Hi, i would like to know if some of you use the Ni-Mh/BP-300 on your Elan 7, and what is the normal battery life of the Ni-MH.

Thanks

-- Pascal Harvey (harveypascal@hotmail.com), December 30, 2001

Answers

I use 1500 MaH NiMH AA's in my BP-50 and Elan IIe. Without using onboard flash, I get about 30-40 36 exposure rolls per charge. I don't use any glass bigger than an 85 f/1.8 and no IS lenses. I do a fair amount of servo focusing and very little motor drive work. Just a couple 2-3 frame bursts every other roll or so. The lenses on it most of the time (95%) are a 24mm f/2.8 and the 50mm f/1.8 Mk II.

The batteries are worth the money (I paid about $3.50 USD each) and easy on the environment. I have 8 for my Elan IIe and 16 for my EOS-3. Alkaline backups, of course, but I only buy 24 alkaline AA's per year. Make sure you get a good charger. I use a "peak" charger that senses when the batteries have taken all the amps they can and then shuts down the charger. Peak chargers are commonly found in the radio controlled car world. Mine is a Tekin BC67. AC/DC capability and charging amperage control down to .02 amps.

Last thing, be sure to charge and discharge them a few times before a clutch gig. They are known for quick voltage drops with no warning. Shooting along just fine, then BOOM! The shutter is stuck open and waiting for enough juice to close it. Lovely.
These batteries need a few charge/discharge cycles before they really shine.

-- Colin Miller (miller.photos@att.net), December 31, 2001.

i use them constantly in my 7e w/28-135is with no problems.i bought radio shacks 1600mah bats. w/their one hour charger and i get aprox 20 36ex rolls using my flash at 1/4 power(to fire my slave).the 7 has a battery status symbol on it's lcd so just check it periodically.

-- mike earussi (mikeearussi@juno.com), January 02, 2002.