargeables which I think I will ditch as I feel this is burning out the batts.
How can I make normal batts last longer. I tend to shoot in RAW and have the LCD preview on. If I turn it off, how many more shots should I get.

[visagephoto]

Hi

I've had my S2 for about three weeks now, during which time I have taken approx, 250 shots and played around, to familliarise myself with the camera.

Used it Friday eve, packed it away, Sat morn, the CR123A's were dead so I removed them and have so far taken around 30 shots using just the AA 2300MaH Ni-Mh rechargeables. The camera seem to function fully without the CR123's (I don't use the built in flash)

At around £10.00 per pair of CR123's are they realy neccessary? or should I just leave the chamber empty and use the AA's. What life expectancy should I get from the CR123's and what functional differences should should I notice when using them.

Alan

[ballroom_boy]

I have used my S2's without the CR123's at times... the 2300mAh Powerex AA's will last between 80-150 shots before I get the low battery indicator (I use postview on the rear LCD). All functions seem to work fine - AF is a bit slow when the AA's run down.

When I use the CR123's, I can get between 400-600 shots from the AA's. Means I don't have to swap them out as often (important at a wedding). I buy my CR123's from Botach Tactical for $US 1.00 each, so I use them now as I like my S2's having all of the juice they need. It also means only swapping the AA's twice during a wedding.