On Batteries

ABC: Always Be Charging

–Mike

Batteries are my personal nemesis that I’ve learned to work with over time, and I think that most underwater photographers also have a love-hate relationship with them.

My problems with most batteries:

• Chargers take up space in your bags
• Different types of devices have different batteries
• Battery chargers usually come with a power cube of some kind
• Some chargers have “fixed” plugs that don’t let them pack nicely
• Batteries are heavy
• Batteries have to be in your carry-on baggage
• Batteries usually can’t be seen through on x-ray because they contain metal
• Batteries heat up when they charge
• Hot batteries in a sealed device create vacuum and offgas issues
• Batteries will last for 2.5 dives on average and that third dive might run out
• You can’t take photos with a camera that has dead batteries
• You can take photos if one or two of your 4 light sources dies

Out of all these considerations, I have this strategy for batteries:

• Have enough batteries for 1.5 days of photography
• Minimize the amount of chargers that I have to take with me by standardizing on just a couple of battery types
• Whenever possible, have chargers that plug into USB
• Always Be Charging: batteries on the charger are one of the first things that I do after every dive
• Take an extra set of batteries on the dive boat
• Have 2 containers next to the charging table: one for empty batteries and one for full batteries
• Whenever I’m not taking photos (hunting for subjects or waiting or on the boat), I shut off my camera, strobes, and focus light
• I try to resist the urge to look at photos on the boat unless we’re headed back to the dock although sometimes I fail at resisting
• I carry 2 spot-beam dive torches for tech-diver redundancy and to use as a macro torch
• I have redundancy between my strobes, focus/video torch, and handheld dive torch so I don’t really need a full set of extras for strobes
• If you’re diving with a guide, you will take more photos and will use batteries faster
• If you’re doing 3 dives plus an early morning or night dive, you’ll need more batteries because they won’t charge fast enough
• Chargers can go in checked baggage

And finally, my dive trip packing list:

• 4x 18650 (2 handheld dive torches plus maybe the ScubaLamp MS-30 snoot torch)
• 2x 26650 (1 focus torch)
• 1x 14500 (dive computer)
• Nitecore 4-bay charger for 18650, 26650, 14500 (it has a straight cord with no power cube) (in checked bag)
• 12x Eneloop Pro (2 strobes and each holds 4 batteries, I don’t take a full set for 2 days because it’s just too many to carry) [See Note Below]
• 2 Eneloop 4-bay chargers with folding US plug (in checked bag)
• 2x Camera Battery (either TG5/LI92B or G9/DMW-BLF19)
• USB-powered single-bay charger for camera battery
• 2-bay USB charger for phone, tablet, batteries
• Waterproof bag or box for the boat: I have a dive mask box that seals and is the perfect size for batteries and my phone
• Extra bag for batteries in my carry-on so I can can just put them into an x-ray tray at airport security

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See You Underwater

–Mike

[1] You’re maybe not supposed to put Eneloop batteries into a sealed device: opinions vary on this.  You can read more at WetPixel.  I hedge my bets by never ever using batteries right off the charger that are warm.  This is why I get them on the charger early so that they have time to cool.