AA rechargeable batteries, battery life

[unapproved]

I want a camera that runs well using typical rechargeable AA batteries, probably NiCad. These things provide 1.2V, so a camera that uses two batteries has to run on 2.4V as well as it runs on the 3V from non-rechargeable batteries.

Is there a camera that runs well using externally rechargeable batteries?
Do typical rechargeable AA batteries suffer from short duty cycles?
Is it a dream to think a camera can take more than a dozen pictures on one charge?
Is it a dream to think batteries can be recharged more than 30 times?

Shall I bite the bullet and buy a camera with an internal rechargeable battery?

 

[ElFenix]

canon A series

review

 

[zephyrprime]

Dude, are you living in the eighties or something? Every single one of those features you desire is easily attained and has been easily attainable for years.

First of all, forget nicads. You can't even find them in stores anymore. Nimh are all that are sold nowadays.
Second, any camera that runs on AAs will run with rechargeables.
Third, Nimh actually offers more flashes per charge than alkalines do.

 

[corkyg]

My Canon S3 IS runs on 4 AA batteries. It loves NiMH echargeables (energizers.) I have an old Olumpus D50 that runs on 2 of them.

Zephyrprime is correct - there should be no problem.

 

[DrPizza]

In my experience, NiMH batteries have a much greater performance than alkaline batteries for the digital cameras I've had. I typically get at least twice as many photos with a charged set of NiMH batteries than with a set of brand new name brand batteries. There are tons of reviews and comparisons of the two types. (This thread reminded me, I forgot to back up my bookmarks on my school computer before the summer )

Although a couple years old, here's an excellent resource to read a little about the differences. For what it's worth, it does give some information on how different chargers greatly affected the amount of charge in the battery. It's definitely worthwhile to be selective in which brand of batteries you're pairing up with which brand/model of charger. The difference can be dramatic.
here

For what it's worth, while alkaline batteries may start out with a slightly higher voltage, their voltage drops pretty steadily over time while NiMH batteries tend to provide a more stable voltage over a longer amount of time. The difference, I believe is due to the higher internal resistance inherent in alkaline batteries, but it's been a while since I really studied up on batteries. IIRC, lithium and lithium ion batteries hold a higher voltage longer (but of course, are a lot more expensive.) It seems that for the more typical consumer level digital cameras, the NiMH's provide the most bang for the buck.

Found another resource while trying to recall a few details about batteries: here

 

[Jawo]

I would only get cameras that run on AA's so I wouldnt get locked into expensive LiIon batteries. As ElFenix said, the Canon A series is great. I have used several of them, most recently the a620 and it works great. You get about 300-400 pics per set of batteries. And the NiHM batteries are cheap so you can bring multiples. I also like them since you have somewhat of a grip on hold onto the camera. The most popular AA's on the web seem to be the Maha AA's from Thomas Distributing

 

[unapproved]

Actually, I'm living in the sixties. I went up to 2001 and bought a Kodak DX3600. It's a nice little machine. I'm using batteries I bought in a supermarket a couple of years ago (2005), but the camera gets very little juice from them. I came forward to 2007 to ask in this group.

Even the NiMH rechargeables do badly. But, it could be failing batteries or mismatch with the generic charger I also bought in the supermarket. I accidentally tried NiCads, but they just barely get the camera turned on.

I found the owner's manual, which advises NiMH, and warns against alkaline.

Thanks for your advice! Well, I have to get back to my time, and do some assembly-language programming on my PDP1!

Thanks to all for such thorough advice.

 

[Calin]

Originally posted by: ElFenix
canon A series

review

I have a Canon A430 - and can fill a 128MB card with 1600x1200 pictures using rechargable 1700mAh rechargeable batteries. I think (with freshly loaded batteries) it can fill the card shooting every picture with flash.
Good for about 150+ pictures

 

[AmigaMan]

Originally posted by: unapproved
Actually, I'm living in the sixties. I went up to 2001 and bought a Kodak DX3600. It's a nice little machine. I'm using batteries I bought in a supermarket a couple of years ago (2005), but the camera gets very little juice from them. I came forward to 2007 to ask in this group.

Even the NiMH rechargeables do badly. But, it could be failing batteries or mismatch with the generic charger I also bought in the supermarket. I accidentally tried NiCads, but they just barely get the camera turned on.

I found the owner's manual, which advises NiMH, and warns against alkaline.

Thanks for your advice! Well, I have to get back to my time, and do some assembly-language programming on my PDP1!

Thanks to all for such thorough advice.

You old timer, you're making me look young I believe it was 2001 when I bought myself a Kodak digital camera too (probably the same model as you). I've since moved on up to a Canon S2 and now a Sony Alpha DSLR. Anyways, it's time to ditch your Kodak and move on to a Canon or Nikon as some of the guys have listed above. Fuji also makes good cameras, although i'm not sure which models use AA or proprietary batteries. Lumix (Panasonic) makes great cameras as well and I know some of them use AA batteries. In the end, unless you've invested in a lot of NiMH batteries and a good charger (like a MAHA) getting a camera that depends on AA isn't that important. You should really look at how you'll be using the camera and how often you'll be using it.
In my case, having the Canon S2 take AA batteries saved my butt a couple times. My wife and I were on vacation in Hawaii, and out of the 12 NiMH rechargables we had, we forgot to bring the ones that were charged. But a quick trip to the local walmart got us some Lithium Ion batts that worked very well for us and saved us a 1 hour trip back to our hotel room to get the charged NiMH's. The Lithium batteries actually last longer than NiMH's but of course are not rechargeable. If we had a proprietary battery, we'd have been SOL.