D300 8fps/battery recommendation

Never having been clear as to how you get 8fps instead of 6fps, I tried dropping 8 alkaline duracells into the battery pack. This indeed give 8fps. I was under the impression that I needed that special battery used in the flagship nikon bodies. Perhaps i should consider getting some rechargeables -- any recommendations on AAs that hold their charge while sitting around? What about Lithium rechargeables: do they exist?

Scott

Hi,
I'm very happy with 2500Mha Uniross batteries. Today I took 400 shots and the batteries were still full. Amazing at temperatures of -5C. I just love them. Charging takes about 15 minutes with the Uniross Sprint 1h battery charger.

Edwin Kats

Scott - Standard NiMH batteries give the best shooting life, but they do lose their charge quickly if left sitting. I usually end up charging the night before I intend on shooting - I've actually gotten more discharging, I think, than the normal rates you see specified. You could probably leave the battery sitting for at least a week with no noticable discharge.

There are some new NiMH batteries coming out that are supposedly very slow to discharge. Here's a review of Sanyo Eneloops. There may be other brands, but that's the only one I've seen.

One note about charge times - the quick chargers (1 hour or less) don't quite fully charge the battery. Most people probably wouldn't care, but for some who really want to maximize shooting it may factor in somewhat.

I'm very interested in this too as the battery, charger, and 'end cover' cost almost $300.

I dunno, but with a set of alkaline duracells, the difference is OBVIOUS. I did a 5 second test with jpegs and i cranked out 37 frames of low qualily jpges.