Power up with Sanyo Eneloop [Technology]

Posted by Niraj Popat on Feb 15, 2010 in Technology | 4 comments

So I’m pretty excited about getting these Sanyo 2000mAh Eneloop AA rechargeable batteries through the post this morning.

According to the vast majority of the reviews found through Google Search, these batteries are meant to be amongst the very best in powering your high drain electronic devices, especially for photographic equipment such as digital camera’s and flash guns. When I read all the hype, I thought to myself “hey, that’s gotta be worth a try”.

At £7-£10 for 4, they’re not the cheapest of rechargeable batteries, but when you consider the long term potential saving, it’s worth giving it a chance.

A few years ago I purchased a large quantity of rechargeable AA batteries through ebay, supposedly rated at 2500mAh+.
They were fantastic on the first use. Infact they were pretty good even after the second and third times too. I would use the batteries till they were flat, charge them up and leave them ready for next time. However, there once came a time, when I put 4 of them in my flash gun, and the ready light wouldn’t trigger. It took around 30-40 seconds till it even gave a hint of power. I fired one shot, and that was it, they were dead. I guess what had happened, the rechargeable batteries had lost there charge while they were sitting around in the bottom of my bag.

Since then, I decided I would purchase a fresh set of batteries, for every shoot. Costco, do fantastic deals on batteries. They have their own brand Kirkland batteries which come in at around £13 for 40, or you can get 36 Duracell Plus for around £12. I prefer the Duracell batteries, they had a faster recycle time between shots.

On a typical indian, hindu/asian wedding, I can expect to drain 28-36 batteries. If the venue has higher than normal ceiling, or is very dim lit, I can easily flatten between 32-40 batteries in the space of 8 hours.

So for this year, I’ve decided to invest in these rechargeable Sanyo Eneloop batteries. They supposedly retain their charge for longer when not in use, and at the same time sustain their power when in use. Perfect for chucking into my flash guns.

I’ve bought a set of 12 of these, so I’m expecting some great things from them. I’ll come back and post a review when I’ve had some time and experience with them.

If you happen to have come across this site while on the hunt for the cheapest place to get these, checkout 7dayshop.com I got mine from here and I’ve been pretty happy with their service so far, so I can recommend them.

If you have high drain electrical devices, then perhaps these batteries might be a good place to start.