battery question, Canon Powershot

[aPiratesLife4Me]

Hi everyone! Been enjoying the pics on here for a while, now that I've recently joined the DIS I can join in with some questions. I am sure this has been asked a million times, so for that I apolgize!! I am looking at maybe getting the Canon PowerShot S3 IS or S5 IS but I am wondering about batteries. My past digital, a Kodak Easyshare used a rechargeable Lithium-ion battery and it was great. The only digital we have used AA batteries for is my daughter's Fuji A350 and she's having issues with batteries running down quickly. Using Energizer rechargeables but they don't seem to always last long enough, I don't think they are lithium and she does use view her pics and take lots of video, so maybe that's why. Sorry to go on so much, my question is about the best rechargeables to use for the Canon if anyone could suggest some I would so appreciate it. Never having used AA's myself for digital I am just wondering battery life, and I would carry extras as back up. With my Kodak Easyshare I spent 6 days in WDW last year and never had to recharge once, so it was great. Unfortunately that camera bit the dust.

Thanks so much for any help!!!

 

[ukcatfan]

Without knowing the mAh rating of the batteries and how old they are, it would be hard to know why they do not work that well for her. In general, you should be able to get at least a day's worth of pictures out of AAs. With your lithium lasting six days, I would say you are not taking all that many pictures and the AAs would likely last longer than a day. If you use three sets, you should not have any problems. Have one set in, one set extra, and one set charging. It is important to rotate them out nightly even if the set in the camera still has a charge remaining.

There are other factors to consider. The quality of the charger is more important than most people think. You should get one with an individual circuit for each cell. That prevents any one cell from getting over charged which damages it and makes it not last as long. Along that line, if one cell is not performing well, it brings the entire group down. You might get a low battery warning even though three of the four still have plenty remaining charge. A simple battery tester can help determine that. For mAh, around 2500 is good these days, but there are some with higher ratings. One last thing to remember is that they do not hold the charge all that long even with no use. You should be charging them at most two - three days before using them.

Kevin

 

[LPZ_Stitch!]

I am looking at maybe getting the Canon PowerShot S3 IS or S5 IS but I am wondering about batteries. My past digital, a Kodak Easyshare used a rechargeable Lithium-ion battery and it was great.

I've been using these Powerizer NiMH batteries from batteryspace.com ... mine are all 2500mAh, but they're now selling 2600mAh.

The S3/S5 gets the best performance from AA batteries according to the Digital Camera Resource Page.

And, I know that I've gotten probably 200-300 pics, plus video, plus reviewing on the LCD during a music festival on one set of those Powerizer batteries (I usually have two sets with me, just in case and will certainly have three sets and a compact charger for when we go to Disney, next month).

Of course, using the flash a lot will more quickly run down the batteries, as will using the LCD all the time (I prefer using the EVF, anyway, so that saves battery life).

The good thing about cameras that use AA batteries is that if you get caught in a pinch without your charger (like the middle of the day at Disney) you can always buy a set of alkalines or lithiums and keep on taking pictures.

With most proprietary batteries, if you run out of charge, you're out of luck.

 

[aPiratesLife4Me]

Thanks so much for the replies.

Sorry, I should have given more info. for the batteries and charger my daughter uses: They are Energizer rechargeables, 2500 mAh. They came with the charger, Energizer CHDC-CA. Not sure if that helps. We only bought that charger and batteries less than 2 months ago.

There are other factors to consider. The quality of the charger is more important than most people think. You should get one with an individual circuit for each cell. That prevents any one cell from getting over charged which damages it and makes it not last as long. Along that line, if one cell is not performing well, it brings the entire group down. You might get a low battery warning even though three of the four still have plenty remaining charge. A simple battery tester can help determine that. For mAh, around 2500 is good these days, but there are some with higher ratings. One last thing to remember is that they do not hold the charge all that long even with no use. You should be charging them at most two - three days before using them.

I hadn't considered that so thanks for the info. The charger that came with her camera was very obviously a cheap one and we should have replaced it before she even used it, however she used it for a while and do think what you said could easily be the problem she was having. The newer charger, the Energizer is not an expensive one or anything, but it does work better than the previous one.

Anyway, thanks for the input, I really want to get myself one of the Canons and the only thing holding me back is the battery "issue."

 

[polkadotladybug]

I have the S3 and I use the rechargeable batteries and I rarely change mine and I take tons of pictures! I do have a good assortment and I splurged on a 15 minute charger with a cigarette lighter cord (in addition to the electrical cord) so I can recharge when I'm out if need be. They last a LONG time and I use the zoom and view screen - everything!

Don't hesitate - go buy that camera pronto - you'll be so glad you did!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I just bought these for my S3 - will let you know how they are after using them. Have been getting good battery life, too, out of the store bought batteries. The reason I bought my S3 in the first place is because my old camera had abysmal battery life. It's a nice change to not have to worry about it anymore.

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-NB4-300..._glance_foto_ai_111_2_tit/002-7015020-1731227