Battery Question

[CruznMooses]

Ok and everyone's advice My Canon Speedlite 430EX II showed up today (thank god I leave tomorrow). So now the question I have is; A) should I use 2450 mAh Nickle Metal Hydride rechargables or B) should I use Energizer Lithium Batteries or C) Good old Kirkland AA's (cheap but I would have to carry more of them. HELP!!!! Brent

[Donald&Margaret]

I would take the rechargables as the primary, but bring along a 4 pack of regular AA's as a back-up.

[pilotdane]

I've had the same pair of Kirkland batteries in my 430 since last October (come to think of it I meant to put new ones in). If you use it a lot I would say get the rechargeables. The flash will recycle faster and over the long run rechargeables will be less expensive but unfortunatley it means you have to pack yet another charger. Especially when traveling I use disposables. I think the expensive lithium ones cycle the flash faster but even standard alkaline batteries work fine for me. Once the cycle time gets annoying I change them.

[unklez]

Ok and everyone's advice My Canon Speedlite 430EX II showed up today (thank god I leave tomorrow). So now the question I have is; A) should I use 2450 mAh Nickle Metal Hydride rechargables or B) should I use Energizer Lithium Batteries or C) Good old Kirkland AA's (cheap but I would have to carry more of them. HELP!!!! Brent

 

Rechargeable 2450 mAh NIMH are excellent and usually last last about 200-300 pictures. Unless you take more than that, you should be able to work off just a set of batteries. Keep a spare set in your pocket. Recharge them in the night and you are good to go the next day. Buy a small charger from WALMART OR SEARS. Costs $10-$15.

[snowbird1]

I use the Kirkland AA batteries in my SD600 and they last a long time especially for just occasional flash use. If you are shooting a wedding or planning on taking tons of shots in a short period maybe you may want the others for a primary.

 

Oh, remember to remove the batteries out of the flash when you get home if you aren't going to be using it for a while.

 

Good luck and have a great trip!

[PopPop3]

I vote for the rechargeables. I use them in my Canon 580EX and 580EX II and they work very well.

 

I've recently started using the Eneloop AA batteries, which are the new type of rechargeables that hold a charge when not used for some time. I like the fact that I can charge them, then leave them for a month or more and find that they've retained over 90% of their charge......which is not the case with normal rechargeables.

 

You can find them at Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=batteries+eneloop&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=3169368711&ref=pd_sl_6wudsfzpph_b) and other places (Google Eneloop batteries).

 

But whether Eneloops or regular rechargeables, I prefer them to disposable AA batteries b/c they give me faster recycling, more flashes, and they're cheaper in the long run.