What Rechargeables for SB105?

I am considering switching from ordinary batteries to rechargeables for my SB105 Strobe. I've looked at the several posts on the main board about rechargeable batteries, as well as some of the sites that sell them.

Anybody have any recommendations on brands? Powerizer? Ultralast? Maha?

Any recommendations on mAh? 2300 enough? 2500? 2600? Prices seem comparable.

How many full power shots would you suppose I could get out of, say 2300s? At how many shots does the recycle time begin to get tedious (10 seconds or more)?

Phoenix1:

I am considering switching from ordinary batteries to rechargeables for my SB105 Strobe. I've looked at the several posts on the main board about rechargeable batteries, as well as some of the sites that sell them.

Anybody have any recommendations on brands? Powerizer? Ultralast? Maha?

Any recommendations on mAh? 2300 enough? 2500? 2600? Prices seem comparable.

How many full power shots would you suppose I could get out of, say 2300s? At how many shots does the recycle time begin to get tedious (10 seconds or more)?

Click to expand...

have you considered rechargeable AA NiMhi's?

Yes. In fact most of the posts I read say NiMH has it over LiIon and other types. My question had more to do with brand and capacity.

I don't have a 105 but have been using AA NiMh in my Ikelite MV's as well as LED flashlights and GPS's. In my MV's, recycle time went to instantaneous and they are still instantaneous after two 36 exposure rolls of film (Nikonos V). I've never really pushed them to see how far they go since 2 dives then back to shore is my usual. I'm using Maha Powerex 2000mah. From what I read the Powerex and Sanyo industrials are the best. As to what size, I'd go with the biggest I could get, especially if I was shooting digital since the potential number of flashes can be huge (1 gig card, delete as I go). Probably the most important piece is the charger. NiMh don't like heat and a charge that's too fast can fry them. Maha chargers always get high marks as well as the Accumanager 2020. I've got one of each and they work as advertised, even come with car adaptors. Check out the following links:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/BATTS/BATTS.HTM
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=79302

As to a good place to purchase:

http://www.thomas-distributing.com/

I've had good luck with Thomas, decent prices and knowledgeable people. One caveat though, be careful what you put the NiMh in. They give up gobs of power instantly which is great if the device is capable of it (strobes typically are), if not you'll let the smoke out. For grins and giggles I put them in a mini Maglite just to see how quick they'd fry it, REALLY bright for about 5 seconds then poof.

I'm using Batteries America brand NiMH 2100 mAh in my SB105. I change them after every dive to insure instantenous recycle time. I've got a Master charger that charges both NiCD and NiMH, with a discharge feature for the NiCD.

Can't tell you how much they cost me....as they were a Christmas gift last year along with my 15mm.

I do know my buddy picked them up at the regional ham operator show....he gets great bargains there on this stuff.

The website on the battery is www.batteriesamerica.com

Exactly what I was hoping to learn. Thanks a lot. I am leaning toward Maha 2500s or 2600s. But your experience (2 dives, 2 36 exposure rolls) is like mine, so that gives me some comfort that I won't have to change batteries between dives. It's enough of a pain to change the filme and (if I choose to) the lens.

I'm sure it has a lot to do w/ electrical consumption but I can fill 3 1GB cards w/ reviews using my Maha 2100's to power my Fuji S2 before I "need" to charge them. I HAVE had really poor results w/ Lenmar's NiMh's rated 200 mAh higher. Higher mAh batteries are a total trade off ; the higher the mAh, the fewer recharge cycles. Pick the battery that can get you through 1 day of shooting w/reshots. The Maha 2100's I'm still using are 3 yrs old and have seen a LOTTT ! of use. I've always used the Maha chargers with great results.

I use Duracell 2050mAH rechargeables in my Nikonos 105. I just recharge once a day. I don't know about the instantaneous cycle times holding up, but shooting raw mode on a C5050 the write time is longer than the cycle time anyway (that only takes a few of seconds with the high speed compact flash). I'll usually take 100-120 shots in a day, depending on the dives.

Phoenix1:

I am considering switching from ordinary batteries to rechargeables for my SB105 Strobe. I've looked at the several posts on the main board about rechargeable batteries, as well as some of the sites that sell them.

Anybody have any recommendations on brands? Powerizer? Ultralast? Maha?

Any recommendations on mAh? 2300 enough? 2500? 2600? Prices seem comparable.

How many full power shots would you suppose I could get out of, say 2300s? At how many shots does the recycle time begin to get tedious (10 seconds or more)?

Click to expand...

Hi Phoenix1,

I use a pair of SB105's and use a wide variety of AA NiMh batteries. They run from old 1450 mAh up to newer 2300 mAh. To be honest, all of them are sufficient for two very long dives. I was participating in an Underwater Photo class this weekend, and yesterday actually managed to take more than 250 pictures over the course of two dives (over 2 hours underwater) on a single set of batteries. One strobe had a pair of Maha 2100's and the other had a set of Kodak 2000's, and the strobes still worked fine after more than two hours in 48 degree water (they were fine, I was numb ).

I like the Maha charger, but almost any of the good NiMh batteries will last a very long time in your strobe.

Good Luck,

Excellent results Boydski. That was what I was hoping to achieve. I would expect to have at least one change of batteries, so even if I do more than 2 consecutive dives, I still have power to spare.