I think that I bragged about these Delkin 2900mAh rechargeable batteries when I first bought them. Right away, I noticed the fast recycle times and long life in between charges. I did state my reservations about them holding up after several charges, though. Many seemingly good batteries have fizzled out after a dozen charges, but not these!
I bought them from Thomas Distributing online last year, and they are still performing like the day I got them. I’ve tried plenty of brands and been happy with the Maha Powerex and the Duracell brands. I’ve been less than happy with the Sunpak and Lenmar brands. And, there are a few brands that I will never even think about trying again. Until something even better comes along, I think I will continue to use the Delkin batteries.
Now, I know what you are thinking… why not use a dedicated battery pack, like a Quantum pack to run your flash? Well, I’ve used them in the past, and they provide a lot of performance! However, they tend to slow me down with all the extra cords/cables and the battery pack attached to my belt. Plus, having AA’s in my flash, Pocket Wizard radio slaves and a few other misc pieces of gear, I know that carrying a few packs of rechargeable batteries is all I need. It simplifies things for me.
If I accidentally forget to bring a cable for the Quantum, I am out of luck. But, if I forgot to pull a set of AA’s out of the charger before I leave for a shoot, I always have a second or third set waiting in the camera bag. Of course, if worse comes to worse (and it has before), I can run down to a convenience store and buy a set of alkaline AA’s to get me through a shoot. So, I am a AA kind of guy. They just work best for me, and right now the Delkin rechargeable batteries are my favorite.