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I need to take a close look at this one as I'm having a problem with my batteries and or camera. I have 3 sets of rechargeable batteries, none of which will work any more in my camera. They haven't been used enough for them to stop working.

http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/BATTS/BATTS.HTM
The Great Battery Shootout!
by Dave Etchells

The Short of It

This is one of the more technical articles on the site, and almost all readers will be interested in "which batteries are best". For those readers, here's the bottom line, the results of over two years of off-and-on battery testing:

* After testing a number of the newer 2300 mAh-labeled cells, the Energizer 2300s are the current leaders for total power, although the Powerex 2300s run a close second, with only 2% lower capacity. Now that I've revived my battery testing program, I have a number of other cells in-house and currently undergoing test, and hope to post another update in a month or so, with results from cells with labeled capacities as high as 2500 mAh. (I have to admit that I'm more than a little skeptical about some of these, we'll see how they hold up through multiple charge/discharge cycles.)

* I still haven't gotten around to the extensive charger test I've been wanting to do for so long, the time pressure from more mainline projects has just been too great. (I'm getting a little tired of saying this every time I do an update to the battery shootout page, but the battery/charger testing is unfortunately little more than an unfunded hobby that I have to squeeze in around my primary work of camera/scanner testing.) I did manage to look fairly closely at the new Maha C-204W, with the result that it has become my favorite charger, displacing my longtime favorite the Maha C-204. The big advantage of the C-204W is that it uses a modified charging profile (Maha tells me that it's based on my own findings about the need to "top off" cells after a rapid charge cycle), that does the best job of any charger I've seen to date at cramming the last bit of charge into batteries left in it overnight. Overall, it still seems that chargers can charge fast, completely, and gently (low battery temperatures), but you can only pick two of the three characteristics. The C-204W gets around this limitation with a "topping off" cycle after the fast charge cycle has been completed, and has the added advantage of needing no "wall wart" power adapter. Another excellent charger seems to be the Lightning Pack 4000N from RipVan100, which is more in the fast/gentle camp (although its overnight trickle charge does do a fairly good job of topping-off batteries).
cont...

Durgan · Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 11:22 pm Post subject:

I suspect a lot of batteries are made in the same factory and simply have a differeet paint job.

The LCD on digital cameras are a real battery drain.

Looking at the chart all batteries would seem to be more than acceptable if over 100 Ah. There are too many variables to attribute too much meaning to the variation in values given. This means a few repetitions of the testing would have to be repeated to get meaningful results.

The only solution if AA's are used is to have many extras in the camera case. I use to carry a 6 volt lead acid battery plugged into the camera, but it still was a hassle.

My new SLR D80 Nikon had a propriety battery and it last for a very long time, but I still carry a spare. These are expensive.

As an observation, I often wonder how many millions of these used batteries are thrown in landfills? These contain some harmful chemicals.