I`m going to buy a digital camera pretty soon. But most of the cameras I`ve looked at have recharagble batteries only. I want to have the opportunity to use AA batteries in a pinch (travel/hunting/in the woods), but rechargables in daily life..
How do you guys solve this problem? Or are you just using rechargables, and recharge in camp or wherever electricity is availebel?

Camera suggestions is appreciated if you have. Have (almost) decided to go for the Canon Powershot A95. Supposed to have AA batteries, full manual control and very good image-quality.. Only downside was a slow autofokus..

My camera came with AA recharables and a charger. Finally I lost one of the batteries and have used regular alkaline AA's since. They are a lot less bother.

Well, I ended up ordering a Nikon Coolpix 5600 that came with a 256MB SD Card at no extra cost.
It has also the possibility to use AA batteries (and came with rechargable AA and recharger), but few manual settings. On the other hand it was supposed to be very quick.

Thanks for your input anyway!

most people that buy the cameras that use AA batteries cry all the time about them not lasting very long . if you don't use the flash or lcd screen they will last longer. i have a panasonic fz20 ,it takes a square rechargable and i can take 200 pics on one charge with flash.

I used some non-rechargable AA`s and they were worn out pretty quick. Now I`ve used rechargeble ones and they seem to last a lot longer. That might just be because they`re new.. Or that I used the camera a lot in the beginning.
No seriously, they seems better..

Anders,

Take a look at the ratings on those rechargable AA batteries as not all are created the same..The best ones that I can get locally are rated at 2350mAh where as the cheap ones are only rated at 1200mAh..That is a big difference in the charge capacity...

For more info on rechargable batteries in digital cameras, take a look at:

http://www.steves-digicams.com/nimh_batteries.html

Regards,

Pete

quote:

Originally posted by Anders:
I used some non-rechargable AA`s and they were worn out pretty quick. Now I`ve used rechargeble ones and they seem to last a lot longer. That might just be because they`re new.. Or that I used the camera a lot in the beginning.
No seriously, they seems better..

I have had much the same issues with every camera I have had, and just found a battery from Energizer that has a capacity of 2200 mah per cell. The best part is that they have a charger that will recharge them in 15 min. Even better, the charger operates on 12 V DC, a car battery!! They are a bit pricey, not to bad, but not the cheapest cells either. For a lot of shooting, two sets of cells should be plenty, given the fast recharge. Got them at WalMart, YMMV!!!!

Why not have a spare set of rechargables, one set in the camera and one in the charger.

quote:

Originally posted by geekay:
Why not have a spare set of rechargables, one set in the camera and one in the charger.

Generally speaking, leaving a set of batteries in a charger longer than needed to charge the batteries is not conducive to long cell life nor meeting the MAH rating of the cell. YMMV.

8MM OR MORE,

quote:

Generally speaking, leaving a set of batteries in a charger longer than needed to charge the batteries is not conducive to long cell life nor meeting the MAH rating of the cell.

Does that apply to all chargers or just the cheap ones? The reason i ask is that I was under the impression some of the better chargers had circuitry to prevent over charging?

I'm about to buy a charger & some AA batteries for my new digital, so I am looking for any advice I can get..

regards,

Pete

quote:

Originally posted by Pete E:
8MM OR MORE,

quote:

Generally speaking, leaving a set of batteries in a charger longer than needed to charge the batteries is not conducive to long cell life nor meeting the MAH rating of the cell.

Does that apply to all chargers or just the cheap ones? The reason i ask is that I was under the impression some of the better chargers had circuitry to prevent over charging?

I'm about to buy a charger & some AA batteries for my new digital, so I am looking for any advice I can get..

regards,

Pete

The whole field of rechargables is changing as we speak. The batteries that I spoke of earlier have not been out long enough to establish a track record, and I seem to find little info available on them as yet. They last in the camera for a couple of weeks before recharge is needed. They always seem to need recharge just when you need them most, so the 15 recharge cycle is real handy. Leaving a rechareable in an active charger for extended periods of time has never been a good idea in the past, for the cost of the product (about 26. $, includes 4 batteries) I do not expect an elaborate autosensing recharge stand. I would not leave a spare set of batteries in an active charger for two weeks, YMMV. It was the 15 min recharge time that first attracked me to them.

8MM OR MORE,

Thanks for that and I agree that the 12V function is a "must have" for a traveller..

Do you have a model number or anything on the charger? I'll take a look if its available over here..

regards,

Pete

I do Pete E, it is Energizer Model CH15MN, and I bought it with a set (4 ea) of AA NIMH cells. It has no external cord for auto use, but one can be made pretty easy from parts. It is rated at 11-16 volts DC @ 5 amps. There is a cooling fan integral to the charger base, for cooling and air flow. It and the cells have worked very well for me, I have not tried other NIMH cells in it, these are rated at 2200MAH each. These, and a 512 MB card for the camera, have made this very freindly to use!!

I just bought a Minolta Z-6, GREAT Camera, with a ton of functions. But I killed the alkaline bateries (4-AA's) just going through the manual. so off to target and a set of the Ni-MH rechargables. I think I bought the same thing you did (Energizer Model CH15MN, with a set (4 ea) of AA NIMH cells) but the batteries are listed at 2.5AH.

15 minutes to recharge, very nice

Just a little bit of added information. The NiMH batteries will self discharge over a period of time. The discharge rate is approx. 3% of capacity per day compared to 1% discharge rate on Ni-Cad rechargeables. This just means that if you don't use the camera for a few weeks, chances are that the batteries will be low. It's always good to have a pack of Alkaline batteries in the camera bag, just in case.

Nashcat

I use only lithium batteries. They last longer than any others, have an almost unlimited shelf life and you forget the worries of being near the right kind of electricity and carrying around a charger.