Camera battery chargers
Feb 12, 2018 18:08:55 #
woolpac
Loc: Sydney Australia
I use a MAHA powerex c9000 battery charger for my AA's etc. Amazing bit of technology for getting the best out of your batteries. As I removed some batteries off charge this morning it got me wondering why this technology is not available (to my knowledge) for maintaining camera batteries. OEM chargers just don't cut it compared to MAHA. I realize they would be expensive but so is an $80 + camera battery.
Feb 12, 2018 18:43:50 #
AZ Dog
Loc: Peoria, AZ
Your camera batteries are not AA. Most cameras use a unique to the camera battery supplying a different voltage and current for each model.
Feb 12, 2018 19:00:59 #
woolpac
Loc: Sydney Australia
Thanks AZ, I,m probably thinking a smart charger specific to the battery.
Feb 12, 2018 20:15:58 #
As I understood the Maha charges NiMH batteries. Camera batteries are Li-ion and requires to be charged in a different way.
Feb 12, 2018 22:24:56 #
I recently bought a new Sears drill with a Li-ion battery. The salesman said not to keep charging the batter, since it has a finite number of charges allowed and thus it is better to wait to recharge.
Feb 12, 2018 23:59:53 #
toxdoc42 wrote:
I recently bought a new Sears drill with a Li-ion battery. The salesman said not to keep charging the batter, since it has a finite number of charges allowed and thus it is better to wait to recharge.
He’s right in that Li Ions have less usable recharge cycles than older NiCads or lead acid. They do not do well with a complete discharge before charging (Nicad chargers often had a discharge feature to take the battery completely flat before recharging to prevent “memory”), but not typically an issue with power tools which just stop before the battery is completely flat. You may find this useful: http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries
Feb 13, 2018 10:00:26 #
I have had very good luck with "universal" chargers for the square odd-shaped camera batteries. These have two pins that you slide to match the + and - metal on the battery. The unit determines the polarity, voltage, etc. As I find a lot of used cameras -donated without chargers- this system is very handy. There are no adapters needed, as was the case with old camcorder "universal" chargers.
Feb 13, 2018 10:26:37 #
All of my higher end Nikons, the ones that use the EN-EL18 (and later) batteries have quite a nice SMART charger, a MH-26a. Although included with some bodies, most complaints are it is too expensive. Since I use that battery series in all my current bodies, I recently bought a second charger, used, as a backup. New they're $370 and used about $ 200. I'm very happy with both the batteries and the charger. The latest version of the battery, an EN-EL18b, is a keeper. I also use a couple of MAHA chargers for my AA batteries with great success. Best of luck.
Feb 13, 2018 11:16:08 #
Feb 15, 2018 01:32:07 #
woolpac
Loc: Sydney Australia
Thanks all for the great feedback my thoughts were specific to Li-ion looks like Nikon has put some thought into smarter technology.
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