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aeromed202
October 2nd, 2009, 12:23
Ok not an FS discussion but I am having problems deciding something. My Sony Cybershot, a decent little point-and-shoot, gave up the ghost. As I was shopping for a replacement I learned a devious change had taken place. The majority of the new cameras now use re-chargable batteries, let me change that to must use $40-$60 specific rechargable batteries. I want to know if these will work comparably to the AA batteries my old one used.
I always carried an extra set so I never missed a shot, but I can see the time now where I'll find myself out of juice with no outlet or time to wait while this new thing charges. I feel a bit extorted. There are still a smattering of AA cameras out there but they fall a bit short in other areas. It's like you can hardly find a corded phone anymore either-everything needs a re-chargable battery. And the included charger guarantees the battery will fry up one week past the warranty date (experience). Man oh man, these guys are good.
So anyway, rant over. Are these new cameras likely to last a good long time between charges? One Geek Squad flunky said about 120-150 pictures per charge.

Henry
October 2nd, 2009, 12:35
Most of the batteries are fine and have more power
than double a's
AA,s are good because you can find them anywhere
actually if you get a spare rechargable you should never have a problem
i took 2 batteries to europe last year
and did not use one up
it depends on flash, zoom how much power you use
i believe you will find that its better than using AA's
H

OBIO
October 2nd, 2009, 12:37
I'm not sure what type of camera you are looking to get...but we recently bought a nice GE A735, 7 mega-pixel camera....about the size of a pack of cigarettes, that is surprisingly loaded with features, gets really good batter life (AAs no less). $80 at Walmart. There is also a 12 mega-pixel version of this camera..not sure of the model number, but I really need to check it out the next time I am at Walgreens to have some digital pics printed.

Our A735 takes surprising good video, with sound, has steady cam, red eye reduction, smile detection, face detection, closed eye detection, settings for indoor, out door, museum, night, portrait, aquarium, fire works, hi speed, land scape, plants, children and pets (turns off the flash to protect their sensitive eyes). This little $80 camera out does the $500 camera that my sister-in-law bought 3 to 4 years ago and is less than half the size.

OBIO

WarHorse47
October 2nd, 2009, 12:59
My current digital is one I purchased about 5 years ago. It's a Konica-Minolta SLR 4 megapizel with 12X optical zoom and uses 4-AA rechargable batteries. My wife's digital camera is a point and shoot Fuji with a nice 3.5 inch LCD.

The wife's camera is better for indoor, personal shots. My camera is best for outdoor sport shots because of the ability to use manual settings and the SLR. The view screen on my wife's is hard to use in sunlight.

The wife's camera has a special rechargable battery. When we bought this camera it came with a recharger and a second battery as a backup.

With my camera I struggled with rechargable batteries for years. Ended up have two sets, plus a set of standard AA batteries just to take to an air show, only to have all three sets lose the juice. This year I went to a Battery Plus store, and bought two sets of rechargable AA batteries just for cameras. When we went to the Reno Air Races two weeks ago I took over 200 high res shots with just one set of batteries - didn't have to change them out at all.

AS a suggestion, I purchased my camera based on research I did. There are a couple websites that let you compare cameras according to their features and price. Then they point you to where you can order it on line. When I researched for mine I was specific about the optical zoom, pixel size and rechargable battery feature.

--WH

srgalahad
October 2nd, 2009, 14:16
The charge life of any battery set in a camera depends on a few things...
1) straight running time ( which is why "sleep mode" should be set to come on sooner rather than later.
2) Flash usage - constant flash use (charging) drains batteries significantly.
3) unknown energy requirements for zoom, etc - likely the lowest significance unless the drive is an energy hog
4) That dang, stupid, useless LCD ^&%@## viewfinder- the market has been sucked into not using an eye-level optical viewfinder ( more work for the designers and not-very-cool for the marketing dept.). I have had various reports with all sorts of number that basically end up as "guesses" but the gist is that using the LCD screen to aim, frame, and format every picture will cut charge life in half.

I have used a Nikon Coolpix 900 & 950 for commercial work and found I could get 150-200 (non-flash, no LCD) shots from 2100mah rechargable AA's (drugstore AA's just don't have the oomph) and the new high end rechargeable AA's promise to be even better.

That said, the custom battery packs supplied with most new (decent) cameras SHOULD provide equal performance.

I understand your quandry - cycling 24 AA's thru a charger at night in a hotel room is still better than having standard ones die after 50 pics. At least you can often pop into the nearest WalMart and grab a pack or two to get you through an emergency.
With the battery packs now, you should still have two - one freshly charged but without doing a whole bunch of math I bet the price is roughly equal to a suitcase of non-rechargeables or even a dozen or two high-end rechargeable AA's.

As for getting stuck in the boonies without a 110V outlet, grab a plug-in AC inverter for your car and hook the charger (of any kind) to it, then recharge your batteries on the way to the airshow or grandkids' picnic.

Chargers? I don't know about the included ones for cameras, but I have a Radio Shack 8 xAA charger that is a 'slow' charger that's been working for about 6 years, and a 4xAA portable charger (1 hr fast charge) that's been around almost as long.

Rob

Odie
October 2nd, 2009, 14:59
Ok not an FS discussion but I am having problems deciding something. My Sony Cybershot, a decent little point-and-shoot, gave up the ghost. As I was shopping for a replacement I learned a devious change had taken place. The majority of the new cameras now use re-chargable batteries, let me change that to must use $40-$60 specific rechargable batteries. I want to know if these will work comparably to the AA batteries my old one used.
I always carried an extra set so I never missed a shot, but I can see the time now where I'll find myself out of juice with no outlet or time to wait while this new thing charges. I feel a bit extorted. There are still a smattering of AA cameras out there but they fall a bit short in other areas. It's like you can hardly find a corded phone anymore either-everything needs a re-chargable battery. And the included charger guarantees the battery will fry up one week past the warranty date (experience). Man oh man, these guys are good.
So anyway, rant over. Are these new cameras likely to last a good long time between charges? One Geek Squad flunky said about 120-150 pictures per charge.

I have a digital SLR Minolta and it has a rechargable battery. I've found that it will go through 150 pictures before it needs replacing. I carry two (one in camera, one in bag) with me to airshows. It has the auto-powerdown if not being used and comes back up at the touch of a button.

Willy
October 2nd, 2009, 15:05
Mrs Willy has a Fuji S1000 that works great. It seems to be easier on the batteries than her old point and shoot Canon was.

SPman
October 2nd, 2009, 16:55
I've got a Fuji SD2000 that runs 4 AA's and the missus has a Panasonic Lumix FS7 with a rechargeable. We were in China last month, rattling off 100's of shots a day, each (damn digital cameras - you'd never do it with film) and the batteries were good for about 350-400 shots each. (expensive AA's) Both 12 mp cameras. The rechargeble in the Lumix was fine - just checked it at the end of each day and recharged it when neccesary. I do prefer the AA's though - easy enough to carry a spare set and you can buy them most places if things get a bit dire.....

Moparmike
October 2nd, 2009, 17:10
Moved to the Other Hobbies forum.


I don't have a newer PnS camera yet...my old one still runs AAs (but so does my DSLR too)....but the current batteries seem to last just as good as a good set of AA cells.

My problem is that I like to disappear out into nowhere for several days at a time (either hiking, or in wintertime, on CC skis or snowmobile) so I'm still stubbornly hanging onto the old-fashioned AA cell powered stuff that can be powered up by spare cells from the nearest gas station.

SRG and others have it pegged pretty good...
It all depends on how much you "chimp" with the LCD, how much flash shooting, zoom, etc. But the biggest battery killer is using the darned LCD screen for a viewfinder.

aeromed202
October 2nd, 2009, 17:49
Other Hobbies works, I forgot about that one. Well I ended up getting a Sony DSC-W220 for about $170US ($199 at the store, $170 on-line then p/u at the same store, go figure). Has the rechargable batteries-ugh. I still feel kinda like an extortion victim. And you can't charge the batteries in the camera-ugh#2 so I expect I'll have to buy a second one eventually.
Looks like it ought to work like my old one though so here's hoping. Thanks for all the help.:ernae: