a couple of notes on NiMH batteries. first is that many brands have high self-discharge rates. you really need to charge them the night before at the most and the morning of your shoot is better. cheaper battery chargers have charging circuits for pairs of batteries. that means that they charge until the pair are "charged". frequently, that means that one of the batteries reaches full charge first and the other isn't fully charged in a pair. during use, the not-quite-fully charged battery drains first. out of a pack of 4 then, the weakest battery is the limiting factor and because it never really gets fully charged, it gets weaker and weaker in comparison to the other 4. that makes the set look like it is wearing out. you need to get a charger that does each battery individually to get the maximum useful time. it's pretty simple to tell which these are. they are the ones with 4 charging indicator LEDs instead of 2 and don't have a 2/4 switch.
i have been experimenting with different brands of NiMH batteries and there is a lot of variation between brands with respect to self-discharge rate and how close they are to their claimed capacity. the Lenmar 2400mAh ones i have seem to be the worst. the Duracell 2050mAh ones seem to be the best. the PowerEx 2100mAh ones seem to be pretty good too. i'm undecided on the Sanyo/GE 2200mAh ones. Sanyo and Duracell manufacture their own. Varta does too. i don't know who else does. all NiMH cells need to go through full charge/deep discharge cycle between 3-5 times before they reach full capacity. nothing seems to affect their self discharge rate. i always carry a set of CR-V5s as backup. they have a very long shelf life and deliver on the order of 1000 shots on CF cards. Herb... ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tanya Mayer Photography" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, July 18, 2004 1:03 AM Subject: RE: *ist D and Power sources > > Shaun, if anyone *has* come up with such a solution - I WANT IT! Try using > the *istD with the Hitachi microdrive, no battery grip, and see just how > long the batteries last! I go through 7 sets per wedding, and usually end > up chucking in a set of Duracell's just to "see me through" the tail end...
