Been using the Varta15... Never regret. Currently own 44pcs of it and 3 chargers.
Have tried many other brands, Sanyo, Maha, Sony, Energizer & GP. Mostly experience using these brands on my SB800 + SD8a previously, ie, each battery change is 11pcs, 5pcs on the SB800 and 6pcs on the SD8a. Before switching to rechargeable cells, those who have know me much earlier can vouch that I use only energizer akaline cells for my event shoot. Well known to bring along boxes of 20packs 4pcs/pk with me for bigger events. The comments below on the issue of power rating of mAH is compared with my experience on using 1.5V/batt akaline cells based on how long I need to change the batteries on my equipment during an event shoot. Here is my comments:
i. Sanyo 2200 - Not recommended! :thumbsd:
Bought 200++ pcs of it as at one point got a good price thus did a mass sales in my office. However all turn out to be a big disappointment. Besides the biggest known problem of not able to hold charge, the battery may leak in the device if device is used for a short period of ~2weeks. And personally I suspect the battery is over rated of the 2200mAH. Seems to me only ard 1800mAH at most. Maybe that is due to the problem of not able to hold charge. Ultimately thrown all away, it total 40++pcs. A total lost!
ii. Maha Batteries - Not Recommended! :thumbsd:
Bought 8pcs to try. Usage and charge holding not bad, but kenna a bad experience as 1 of the battery exploded and leaks during charging makes me fear of using them anymore. Thrown all away including the charger. A total lost!
iii. Sony 2000 - Average
Disposed all my Sanyo and changed to Sony. Not as bad, battery can hold charge, however I still suspect on the overrated issue. Although lasted long than sanyo by a bit. Only prob is the battery gets burning hot during charging, but so far no issues on leakage or exploding. I ever experience the battery having memory effect, ie when the charger claimed a full charge, but the cells cannot last, flat after a short use. However this original Sony charger does equiped with a discharge function which I triggered on those affect batteries and it does helps. The batteries has later sold to a nice guy is CS after upgraded to energizer cells.
iv. Energizer 1750-2500mAH - Recommended! :thumbsup:
Since have good experience using energizer akaline cells, decided to buy a batch to try. Performance is good. 1hr Fast charging and the batteries can also hold charged. Tried using batteries charged 2mth ago and it still gives somewhat acceptable performance. Power rating is also good. Lasted much longer than Sony cells for the same power rating. In fact the 2500mAH lasted almost the same as the energizer akaline ones. Having so many pervious bad experience on rechargeable cells, I decided to buy them in batches, thus I got batteries from 1750mAH to 2500mAH, total 40++pcs also. And all these while still using my Sony 1hr chargers to charge the batteries. Have not experience memory effect on the batteries so far during my use. Have sold all batteries & chargers in a batch to another CSer due to upgrade to Varta15.
v. GP Cells - Not Recommended! :thumbsd:
Was given 4pcs by a friend. Do not recommend for use on photographic equipment, cos this batteries is confirmed over-rated. Currently using it on my Universe Remote Controller. And yes, it does give good performance on the remote controller though.
vi. Varta15 2000mAH - Recommended! :thumbsup:
Tried and never regret. Design of the charger is also good. Although the batteries are burning hot during charging, but the charger somewhat have an internal cooler system for the batteries. It such air and blow onto the batteries. 15mins is really the charging time of the batteries. Nothing more. However upon finish charging, the charger fan will still be on for at least 10mins to cool down the batteries. My advise is not to remove the batteries upon cut off as it is really hot, and not sure the hot temperature will affect the battery life or not in the long run. The charger is also very recommended. It is really intelligent. I've tried re-charging ½used batteries, and the charger really did cut off the power when the batteries is full, ie 3-5mins. And when I insert non Varta cells, ie my GP cells into the charger, the charging process takes 1hr+ then cut off as it really know that you're not inserting the Varta15mins charge batteries. Just some technical specs, the charger rated output as 7.5A. Imagine your TV only rated 3-4A at most, and this charger alone is 7.5A! The only setback for this charger is that the fan is really noisy. When the battery is fully charged, you could really experience the silence.
As for the batteries, performance is good. Lasted like the energizer for a 2000mAH cell, if not longer. Tried using batteries charged ~2mths ago and it can still performance almost as well. I don't really have good habits like drain fully before re-charging again, and to my surprise, the Varta15 niMh battery really don't have any memory effect issues as claimed. In fact you'd feels like as it they are litium-ion cells. Further more, the 15mins fast charging is really a saviour on many occasion.
If anyone wants to get the Varta15, my recommended place is to get it from Changi Airport if you happen to go for a tour. They are sold for only $44.90 for the highest-end Varta charger + 4 batteries. Most places sells this set for $65. For info, there are 3 kinds of Varta15 charger kit set. Price range from $22 onwards depends on which charger and no of bundled batteries. So make sure you get the highest end one which is a seperate 4pcs charger and 7.5A adaptor. I've not tried the other 2 smaller charger so can't comment on their performance.