It’s not the mah, it’s the ability of the battery to take high drain for long periods of time and maintain 1.1v-1.2v. Most of the high powered emitters would be considered high drain when set on high 3+amps. Eneloops have been proven to be one of the best AA NiMH at taking high drain for longer periods of time, plus they are low discharge and retain their charge when not used. Even though they are 2000mah, they can take 3 & 5 amp drains for longer and hold voltage longer than many AA batteries. Some Batteries used for RC like Sub C NiMH and other “odd sized” NiMH can have up to 40 amp drain for short periods of time, so in a flashlight pulling 6 to 9 amps, they do quite well also. Most high mah NiMH batteries prove out to be not so good at high drain and they have too much voltage sag too soon.
That is my opinion only and I am not any kind of expert on anything....
It really depends on charge retention - but camera flashes draw heavy current from the cells. As Old-Lumens has said, Eneloops are good at heavy draw, other LSDs may or may not be.
For normal use in adequate light the higher nominal capacity will probably win especially if you are taking lots of pictures. I you don't use the camera regularly, it depends on self-dischage rates - which may vary. I've not tried the GP cells but if I can find them for a sensible price (i.e., less than the same number of Eneloops) I'l put some on test for a while. It will take a year or so to get final results. If the GP cells are cheaper than eneloops I'd try a set, if they cost more I'd wait till someone else tests them.
I have used eneloops (1st & 2nd gen) for about a 1.5 yrs. for my canon 7d dslr (6 aa batteries in the battery grip) more than I use the li-ion battery that came with the camera. Eneloops last longer with my camera gear imo. I also use the 2500mah exxeloops for my speedlite 430ex ii flash and have never had a problem....ever.
You can't go wrong using eneloops.
Eneloops are THE best aa/aaa nimh batteries, period.
Ive been using 2nd gen 2000mAh Eneloops in my point and shoot digicam for ~1.5y, works great! Was eating primaries like theres no tomorrow, while with Eneloops it stays up and running almost like forever, unless you do HD/FullHD recording, that eats up them faster than regular picture taking with or without flash.
Edit:
Just checked HR-3UTGB prices on ebay.com:
26$ for 4 pieces of Disney themed and 17$ shipping fee to EU.
I wonder why it takes them so long to release 3rd gen outside Japan?
I like Eneloops, but if you go looking for a bargain on them, you might end up with fakes. Be very careful. If you want to save a little money, there are other brands of LSD NiMH's that are still way better than normal NiMH's that self-discharge in a month. Definitely get LSD batteries, get Eneloops if you can afford them.
On photo forums Eneloops reign, except for pros who will charge non-LSD batteries the night before the shoot and benefit from their larger capacity before self-discharge has gotten the time to do any substantial damage.
Other than having plenty of eneloops in my camera bag, I always make sure I have an extra set or 2 of freshly charged maha powerex 2700's to use with my flash. They last longer than eneloops and even though they aren't lsd's, I had a set of 4 powerex 2700's that held a 100% charge for 30 weeks. Not too shabby.
I've been buying Eneloops for several years , and if you want 100% guaranteed authentic cells , you need to buy from Thomas Distributing.
The best deal is their 16 Pack on Amazon for $38. You can also order from their site but you have to pay shipping, if you order through them on Amazon you get FREE shipping.
All their batteries come with free battery holders too, which is GREAT.
So far I've bought 3 Maha chargers, and around 100 eneloops from them over the past 2-3 years.
They are hands down the best company to get eneloops from, No point in dealing on ebay and trying to score them a couple bucks cheaper and risk getting fake cells.
Their customer service is top notch, one of my Maha C9000's power supply went dead 6 months after I bought it from them, I called them and they sent me a new one overnight free of charge!!!! You can't beat that.
HERE