digital camera battery use

I am shopping for a new digital camera that would cost under $150.
My question, is the battery usage of all digital camera the same, or
do some cameras need battery replacement less frequently than others?

best, Aaron

On Sun, 04 Nov 2007 08:54:13 -0800, "
wrote:

I am shopping for a new digital camera that would cost under $150.
My question, is the battery usage of all digital camera the same, or
do some cameras need battery replacement less frequently than others?

best, Aaron

Generally speaking replacing batteries in a digital camera is not
done.

Digital cameras either use a rechargeable proprietary Lithium ion
battery or use NIMH AA rechargeable. With the introduction of
low self discharge NIMH batteries such as the Sanyo Eneloop or
the Hybrid types I would lean toward these over the Lithium ions..
Lithium ion batteries work great but they are proprietary and start
to slowly degrade from the time of their manufacturing. They'll do
this even if they aren't used. After about five years a Lithium ion
loses much of it's capacity.

As far as non rechargeable go....many Digital cameras now days can
use alkaline AA's, refer to the manual. Some can also use the non
rechargeable Lithium AA's, refer to the manual. Why bother with these
when you have a rechargeable choice.

Thats why we have rechargeable batteries, so you don't have to go out and
buy AA's so many times. Cheaper in the long run too.

My little P&S, uses the rechargeable. When were on vacation and I'm
shooting heavy, I will recharge overnight remembering to put the charger
back in my carry bag so I wont forget it in a Hotel. LOL I have gotten the
Battery Low warning but it was at the end of a very long day. Doesn't
happen too often but it does happen. On my DSLR, I will get a second
battery. I didn't get one yesterday at the moment of purchase I guess I
felt that I was buying too much at a time. LOL I'll wait, and just make
sure I wont forget.

Not4wood



wrote in message
ps.com...
I am shopping for a new digital camera that would cost under $150.
My question, is the battery usage of all digital camera the same, or
do some cameras need battery replacement less frequently than others?

best, Aaron

On Sun, 04 Nov 2007 08:54:13 -0800
" wrote:

I am shopping for a new digital camera that would cost under $150.
My question, is the battery usage of all digital camera the same, or
do some cameras need battery replacement less frequently than others?

Two completely different questions.

Digital cameras generally differ in their battery usage. There is
a standard way to measure how many shots a camera can take on a fresh
charge. The various camera review sites report these things. See
http://www.dpreview.com, for example.

It's probably true that for the typical snapshooter the camera will
become obsolete before the batteries need replacement. Li-ion batteries
are supposed to have useful lives of at least three years from date
of manufacture. I have two that are 16 months old and doing fine.
My experience with NiMH batteries is that it varies. I bought three
sets of four in 2001 and rotated them through an Oly C-700. One set
stopped holding a charge at about five years. The other two are
rotating through a short wave radio to see how long they'll go.

Paul Allen

On Sun, 04 Nov 2007 08:54:13 -0800, wrote:

I am shopping for a new digital camera that would cost under $150.
My question, is the battery usage of all digital camera the same, or
do some cameras need battery replacement less frequently than others?

There's quite a wide range of battery performance. Generally, the
number of shots quoted by manufacturers in their manuals is fairly
accurate, and they're usually available as downloadable PDF files.
I'd suggest ignoring battery performance initially. Look for
cameras that are suitable for your purposes, and then compare
battery performance. Otherwise, you might end up with a camera that
takes many pictures from a battery set (or per charge), but is
otherwise a pretty dismal camera. Also, do you intend to take most
of your pictures indoors, using the camera's flash, or outdoors?
Use the LCD display or an optical viewfinder?

Although somewhat above your price range, Canon's A6## cameras
usually turn in very good battery performance. For the recent A630
(which uses 4 AA cells), if the LCD is used and half of the pictures
are taken using the flash, it should be good for 350 shots using
alkaline AA cells and 500 shots per charge from NiMH cells. If the
flash isn't used and the optical viewfinder is used instead, the
number of shots increases to 1,200 shots from alkalines and 1,500
shots/charge from NiMH.

Several of Nikon's smaller cameras (which use 2 AA cells) that
meet your price requirement are the L6, L11 and L12. While not
having the flexibility of Canon's A6## cameras (they lack fully
manual control), have some sophisticated features, and have battery
performance that ranges from decent to excellent. The manual only
provides battery life info. for taking pictures using the more
demanding test (half of the shots using the flash, and using the LCD
display - in this case a "must"). The L6 is rated at 400 shots
using alkalines, 540 shots using NiMH and 1,000 shots using lithium
AA cells. The L11 gets 250 shots (with alkaline), 300(NiMH) and
600(lithium). The L12 should be good for 150 shots (with alkaline),
370(NiMH) and 600(lithium). The L12 has more 'features', such as
true image stabilization, but they're probably the reason why it
goes through batteries more quickly. All of this info. was culled
from the manuals, so if you're interested in any other cameras,
download their manuals and compare . . .

wrote:
On Sun, 04 Nov 2007 08:54:13 -0800, "
wrote:

I am shopping for a new digital camera that would cost under $150.
My question, is the battery usage of all digital camera the same, or
do some cameras need battery replacement less frequently than others?

best, Aaron

Generally speaking replacing batteries in a digital camera is not
done.

Just because you use rechargeable batteries doesn't mean you don't have
to replace them. When the set in the camera go dead, you need to put a
fresh set in. Unless you are willing to stop what you are doing and
wait for the only set you have to recharge. I think the OP is looking
for long battery life so he doesn't have to swap out a set of cells or
recharge very often. Also all rechargeable cells can only be recharged
a certain number of times before they need to be replaced. The more
shots you can take before recharging the longer the cells are going to last.





--
Chris W
KE5GIX

"Protect your digital freedom and privacy, eliminate DRM,
learn more at http://www.defectivebydesign.org/what_is_drm"

Ham Radio Repeater Database.
http://hrrdb.com

LOL, thats why you have more then one. While one is dying you already have
a fully charged battery waiting to go.
If its a real important job, you will have a charger setup in one corner
some where charging the battery that was just pulled and another one or two
still charged in your pocket also waiting to be used.

If its an important job, you dont want to have packs of AA's flying around
that might not last half as long as a fully recharged Lithium.

Not4wood





"Chris W" wrote in message
...


wrote:
On Sun, 04 Nov 2007 08:54:13 -0800, "
wrote:

I am shopping for a new digital camera that would cost under $150.
My question, is the battery usage of all digital camera the same, or
do some cameras need battery replacement less frequently than others?

best, Aaron

Generally speaking replacing batteries in a digital camera is not
done.

Just because you use rechargeable batteries doesn't mean you don't have to
replace them. When the set in the camera go dead, you need to put a fresh
set in. Unless you are willing to stop what you are doing and wait for
the only set you have to recharge. I think the OP is looking for long
battery life so he doesn't have to swap out a set of cells or recharge
very often. Also all rechargeable cells can only be recharged a certain
number of times before they need to be replaced. The more shots you can
take before recharging the longer the cells are going to last.





--
Chris W
KE5GIX

"Protect your digital freedom and privacy, eliminate DRM,
learn more at http://www.defectivebydesign.org/what_is_drm"

Ham Radio Repeater Database.
http://hrrdb.com

wrote:
I am shopping for a new digital camera that would cost under $150.
My question, is the battery usage of all digital camera the same, or
do some cameras need battery replacement less frequently than others?

Usually the reviews will mention the battery life. It does vary pretty
widely, but realistically, 300 shots per recharge is not all that much
of a disadvantage over 500 shots per recharge, and I wouldn't make that
much of factor in deciding which camera to buy.

As to the type of battery, for sub-compact cameras, you have no choice,
all of them use Li-Ion battery packs because of the energy density. For
compact cameras, some of the lower-priced ones use AA batteries, while
the higher-level ones usually use Li-Ion. For digital SLRs, almost all
of them use Li-Ion batteries because of several important advantages.

You can look at "http://batterydata.com" for details on the trade-offs
of NiMH (AA) versus proprietary Li-Ion packs. There are advantages and
disadvantages for each.

Not4wood wrote:
LOL, thats why you have more then one. While one is dying you already have
a fully charged battery waiting to go.
If its a real important job, you will have a charger setup in one corner
some where charging the battery that was just pulled and another one or two
still charged in your pocket also waiting to be used.

If its an important job, you dont want to have packs of AA's flying around
that might not last half as long as a fully recharged Lithium.

No professional or prosumer digital SLRs use AA batteries, so I don't
think any "important job" would have AA's anyway, unless someone is
using AA trays in a vertical grip. In that case, the AA's are already in
a tray and can be quickly swapped. though not easily recharged as you'd
need two chargers or a six cell charger. I think that the only current
production D-SLR that uses AA batteries is the Pentax K100D/K110D, which
is a very entry-level model that no professional would ever use.

On Nov 5, 3:55 am, "Not4wood" wrote:
LOL, thats why you have more then one. While one is dying you already have
a fully charged battery waiting to go.
If its a real important job, you will have a charger setup in one corner
some where charging the battery that was just pulled and another one or two
still charged in your pocket also waiting to be used.

If its an important job, you dont want to have packs of AA's flying around
that might not last half as long as a fully recharged Lithium.

Not4wood

"Chris W" wrote in message

...



wrote:
On Sun, 04 Nov 2007 08:54:13 -0800, "
wrote:

I am shopping for a new digital camera that would cost under $150.
My question, is the battery usage of all digital camera the same, or
do some cameras need battery replacement less frequently than others?

best, Aaron

Generally speaking replacing batteries in a digital camera is not
done.

Just because you use rechargeable batteries doesn't mean you don't have to
replace them. When the set in the camera go dead, you need to put a fresh
set in. Unless you are willing to stop what you are doing and wait for
the only set you have to recharge. I think the OP is looking for long
battery life so he doesn't have to swap out a set of cells or recharge
very often. Also all rechargeable cells can only be recharged a certain
number of times before they need to be replaced. The more shots you can
take before recharging the longer the cells are going to last.

--
Chris W
KE5GIX

"Protect your digital freedom and privacy, eliminate DRM,
learn more athttp://www.defectivebydesign.org/what_is_drm"

Ham Radio Repeater Database.
http://hrrdb.com

************************************************** ************************************************** *************************************
reply to all of the good people who answered my initial question:
thank you thank you for your informative posts.! This morning I
purchased a Sanyo Eneloop charger with 8 rechargeable batteries from
Costco for about $25. On a different thread Eneloop was very highly
recommended because the batteries do not lose their charge as others
when not being used and come fully charged when purchased. Best, Aaron