Has anyone tried using lithium ion AA batteries? Are they “better” than NiMH batteries?
Yes, and “Don’t know”! Sorry. When I bought my latest Browning camera it was recommended to use lithium which were on special at the time. They lasted well over a year, but then the camera stopped working and while investigating that I ended up with just energiser’s best alkali batteries which seemed to work well but only for a few months. Cameras seem to be very fussy about which batteries you use. What I find frustrating is that you can check the batteries charge and the camera says fully charged and my separate manual charger says High Charge and yet you can’t get the camera to work until you put in new ones again! So … you pays your money and you takes your choice (or something like that!). Interested to hear of any other more scientific reports! Cheers, Tony
Hi
Over a 5 year research period I have used a combination of lithium and alkaline disposable AA batteries with up to 30 cameras in the field for considerable periods.
The functionallity of all batteries is directly related to the trigger frequency and whether multiple images or videos are recorded.
The lithium batteries are ok with a couple of limitations - they are temperature sensitive and cease supplying sufficient energy to trigger and record during cold weather - I suspect when the temperature goes below about 5 degrees the cameras are not reliable.
The other limitation is the amount of charge - when new the lithium batteries are excellent but you will notice the charge life decreases over 18 to 24 months of continuous recharge and use cycles.
If your project is critical I would recommend Everyready Gold batteries or better - from new they had the capacity to support a 32GB card with videos and images. The cheaper batteries tend to have a shorter life.
Regards
Margaret
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Margret,
good to hear of some experience with LION rechargables - do you have an estimate of how many cycles your “18 to 24 months of continuous recharge and use” would generate ??
Thanks,
Richard
When new the lithium batteries easily lasted 3 months with mulitple daily triggers (3 images and 10 second video for each trigger) but by 18 months they were dead within 2 to 3 weeks of installation so I made use of these batteries in cameras visited most often or where I didnt require video recordings.
My cameras ranged from high spec new cams to second hand ones ex a University teachng set. I suspect there were considerable differences in energy use across the various brands and ages.
It really is a case of doing a few trials with your cameras to determine how often the batteries need changing.
Thanks for the detail - sounds like they are less durable than the NiMH batteries that we are currently using and not attractive at a significantly higher price.
Richard
I find Panasonic Eneloop and Eneloop Pro batteries very reliable and long lasting, not sure the extra expense of lithium would be justfied. Just my random thoughts!
Thanks Dan. We too use enloop pro NiMHs. Just trying to see if they are still the best option.
Richard