Battery Conservation on My First Digital

[magicbar]

I just purchased my first digital camera an A540 Canon Powershot.

My question is what tips could you give me to conserve the battery power?

Will turning the camera on/off frequently cause excessive power drain?
What are the optimal settings for auto power off and lens retraction?


Is it best to buy rechargeable batteries instead of using disposable ones?


Thanks in advance for any and all responses

 

[ukcatfan]

Rechargeables are a must for any digital camera, unless you use it only rarely. Then you would want to use lithium throw aways. You pretty much never want to use regular AAs. They will not last long at all. Two sets of rechargeables are usually enough. Also, avoid the fifteen minute fast chargers. They tend to shorten the lives of the batteries quite a bit.

The biggest thing to conserve power is to not use the LCD to frame your shots. It is the largest consumer of power. I doubt you will find any noticable conservation changing the settings mentioned. Set them to the most convenient mode.

Kevin

 

[ndelaware]

So far, from our experience, the A540s are really easy on batteries.

There is a "power down" setting in the camera. Make sure it is set to as short a time as is possible.

 

[2angelsinheaven]

My Kodak as an internal battery that we can recharge, I purchased an extra due to running out of power 1/2 way through a day at the parks. I would recommend you get 1 if not 2 sets of extra rechargeable batteries and keep them handy when your out for a day of taking photos.

 

[klmall]

My Canon Power Shot G5 uses proprietary batteries and I always have 2 sets handy (both charged). After at least 3 years of very heavy use neither set would properly charge anymore so I recently purchased 2 new sets from Canon (more expensive than from others but I wanted the warranty).

I maximize battery charges by:
---keeping camera temperature changes to a minimum, especially exposure to cold (I cold weather camp etc.).
---not using the LCD screen to view my photos anymore than necessary since I have a viewfinder on my camera. Some cameras don't have viewfinders but use the LCD screen instead.
---removing batteries as instructed in manual from the camera if the camera is going to be stored for any length of time (which happens rarely) but I did this once.
---not using the flash when not necessary (wastes power and overexposes some photos).

Just my thoughts.