Camera batteries.

[Rich Stewart]

I just got finished reading the best buy rant. My camera, Minolta sumpin er other, would only take 5 or 6 pictures with Duracell batteries. I got the rechargables and I could take hundreds of pictures. Could that have been the problem with the short battery life in the authors rant? I don't use Best Buy either. Too many rebates and bait and switch tactics.

[Chris Padilla]

It all depends on the quality of the batteries. It could be that your Duracells were low even if you bought them brand new: it happens.

I had the opposite problem. I had some "off-brand" rechargeable batteries for a Canon camera and it would bleed them dry in no time. Threw in some plain old Energizers (or maybe Duracells) and it went for a long time. Now I "invested" in Energizer rechargeables and am quite please with them...I end up tossing the "off-brand" rechargeables and its recharger. Lesson learned: stick with Duracells and Energizers when possible. They do seem to work the best.

[Jim Becker]

I've found that there is a remarkable difference in battery life between the compact cameras and my DSLR. The latter will shoot hundreds of shots, including with flash before a needed recharge. Both of my compact "travel" cameras have much more limited life. Using the video feature really saps it faster, too. Of course, the battery packs for my D70 are also substantially larger than in the S51 or S1...that makes a difference, too.

One of the things I do to help with battery life is work without the flash as much as possible. For those compact Nikons, for example, I use the "Museum" scene setting unless I absolutely know I need flash...and the switch is very quick with either a push of a switch for the S1 or a quick dip into the menu for the S51. Even with the DSLR, I often turn off the flash and just use room light as long as the subject is static and it's not too dark.

[Lee Schierer]

On rechargeables you have to read the fine print too. Look at the battery rating. The more Milli amp hours in the rating the longer the battery will last. Rechrageables also go bad. One bad cell will make several look bad. Overcharging is bad for most rechargeables.

[Lee DeRaud]

One of my cameras (Minolta 7hi) is notorious for bad battery life: I finally gave up and switched to the AA lithium non-rechargeables.

The other camera (a 2002-vintage Sony Mavica) has a proprietary rechargeable lithium-ion pack. On a full charge it will handle more pictures than the memory stick will hold.

But with any of the cameras with built-in or "factory" rechargeable batteries, the state of charge when the camera/battery comes out of the box is a total crap-shoot: they almost always have to go through an initial charge cycle (usually longer than a normal recharge), no matter how eager you are to play with the new toy.

[Joe Pelonio]

Digital cameras just suck up the batteries. Between my wife, kids and I we have 5, and they all do it. My current plan of attack is two sets of rechargeables, and always carry two extra pairs of regular alkaline just in case. If on a several day trip/vacation I may take a dozen pairs. Mine has an a/c adapter but it's hard to find a long enough extension cord for a hike.

[Jason Abel]

The higher mAh does not necessarily mean longer run time. Many high mAh cells do not put out high amperage efficiently (Flash Recharge) which causes quick derating of the cell. FWIW, Sanyo makes the absolute best batteries on the market. They have won awards for the past few years for the best quality. They are typically more pricey than the others but it's money well spent.

Jason
Battery Builders

[Jon Lanier]

My digital is a Sony Cyber shot that takes 2 double AA's. I keep about 8 rechargeable batteries... charged up. I Keep a couple sets with me and as soon as they die, I put them in the charger. I've wore out two sets of batteries in 6 months. But we are talking a ton of pictures. Probably over 100 every baseball game and football game. (Clarify: My older son takes off with the camera to take pictures of teammates of Josh and doesn't know that 10 poses of the same thing is more than enough. Just glad that wasn't film!!!)

[Paul Kunkel]

I've found the best rechargables at Walmart. Rayvac AA Hybrid are NiMH and last longer than any rechargables I've ever used.

[Earl Reid]

After some battery problems with our HP camera, the camera rep at WM said some of the cammeras don't like alkaline batteries. WM replaced the camera. I then found my book and it said DO NOT USE ALKALINE BATTERIES.
Earl

[Jason Abel]

FWIW, Rayovac is owned by Microlite which is a company who has some very dark secrets in their past with improper disposal of hazardous waste as well as unsafe work environments for their employees. We don't purchase any Microlite products because of their lack of respect for their employees and our environment.

Earl, that is good info to know. Many cameras actually tell you not to use rechargeables because they have a lower voltage (1.2V compared to 1.5V alkaline). Lower voltage means longer recharge time for flashes and in some cases too low of a voltage to power the camera at all.

Happy Holidays!!!

Jason
Battery Builders/MTO Battery

[Scott Shepherd]

Jason, maybe you know the answer to this- I was in a CVS and needed some batteries (AA's), and the manager there is quite friendly and talkative. He saw me looking at them and said "You know all batteries are made by about 2 or 3 companies", and then he went on to explain that he managed a Radio Shack for a long time, and it was well known that most batteries are made by 1 of several companies and everyone else just passes them off as their own.

Do you know if that's true?

[Jason Abel]

Yes and no. There are 2 major rechargeable manufacturers (Sanyo and Panasonic). There are also quite a few smaller manufacturers. Even though some sizes of batteries are only made through 1-2 facilities they are still made to different specs. Long story short is that there definitely is some truth to the statement but they are not just different labels either.

Alkaline batteries are made in 1.5 million different places. No 2 are the same....

Hope this helps.