Hi, just a friendly warning that I have experienced very poor life from my Sanyo 2500mah NiMH batteries (8 of them) as well as my Sanyo 900mah AAA's... None of them can hold a charge for more than a couple of days at this point.
All of these batteries are within a year old (obviously) and have been treated very well. I even have a so called battery conditioner setting on my Sanyo (not cheap) charger... They lasted a bit longer out of the camera when I first got them, maybe a week or so, but I've always experienced problems with non-use time.
I was told that NiMH's all self-drain, but this is well beyond their normal expected drainage time.
I also have 3 or 4 friends who have experienced similar issues, although my sister, who uses Sanyo 2300 mah batteries has normal usage, approximately 3 weeks to a month and a half, maybe more... She bought her batteries probably a good year before mine.
The problem appears to be with 2500 mah batteries.
The problem appears to be limited to out-of-camera non-use, as I used to get 750 pictures to a charge on the S2 IS (which uses an EVF or LCD) including some significant review time on the LCD. I now get around 200 shots.
At the battery store, I was told that Sony batteries are the rebranded Sanyo batteries.
Coincidentally, a number of my friends who use Sony batteries have also been experiencing similar problems.
Again limited to 2500 mah batteries.
I asked around about the problem and a few retailers told me that this was new information to them. Others said that they had heard about this.
I was recommended a set of Panasonic 2600 mah batteries.
I gave them a try, charging them before using in my sanyo charger.
3 weeks and 120 shots later and they are still going strong on the first charge.
Sanyo batteries charged afterwards are currently as dead as a doornail.
Yay.
I have not done any long-term testing on the Panasonics, but for now, they get my recommendation.
Please note that this is a warning based on my personal experiences and experiences of people I know using cameras and other digital devices.
Feel free to experiment or get whatever product you like. |
