Differences between digital SLR battery figures

[PastyBoy]

Hi All

Will post in the Photography section too but maybe someone techy enough will know:

Rather than buying a new battery grip for our Canon 1000D (£130) my other half decided it was easier to buy and charge 2 new batteries (£15), and store them in the bag in case the original dies while in use.

They have arrived today but are rated at 1200mAh rather than the OEM which is 1080mAh.

Are the new ones better or worse??!!

Very confused as "some designed" for purpose AA's purchased for a instant digi cam are rated at 2500mAh.

Help!!

[Mouse]

1200 is better than 1080. Basically the higher the number the better.

2500mAh are better again. HTH

[PastyBoy]

Thanks Mouse but better how? :confused:

Do they hold more power or disipate slower meaning they lasting longer?

or are they just able to handle more intensive use such as digital camera/PSP?

Not really worried but no less confused

[Mouse]

The higher the number, more pictures you will be able to obtain and they last longer inbetween charges. I am not that technical but always get the higher rated batteries and pay more just to get a longer life.

Just give in, the other half was right.Lol.

HTH

[anonymouse]

Point to remember is that NIMH AA rechargeable batteries lose around 2% of their charge per day, IIRC, so be sure if 'the shoot' is of some importance make sure the backup batteries are also charged up fully.

I used to use them so had read up a bit on them (but have forgotten most of it now I'm on LiOn) and used a charger that 'conditioned' i.e. could discharge them fully, as they do still suffer from memory effect to some extent.

Google around and read up

[Xavier]

To carry on Val's point, NiMH batteries do lose charge, but the newer ones out there have fancy technology which allows them to stay charged even over a longer period of time. I picked up some fancy rechargeable Sony AAs from work, and they claim to remain 90% charged over one year, so for those of us that do use rechargeable AAs, might be worth checking these out.

As Val says, nothing worse than having a "backup" set of batteries you haven't used some time and then find they're dead when you really need them

edit: but lithium ion batteries shouldn't suffer from "leakage" and they also don't suffer from "memory effect" where each time you charge them you don't get a full charge unless you really drain them first. So as far as the battery packs for your camera go, you should be OK. But it's not a bad idea to cycle through all your batteries. I.e. don't keep the "spare" batteries as "spare only" batteries. Do use them once your "main" ones have been used up to keep them cycled every now and then

[PastyBoy]

Thanks All

Seems the saving (and for once eBay) could be worth it!!

All 3 Li-ion batteries will be charged before a day/weekend out shooting pics so that should avoid the horror scenario of having flat spare batteries.

Here's hoping that Canon have fixed the fault that made it die for no reason!

[VWD]

Don't know how many batteries you take out , and noticed that you mention NiMH 2000mAH -have you looked at an in car charger - e.g. Maplin code N40CX ---£9.99 with two NIMH 2000mAH batteries -plugs into lighter socket .

[Babs]

Bigger number always equals better, remember this!

ManLogic™

[PastyBoy]

Don't know how many batteries you take out , and noticed that you mention NiMH 2000mAH -have you looked at an in car charger - e.g. Maplin code N40CX ---£9.99 with two NIMH 2000mAH batteries -plugs into lighter socket .

camera batteries are the ones i was questioning and they are Li-ion

The NiMH ones for the instant cam i gerenally fully charge 8 just in case!

Bigger number always equals better, remember this!

ManLogic™

I was confused when the cheap eBay batteres had higher numbers on than the expensive OEM one but I did think that was the case Babs but needed some other men to confirm

[joenitro]

Why don't buy one of these?

Battery Grip for Canon EOS 450D 1000D XSi BG-E5 +Remote on eBay, also, For Canon, Digital Camera Batteries, Photography (end time 27-Apr-09 23:58:42 BST)

[PastyBoy]

cos the only ones she found were £130 and she's scared of spending large amount on eBay "cos it's dodgy"!

We'll see how we get on at the weekend and go from there.

Thanks though matey

[Xavier]

But third party batteries from ebay can be just as dodgy if not more. They're far more likely to have a claimed capacity far higher than what they really hold