Digital photographers know the woes of the rechargeable battery. Certainly batteries have come a long way since their inception, but sometimes they are still tricky – and need a bit of special care to really get the most out of them.

Anybody that owns an SLR flash, or a remote, or a battery pack likely has at least a few dozen NiMH batteries laying around. We turn into fetishists for batteries, but most of us likely own a relatively cheap charger to power them up.

Relatively cheap, that is, when compared to the LaCrosse Technology Alpha Power Battery Charger…

This baby works with NiCd or NiMH “AA” or “AAA” batteries, automatically defaults to 200mA for optimal battery life, has overheat detection to protect against over charging, and an LCD screen that lets you monitor all this.

Want to slow charge your batteries overnight to get the most out of them? No problem. Want to juice them up as quick as possible for a shoot you have later today? Crank it.

The Alpha Power Battery Charger from LaCrosse runs about $80 and is available from their website.