Canon A80 - These Accessories?

[Playmaker]

After extensive researching, I've decided to purchase a Canon A80. I was just about ready to buy the A75 for $230 shipped, but read about some problems and decided the extra $75 was worth the piece of mind. Please take a look at these prices and accessories and tell me how the setup looks...

Canon A80 for $305 shipped from PCNation. Free 2-3 day shipping clinches it for me. It is 4/5 stars on Pricegrabber, some problems, but seems okay overall. Anyone have any experience? I really want it by Friday and plan to order today (Wednesday) afternoon. Does this price look like a deal? I realize it's not the $180 deal from OD, but is this the best available right now? Also, does anyone think there will be a pricedrop during the week before Father's Day?

Canon case for $10 from Newegg. Seems like a solid case, good price, and I've been buying from Newegg for 4 years so I might as well do it again. Anyone have any experience with this case? I realize it's only $10, but is it worth it?

Lexar 256MB 12x CF card for $47 or Sandisk 256MB (not sure on speed) for $39. Both from Newegg. Is the Lexar card worth the additional $8? Or won't I notice a speed difference between the two?

Does anyone have any recommendations for batters (2 sets of 4 rechargeables) and a charger? I don't want to spend too much, but I want something reliable. Charging speed isn't a big deal as long as it's under 2-3 hours or so. Any sites that have good prices? Or am I better off going to Ritz or Batteries Plus and getting whatever they recommend?

That's roughly $400 if I expect to spend $40 on the batteries and charger.

How does that look? Is there anything I'm missing? Or should this be all I need to take pictures and put them onto my laptop while traveling in Europe for the next 8 weeks? Any and all suggestions appreciated.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Another A80 owner, or soon to be, welcome to the club

I went with the Viking 256 myself - only 8x I think but the difference is neglible unless you go with the Ultra II CF cards, which supposedly are mind numbingly fast. About $30 after rebate. Regarding case - I bought one from Fry's for $10 - Case Logic - had more compartments and storage. The one you linked to would be a slightly better fit but it has a neck/belt strap as well.

Batteries - an hour charger + 4 batteries will run about $30, which is very little considering the overall investment. I think Rayovac makes a 15 min charger as well. They're all about the same brand wise (to me anyway)

 

[Anubis]

the Ultra ii CF ards wont make a diff on a P&S digi cam, only will improve transfer speeds, they are ment for DSLRs that write insanely fast

 

[gwlam12]

how about the 256mb viking cf card from amazon? $26 after $20 rebate

 

[DaveSimmons]

Check RossMAN's GottaDeal.com they have had links (OneCall, etc.) for an A80 at $302-310 +ship, but with Canon soft case and batteries/charger.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
Another A80 owner, or soon to be, welcome to the club

I went with the Viking 256 myself - only 8x I think but the difference is neglible unless you go with the Ultra II CF cards, which supposedly are mind numbingly fast. About $30 after rebate. Regarding case - I bought one from Fry's for $10 - Case Logic - had more compartments and storage. The one you linked to would be a slightly better fit but it has a neck/belt strap as well.

Batteries - an hour charger + 4 batteries will run about $30, which is very little considering the overall investment. I think Rayovac makes a 15 min charger as well. They're all about the same brand wise (to me anyway)

Couldn't be farther from the truth, regardless of how it is to you.

Your charger is directly responsible for how full your batteries get. Some are very horrible at it, as little as 80% of the batteries capacity.

Another issue is heat. Fast chargers are NOT what you want. For one, the issue stated above - most of the time they don't fully charge the battery. Maybe 95% if you're lucky. Fast-charging the batteries also produces a lot of heat. Heat is bad because it shortens the batteries life.

Battery review

Everything you ever wanted to know about rechargable batteries... and more

 

[jagec]

Maha 2200MAH batteries are good. use them with their charger.

 

[RagingBITCH]

oh stfu Eli

 

[Gurck]

I took a look at that case (I have an a75), and thought it looked cheap & decided against it. For about $20 shipped I got a nice Case Logic pleather (they call it koskin) case. You can google them or check bizrate, think I ended up using bagselect.com.

 

[RKS]

Originally posted by: jagec
Maha 2200MAH batteries are good. use them with their charger.

The A80 eats normal batteries.
Once I got the Maha batteries(2 sets of 4) and the charger I have only recharged each set once. I use the camera on a daily basis and probably have taken over 1500 pics. I don't even want to guess how much I would have spent on normal batteries.

 

[Playmaker]

Thanks all for the advice. I didn't find the deal on GottaDeal for the camera with bag and batteries/charger, but I did find it for $2-$3 cheaper with the same shipping at OneCall, which is rated much higher on reseller ratings than PCNation, so that's great. Also, thanks for the tip on the memory cards. I'm thinking of buying 2 128MB cards instead of 1 256MB card, good idea?

For the bag, is this the one you have? Or is it the larger model? If it is, does it have pockets for an extra memory card or 2 and maybe even for 4 extra batteries? Thanks again.

 

[RagingBITCH]

oops SOB, I got the non-Case Logic one. That was the exact one I was otherwise considering, my bad. I liked the other one better b/c it had a pouch for extra memory cards and room for at least 8 extra batteries. The CL one was weather resistant, which my current one isn't.

 

[Playmaker]

Thanks again for the advice, I just placed the order. Canon A80 + LowePro Z10 Case for 313.38 shipped. Maha battery charger + 2 sets of Powerex 1800 batteries (anyone else use these?) + a European power cord for $50.44 shipped. Lexar 256MB CF card for $47 shipped. Total of $410.82. It would have been right around $400 without the European battery charger cable. I went for the more expensive Lexar CF because I saw a lot of negative reviews on Amazon of Vikings going out after a few months and don't want to hassle with that while in Europe at the risk of having no memory card. Also, in the customer reviews on Newegg, one user use this Lexar card with the A80 and claimed it was noticeably faster then a SanDisk Ultra II card. I know many people say that's not possible, but I guess it's worth the $8 over the SanDisk just in case.

So, camera, case, batteries + charger, and CF card. Am I missing anything that I'd need to take pictures and put them on my laptop while in Europe?

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: Playmaker
Thanks again for the advice, I just placed the order. Canon A80 + LowePro Z10 Case for 313.38 shipped. Maha battery charger + 2 sets of Powerex 1800 batteries (anyone else use these?) + a European power cord for $50.44 shipped. Lexar 256MB CF card for $47 shipped. Total of $410.82. It would have been right around $400 without the European battery charger cable. I went for the more expensive Lexar CF because I saw a lot of negative reviews on Amazon of Vikings going out after a few months and don't want to hassle with that while in Europe at the risk of having no memory card. Also, in the customer reviews on Newegg, one user use this Lexar card with the A80 and claimed it was noticeably faster then a SanDisk Ultra II card. I know many people say that's not possible, but I guess it's worth the $8 over the SanDisk just in case.

So, camera, case, batteries + charger, and CF card. Am I missing anything that I'd need to take pictures and put them on my laptop while in Europe?

Good choices, but why did you get the 1800mAh batteries when the 2200mAh are only a couple $ more?

They're still good (1800mAh) batteries, but.. heh.

I have the 2200mAh flavor, and I can get 250 - 400 pics with my A60 depending on flash use etc..

Sounds like you've pretty much got it covered. You might want a small tripod or a monopod, depending on what kind of pictures you'll be taking.

 

[GonzoCircus]

Originally posted by: Playmaker
Thanks again for the advice, I just placed the order. Canon A80 + LowePro Z10 Case for 313.38 shipped. Maha battery charger + 2 sets of Powerex 1800 batteries (anyone else use these?) + a European power cord for $50.44 shipped. Lexar 256MB CF card for $47 shipped. Total of $410.82. It would have been right around $400 without the European battery charger cable. I went for the more expensive Lexar CF because I saw a lot of negative reviews on Amazon of Vikings going out after a few months and don't want to hassle with that while in Europe at the risk of having no memory card. Also, in the customer reviews on Newegg, one user use this Lexar card with the A80 and claimed it was noticeably faster then a SanDisk Ultra II card. I know many people say that's not possible, but I guess it's worth the $8 over the SanDisk just in case.

So, camera, case, batteries + charger, and CF card. Am I missing anything that I'd need to take pictures and put them on my laptop while in Europe?

That was me. People can say what they want, but I have done tests with my A80 and the two cards and in most cases the Lexar was faster in writing the picture. In a few instances, the Ultra II was much faster than the Lexar, but generally the Lexar was faster. The Ultra II is faster transfering data through a card reader though.

 

[Playmaker]

I just realized that. I must have clicked a direct link from some review site to the 1800BH batteries. The kit with the 2200BH batteries is only $13 more, so I e-mailed them with the change. Hopefully it will go through okay.

Also, does anyone know anything about the "World International Adapter" in combo kit #4 at this link...

http://www.thomas-distributing.com/mh-c204f-4aa220dc.htm#world

Would that be all I need to use this in both the US and in Denmark and Germany? Or would my prior idea of buying the US kit and then a seperate AC adapter for Europe be a better idea, albeit costing a bit more?

In regard to the Lexar, even if it isn't faster I don't mind. I saw a lot of posts of Viking cards going bad at all the review sites I went to, and never saw one about a Lexar going bad. The extra $15 is worth not risking my card going bad while in Europe. And hopefully it is faster, too. The card reader transfer time doesn't bother me either. However, your review saying you used it in an A80 was reassuring so I knew I was getting the right card heh.

Thanks again for all your feedback.

 

[Playmaker]

I just wanted to make this last post on this thread to say how great Thomas Distributing was for batteries. They changed my order immediately via e-mail and notified me with a quick response with no hassle or customer service call. It's a great place to order from if you need rechargeable batteries for your digital camera.