[Review] Rechargeable battery comparison, Eneloop versus Imedion.

Sanyo Eneloop vs PowerEx Imedion

Instead of all-talk-no-prove, I came out with a review and experiment on Eneloop and Imedion stress test, to find out which one is the better choice.

As I googled the Internet and Forums, I found mixed result, some people claims Eneloop performs better, and some claims otherwise. Therefore I decided to do an experiment on both of these batteries to find out which one is a BETTER PERFORMER and better for investment.

Objective: To find out the better performer battery

Items:
1. Four pieces of Sanyo Eneloop AA 2000mAh NiMH Battery
2. Four pieces of PowerEx Imedion AA 2100mAh NiMH Battery
3. Nikon Speedlight SB-800
4. Remote Flash Trigger
5. Process recording device (Sony DSC-P10)

Methodology:
1. Fully Charge the battery
2. Insert battery into Nikon Speedlight SB800
3. Nikon Speedlight SB-800 set to M 1/4 -oEV
4. Fire the Speedlight as soon as it is ready (when the red light is on)
5. Repeat step #3 until the battery is completely depleted
6. Record the following:
a. X number of shots per minute after X number of shots
b. Total shots per charge
7. Repeat the process with next set of battery

To ensure both battery both are in identical optimal condition, I bought both new set of Eneloop and Imedion. RM60 for 4 pcs of Eneloop, and RM45 for Imedion. Both sets are new and fully charged for 8 hours as recommended by manufacturer for initial use with the same PowerEx MH-C204W Travel Charger before begin the test.

Please refer to the graph in the attachment.

I started off with Eneloop with a recorded blazing fast 60 round per minute (rpm). It drops to 53rpm after the first 100 shots, and then it drops further to 52rpm after 200 shots. It stabilized at average of 45rpm from 300 shots to 1300 shots. It drops to 39rpm at 1400 shots and drops further to 37rpm after 1500 shots. Finally it drops sharply but still managed to squeeze a total recorded 1564 shots. Pretty impressive for first round.

I followed by Imedion immediately. At the initial minute it has a noticeable lower refresh rate compared with Eneloop and I recorded a 51rpm for the first minute, lower than Eneloop 9rpm. It then dropped 20% performance to 42rpm after the first 100 shots. After 200 shots, it stabilized at average of 39rpm from 200 shots to 1200 shots (compared to 45rpm Eneloop). It drops slightly to 36rpm after 1300 shots to 1500 shots. Then it drops further down to 17rpm after 1600 shots. Finally it is completely depleted at 1660 shots.

Conclusion:
Eneloop completed at 1564 shoots and Imedion completed at 1660, approximately 100 shots more than Eneloop, which is pretty much expected as it is a 2100mAh vs 2000mAh, with approximately 5% extra power. For a fair comparison, I only benchmark up to 1500 shots, which is already beyond what average number of photos a person can take on a whole day event (with speedlight)

On cycle performance point of view, Eneloop out performed Imedion from 4rpm to 14rpm with an amazing everage of 6rpm on a consistant performance.

In this experiment, I concluded that the Sanyo Eneloop is a better performer than PowerEx Imedion, at least in speedlight point of view.

Any taker for my only-used-once-for-experiment Imedion?

Complete test report at: http://www.calvinstudio.net/?p=472