Smart Battery Charger AA(A)

Lostintheclouds

Hi.

Can anyone recommend me a smart battery charger for domestic use (mainly to charge AA batteries and sometimes AAA).

Whilst researching rechargeable batteries I came across information that stated that most 'normal' chargers won't charge rechargeable batteries to their full potential charge (and some nowhere near it) and that a good smart charger will be able to this more efficiently and even be able to drain and reset a battery if needed in order to get it working back up to optimal level and also that the speed of charge makes a difference to (from what I read slower charging will result in greater charge capacity and prolong the life of batteries).

The price of course differs greatly compared to the cheapest standard chargers. I'm wondering if the difference in price (and charging of the batteries) is really worth the investment or is a lot of it just 'smart charger' marketing gook?

I'd need a charger to fit 8 AA batteries (as that's what my power hungry trail camera takes). I'm basically trying to change over to rechargeable batteries as the device when working at it's max settings is very power hungry and eats up batteries pretty quickly - which also has a bad environmental impact as well as a high cost. 

I also know that rechargeable batteries are not recommended for trail cameras as even the higher NiMH supposedly won't give as much power as alkaline 1.5v, hence I'm needing a way to make sure my rechargeable ones are powered up as much as possible.

Thoughts, advice and recommendations thoroughly appreciated.

chrisw

Heres an 8-bay charger, but it might be cheaper to get 2 4-bay chargers.

https://www.7dayshop.com/products/panasonic-8-bay-aaa-and-aa-battery-charger-for-nimh-batteries-model-bq-cc63-bq-cc63u

Norman_Castle

Lostintheclouds said:

I also know that rechargeable batteries are not recommended for trail cameras as even the higher NiMH supposedly won't give as much power as alkaline 1.5v, hence I'm needing a way to make sure my rechargeable ones are powered up as much as possible.

Does it depend on individual cameras, what does the manual say?

Crag30

This is the type I use and where I purchase from. The Eneloop batteries that come with it are the best I've used  except for the Black higher quality ones.
chttps://www.7dayshop.com/products/panasonic-aaa-and-aa-battery-charger-with-4x-aa-eneloop-rechargeable-batteries-bq-cc51-k-kj51mcc40u

DCFC79

I use Panasonic Eneloops as well, Ive got some of the black ones as well, both are great.

[Deleted User]

Nitecore chargers are pretty good, they can also charge lithium batteries for torches etc