Digital Cameras and battery life

[mom2jcc]

We will be getting a new Dig. Camera before our trip in April, but as of now our camera goes dead after about 20 pictures. Now this camera is about 3 years old and has a horrible delay, as well. Do the newer ones last longer? I would hate to be in the middle of our day and the camera goes dead

We do use rechargables, but it takes 8 hours for them to recharge to the fullest.

And any tips on a good camera not TOO pricey with NO DELAY would be great!!! Thanks

 

[Snow Shoe]

This past July's trip, both my wife and I had new digital cameras. I had a Canon A620 7.1MP, and my wife had a Sony CyberShot 8.1MP. I used the Litham Ion batteries from Engineniser (sp?); blue and silver colors for my camera. They held up very well for me. I took over 600 pictures and had to change batteris only once. The Sony CyberShot had its own rechargable battery. I bought an extra for it and the battery only had to be changed once during our 9 day trip.

 

[jann1033]

my daughter used the lithium aa disposibles as well for her easy share and got great life on them... i was thinking it was everready but since it's blue and silver maybe it is energizer. she used them for 2 weeks and but only took about 200++ pictures with them but no sign of let up. previously she had used only 1 set for 2 other vacations so maybe 500+ pictures. they last much much much longer than the normal disposible AA type batteries, cost roughly 10 a pair and are in walmart, target type photo depts.
if you are looking for a new camera, the"normal" battery life if usually included in reviews like on http://www.steves-digicams.com/hardware_reviews.html

 

[Donald is #1]

Another approach is to look for a digital camera that allows you to turn off the LCD screen. Both of my digital cameras have an on/off button for the LCD screen. I sue the viewfinder for taking my pictures and only use the LCD screen when I want to look at them. If you use the LCD screen to take the pictures, then it will drain your battery very fast.

 

[Yzerbear19]

Another approach is to look for a digital camera that allows you to turn off the LCD screen. Both of my digital cameras have an on/off button for the LCD screen. I sue the viewfinder for taking my pictures and only use the LCD screen when I want to look at them. If you use the LCD screen to take the pictures, then it will drain your battery very fast.

This is so true! Right before we left for our Gettysburg-Antietam-DC trip I was in such a rush to pack that I put the rechargeable batteries in the charger and plugged it in. I check it later and noticed something was wrong. I put a nonrechargeable battery in there by mistake and fried the whole system. So we ended up buying a 20 pack of Durecell batteries before we left. At Gettysburg we were using the LCD screen and the camera and it was just eating the batteries. I think we went through 12 batteries that day alone. I think I took like 750 pictures though. The next day at Antietam I strictly used the viewfiender and the batteries lasted longer. We ended up having to buy more batteries once we got to DC, but using the viewfinder rather than the LCD screen really helped. I need to get some new rechargeable batteries before Disney world.

 

[TaraPA]

Rechargeable batteries are becoming more affordable - when I got my Canon Powershot A610 camera a year ago (LOVE IT!!!) I got Energizer NiMH rechargeable batteries for about $30 & got about 100 -200 pics from one charging. Lately it's getting less & less, so I just went to Wal-Mart & got a new charger & 4 batteries for abour $18. They charge in an hour too! I'm back up to getting 200 pics from one charging - so either something was wrong with my original batteries, or they just wore out. I just learned also that the rechargeable batteries have something called an MaH rating - the higher the rating, the longer the battery life. I upgraded from 1800 MaH to 2500 MaH per battery. There was a chart on the back of the Energizer package that explained it very clearly.

 

[stinkerbell_&_Co]

Another vote for the lithium batteries. Normal batteries in my camera lasted maybe 30 or 40 minutes. With the energizer lithium batteries, I haven't had to change them once from this summer, and I'm always taking pictures. They were 9.00 for 4 AA batteries, but the life of the battery makes it so very worth it.

 

[KrazyKowboy]

Consumer Reports magazine's current issue has an article that rates batteries for digital camera use.
Their findings show that in digital cameras using disposable AA that lithium is best and recommends that alkaline not be used at all. Of the brands tested they found the Energizer 2 lithium disposables were best. 600 shots from a pair was average.
I bought a pack of 2 just last week for about $6.00 They'll have about a 10 year shelf life unused.

One thing to make note of about rechargeable nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries is that they discharge when they’re not in use. If you have'nt charged up in awhile and they're left in your camera, don't expect much from them.

Here's a short online review of the article :
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/...atteries-11-06/overview/1106_batteries_ov.htm

 

[sumrmist]

I have to also vouch for the Energizer2 Lithium Batteries. They may seem a little more expensive at first but you will find out they are so much cheaper considering that mine lasted through the amount of time I would have put at least 3-4 sets of batteries in my camera. Considering my camera was using 4 at a time I definitely came out cheaper using the E2 Lithiums.

Now that I have a new camera , I bought the energizer charger with 4 batteries for 17.96 at walmart. Good thing about this one is it can also charge triple A's. The new camera is Canon Power Shot S2IS and it is really easy on batteries, even using the LCD screen the batteries really last a long time. I think the newer cameras are faster to save and therefore more economical on the battery usage.

 

[Yzerbear19]

I think the Energizer2 Lithium Batteries are the same kind that we bought in DC after we went through the rest of the Durecell 20 pack. I think they worked a lot better. I think those are the ones I have in my camera right nwo and they seem to last a lot longer than the regular batteries. I still need to get some new rechargeable ones though.

 

[sskem96]

I had this problem as well, and didn't realize that it specifically says in the owner's manual not to use alkaline batteries, only lithium or the rechargable one that came with the camera dock (mine's a Kodak easy share). Not sure what kind your rechargables were, but try the lithium ones!

 

[jaycat]

Most digital cameras have a good battery life now, but make sure to check there are some out there that have horrible battery life. My camera can go about 8 hours, 350 - 600 pictures, without new batteries. When you get your camera get one that takes AA or AAA batteries, you can buy a Duracell charger that charges batteries in 15 minutes.

 

[mom2jcc]

Jaycat, what camera do you have? This is what I am looking for.....hundreds of pics because that is how many I plan to take at WDW!!!!!!

 

[tedhowe]

I can vouch for the Energizer e2 Lithium batteries as well. They are pretty amazing.

I used to carry 3 to 4 sets of batteries for my digicam when I first got one (in 1997). I have a digital camera bag that has a little "bandolier" for AA batteries inside the front flap. I would keep 1 set of 4 in the camera, 2 sets in the bandolier and 1 more set rubber banded inside the bag. This was just about enough to get through a day (200-300 shots for me).

At that time I was using Ni-Cd rechargables and they were heavy, and had only slightly better use time than alkalines.

I then upgraded to a newer camera in 2000, but kept one with AA batteries. This time I went with Ni-Mh batteries, and they have continued to improve over time. Nowadays, Ni-Mh batteries have about2.5 times the energy capacity of the first ones I got in 2000. They are VERY good. They do have the drawback of losing their charge as the sit for a while (days or weeks). I kept the same camera bag, but had enough charge, that I did away with the 4th set of batteries. So I was only carrying 3 sets (1 in the camera and 2 in the bag's bandolier).

I just got a new camera earlier this year (a Canon PowerShot S3is) and it again uses 4 AA batteries. At the time, I also got a set of the Energizer e2 Lithiums. I've been using the lithiums for about a month (about 200 shots total in that time along with 15-20 minutes of video - I don't take nearly as many photos when I'm not on vacation).

They are still going strong.

I think for normal use at home, I will still use rechargables because I can easily leave a couple of sets of Ni-Mh batteries sitting in the charger being kept at full charge and grab them when I leave the house, but for a week long trip to Disney, I would say ~$12 for 2 sets of fresh lithium batteries is well worth it so that I don't have to carry the heavy rechargables and the charger.

One thing that amazes me is how light the lithium batteries are... it is another benefit.

Since the S3 is also so good at shooting video, I've also replaced my camcorder at the same time, so I am down to one medium sized bag (about 5 inches by 4 inches by 8 inches) to house all of my photo/video equitment for the trip - including a 100GB portable hard drive to dump photos and video to along with its AA battery pack so I can even use it without my computer.

This has been very long winded, but there is somewhat of a reason ...

if you look through my post, the biggest recommendation I can make is to get a camera that takes AA batteries. It gives you the most flexibility (and with the energizer e2 lithiums, the absolute longest run/shoot time). You can use value-minded Ni-Mh rechargables, you can use ultra long-running lithium disposables, and if you are in a total pinch, nearly every concession stand or souvenir shop in the world - both Disney and in general - will have AA alkalines that you can use in an absolute emergency.

Ted