Battery Life on digital cameras?

Question

Can anyone tell me if rechargeable AA batteries are as good as the lithium variety on compact digital cameras? How may pics would you get before needing to change, assuming you review pictures from time to time? I'm looking at the Canon Powershot A430.

Answer 1

In my oinion Lithium batteries are better than the Ni-Cad or Ni-Mh AA rechargeable batteries. A Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) battery will have a higher capacity for the same volume and wil therefore last longer between charges than a Ni-Cad or Ni-Mh battery. The other main advantage of Lithium is the fact that it doesn't suffer from memory effect like the Nickel batteries. I would advise you if you can afford it and has the options you want to go for a camera with lithium batteries myself and buy a spare one.

The theory is backed up by my personal experience too, I have owned cameras with both sorts of batteries (same manufacturer, the lithium was a higher spec and cannot switch screen off) and I do not have to charge batteries as often as I did on the old one with rechargeable AAs. I hope this is helpful!

Answer 2

Digital SLR cameras have good battery life, because they don't use the LCD screen to take shots. The screen is the killer. Assuming though that you aren't going to get that serious about photography, let's look at the alternatives. The best life in point and shoot cameras are ones that have a dedicated Lithium Ion battery pack. These batteries perform well and last a fair time when not used. The only catch might be that these batteries are sometimes expensive to buy when a replacement is needed and if your model camera is no longer made when you go to replace the battery, then sourcing one might be difficult. When dealing with cameras that use "AA" batteries, then there are some traps people fall into. You see normal alkaline batteries just don't do it for digital cameras because of the high instantaneous current required to run a digital camera. (This includes all batteries such as "Duracell" and "Super Heavy Duty" etc) These types of batteries will appear to the camera to be flat even when they aren't because they just don't have the capacity to give the camera what it wants. Some places still sell rechargeable Nickel Cadmium Batteries (NiCd), and these batteries cannot cut it for digital cameras. There are also rechargeable alkaline batteries and these aren't great either. The only type of rechargeable to get is Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH), and the higher capacity the better. This capacity is typically rated in milliamp hours. A medium capacity battery for a camera will have say 1600 MAH whereas a high capacity battery will have more than 2000 MAH. Some even go as high as 2600 MAH. Get the highest that you can. One downside is that NiMH batteries go flat in the camera if you do not use them. In a camera that uses 2 batteries, this can happen in as little as a week. My advice is get a couple of sets of high capacity NiMH rechargeable batteries (2000 MAH or higher) and use these as much as possible. Also however buy one or two sets of Lithium batteries (non rechargeable) these last a long time but are wickedly expensive. Have one set of lithiums for backup in case you need the shot but the rechargeables are all flat. Soon as you can put freshly recharged batteries in and again keep the lithiums in reserve. Unused lithium batteries will last for years. Many cameras have a menu setting which can flatten the batteries for you prior to recharging. ONLY IF you are using NiMH batteries is this a good idea. Vendors tell you that NiMH are not prone to "memory effect" and therefore do not need to be totally flat before being recharged, but this is not true. NiMH bateries should be discharged before being recharged. If the camera can't automatically discharge them, then keep using the camera until it won't go anymore, then recharge them. Hope this helps.

Answer 3

an interesting question...

There is no way on earth that AA rechargables are as good as Lithium. Not only do they not last as long, but their halflife is terrible, and you will end up having to replace the actual batteries much sooner than the lithium one.

The A430 uses AA batteries, not so that you can put in some rechargable ones, but more so that you can put in the disposable (normal) batteries. It's for situations where you won't be anywhere near a power supply for ages, and when the batteries die, you can just replace them. You can buy AA batteris almost anywhere. - we passed a guy on a jungle path in Colombia, in the middle of nowhere, and he was selling Ice-creams and batteries. Go figure!

Answer 4

Verbatim from site listed as source. Seems to agree with what I've read elsewhere.

Battery Types
Digital cameras can be broken down into two categories: those that accept standard AA-size batteries and those that use a rechargeable battery made by the manufacturer, otherwise known as a proprietary battery.

The key points to remember about AA and proprietary batteries are:

While proprietary batteries offer the advantage of being lighter and more compact, they are substantially more expensive, making the prospect of buying one or two backup sets much less appealing.
More often than not, AA-compatible cameras ship with disposable alkaline batteries (the type used in most small electronic devices). Unfortunately, digital cameras generally exhibit pathetically short life - less than an hour in extreme cases - when used with these batteries. While alkaline batteries make acceptable emergency backups, particularly if you are traveling with your camera, Digital Camera HQ highly recommends buying at least one set of rechargeable Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries and a charger with any camera that ships standard with alkaline AA's. For less than $50 dollars, rechargeable NiMH batteries offer substantially longer life at an affordable price.
Other options for AA-compatible cameras include non-rechargeable Lithium batteries and rechargeable Nickel Cadmium (NiCD) batteries. While lithium batteries have superior life to alkaline AA's and offer good cold-weather performance, their price and non-rechargeable nature make them less useful than rechargeable NiMH batteries; in addition, certain cameras are not compatible with Lithium cells - be sure to check before using them. NiCD batteries offer the advantage of retaining their charge while unused, unlike NiMH cells, but have shorter lives and need to be discharged completely before recharging, making them inconvenient for most users.

Answer 5

Overall Lithium batteries will last longer.....but they are not rechargeable, so the benefit is lost the minulte you change your set of Lithiums.

Rechargeables will not last as long , but guess what? They are rechargeable! so you can keep using them over and over, thereby surpassing the value of the lithiums.

Advice for a good charger:

Stay away from timer chargers. these are usually inexpensive and include a set of batteries. these chargers apply voltage for a set time period then shut off regardless if the battery needs it or not or if the battery is fully charged or not.

Look for CPU chargers or smart chargers or microprocessor controled chargers. These ususally condition check and FULLY charge battieres and can some times tell you when you have a bad cell.

I like the Ansmann line of chargers.

Answer 6

To help keep running costs down I always suggest considering buying a set of rechargeable batteries and a charger. If you do decide to take this option look out for batteries with a mAh rating of 2000 and above (preferably 2500 or 2600). Batteries with higher ratings can go a lot longer between charges.

Answer 7

hi well not sure on the life of the batteries, your useing it depends on if you use the LED screen or not.
I have just been looking to buy a digital camera, if you visit www.pricerunner.co.uk they give you a lot of help on anything your looking for, but in answer.
Ni Cad are the cheapest, then theres Ni MH which last 30 times longer, than the NiCad,
the lithium last twice as long as the Ni MH and they dont suffer from memory effect hope that helps cheers peter

Answer 8

rechargable batteries can actually last longer then lithium batteries, you need to know how long they were on the shelf before you purchased them as the degrade over time

Answer 9

Lithumium Ion batteries have better backup

Answer 10

buy high drain rechargeables and a recharger