Rechargeable CR-V3

[sunkarm]

Guys,

I do know that using the rechargeable CR-V3 for camera such as Olympus SP-350 is the best thing instead of using rechargeable 2AA NIHM. But there r so many brands out there. Which brand is the best for this sort of Batteries?

Thanks in Advance

 

[SmileMon]

I have no experience with them but CTA has the highest power ratings I could find (1500mAh).

 

[rjsimp]

Targus makes a 1700mAh battery available but they are hard to find sometimes. They seem to work good from what we have seen.

 

[torrey]

I got some from the same outfit that I bought the camera from. All they say is "made in China". I've heard that they don't have the memory issues that AA's have, but you should fully charge and then fully run them down first. It took awhile to run the first one down completely.

 

[herman]

Guys,

I do know that using the rechargeable CR-V3 for camera such as Olympus SP-350 is the best thing instead of using rechargeable 2AA NIHM. But there r so many brands out there. Which brand is the best for this sort of Batteries?

Thanks in Advance

Why are they better than AA's?
If 1500-1700 is their rating your losing a lot of operating time. A good NiMh is in the 2500-2700 mHa range, almost double the capacity. What am I missing?

 

[rjsimp]

Why are they better than AA's?
If 1500-1700 is their rating your losing a lot of operating time. A good NiMh is in the 2500-2700 mHa range, almost double the capacity. What am I missing?

What you're missing is the way electricity works and how a mAh is calculated. Two AA batteries puts out 2.4v whereas the CRV3 batteries put out aprox 3.3v (some put out up to 3.7v)

Since a camera will draw X amount of watts power and a watt = Amps * volts you can see there are several ways to get the same watts of power.

For example; let's say the camera draws 20 watts of power. It will draw 20/2.4v amps which is 8.33 amps. That means to run it for 1 hour, it would require a 8330 mAh battery at 2.4v (2 AA NiMH).

The same example with a 3.3v CRV3 battery would draw 20/3.3v amps which is 6.06 amps. For the same hour, it would require 6060 mAh battery at 3.3v. which is 137% more "efficient". So, a 1700 mAh batter is equal to 2329 mAh at 2.4v if NiMH was equal to Li-Ion, which they aren't. Li-Ion is better for giving up all of the power it is rated for whereas NiHM will not do it as well.

Now, if you find a Li-Ion CRV3 battery that does 3.7v output, it would be 154% more "efficient". So, the same 1700 battery would be equal to 2669 mAh AA's (again given if NiMH and Li-Ion were equal).

Hopefully I didn't do any math wrong, but I hope it explains the general idea.

 

[DesertEagle]

mah is only half of the equation. If the battery can't keep up with the voltage requirements of the camera... lithiums do better in that regard.

Even after a firmware upgrade, my SP-310 has a picky battery life indicator.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Guys,

I do know that using the rechargeable CR-V3 for camera such as Olympus SP-350 is the best thing instead of using rechargeable 2AA NIHM. But there r so many brands out there. Which brand is the best for this sort of Batteries?

Thanks in Advance

Here's what I use, and they work great for two or more dives (depending on how many pictures I take on each dive).

http://www.thomas-distributing.com/mpc-c301.htm

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Larry C]

I got mine locally from RadioShack. They were overpriced at $59.95 for one battery and a charger, but they work real well. I get 2-3 dives plus viewing time and topside use without a problem. I've seen them more recently on sale at $39.95 and $19.95 for a second battery, which I bought. I've also bought other batteries from Thomas Dist. and real good luck as well. Last week I tried my rechargeable AA's when I forgot to bring a spare battery with me to work. The camera wouldn't even turn on. (I haven't done the battery voltage sensor download). Whatever R-CRV-3's you get, make sure you cycle them a few times. You don't get full charge life till you have.

 

[torrey]

mah is only half of the equation. If the battery can't keep up with the voltage requirements of the camera... lithiums do better in that regard.

Even after a firmware upgrade, my SP-310 has a picky battery life indicator.

From what I've read, the Li-Ion CRV-3's put out a relatively unchanging voltage all the way up until they die, whereas the NiMH's will lose voltage gradually. The battery life indicator measures the voltage constantly, so the gradual power-loss of the NiMH's will cause the indicator to come on...but the CRV-3's don't give this kind of foresight, so you will just suddenly lose power with no indication.

As a matter of fact, since the camera must have a minimum voltage to operate, the NiMH's don't even completely use up all of their power. Not to mention that they will also lose voltage when not in use.