Digital Camera eats batteries. Has anybody dealt with this before?

Question

I just bought a new Canon Powershot A550. The type of rechargable battery I used in it was used up in about 9 shots, but they warned me this might happen with that type. The batteries in the box it came in didn't last much longer either. Since sending it in for repair might result in me getting a refurbished camera, has anyone found a solution to this problem other than spending money to get it repaired, or can anybody tell me what i could be doing wrong?

Answer 1

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 2

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Answer 3

I'm very surprised that your camera should use up rechargeable batteries with 9 shots. Had they been charged long enough? Was there a period of time between taking the shots - some kinds of rechargeables can actually loose their charge over a period of time. That is maybe the reason you were warned. Alternatively, did you buy rechargeables with a low power rating? There are some cheap ones going about with a power rating of only 800 which wouldn't be very good for any digital camera. I guess the batteries in the box were not rechargeables - I wouldn't expect them to last very long.

Answer 4

It's a new camera. I doubt if there's anything wrong with it.
All digital cameras need battery power to run, whether it's the rechargeable type or non rechargeable. And they need a lot.

You should be using at the very least, NiMH rechargeable batteries (2500mAh), as a good power source for your camera, which btw is rated at up to 550 shots using 2500mAh batteries.
Keep in mind, that rechargeable batteries don't reach their full capacity until they have been through the charge cycle a few times...and they drain their power when not used (up to 1% per day), so recharge them before you know you will need the camera.

Or if you want non rechargeable & throwaway (but long life), try Lithium batteries such as Energizer e3.
Alkaline batteries (which probably came with your camera), are useless because they don't have enough power to run one.
good luck...

Answer 5

Hate to state the obvious, but have you recharged the rechargeable batteries for a good 8-10 hours before using it for the first time?

Also, batteries are drained much faster in extremely cold weather conditions, which might be worth mentioning in case you live in an icy corner of the world.

Answer 6

First start by getting some MiMH batteries around 2500 mha or higher, they will last 5 times as long in high power equipment as alkaline or other types of recharge ables.

you can get a 4 pack in walmart for about $8.00 or 4 with a charger for around $12.00

also the mistake most people make is they take a picture then switch the camera over to play to admire it, that's not helping. Instead go to your camera settings and increase the amount of time the picture stays displayed after taking it, this will give you time to verify you got the shot you wanted and you wont have to switch modes, then you can wait till you get to your PC to admire the shot.

While your in settings decrease the amount of time it takes for the camera to go off, most cameras are set to 3-5 Min's.

if my camera is idle for a min or more i want it off so i have mine set to 1 min.

get to know what light your camera needs indoors to take a clear picture, newer digital cameras do not require flash indoors like older ones did, if the room is well lit try turning flash off this will also save batteries.

Answer 7

Large LCD viewfinders eat batteries. It seems nice to have a big LCD monitor, but they are power hungry. You will have to do what you can to turn the thing off as soon as you don't need it any longer. Set it to shut off at the shortest possible interval after you take the picture. Set it so that it doesn't not display unless you tap the shutter button to wake it up. Even this will not go a long way towards conserving batteries.

Many have already suggested using high output batteries, like 2500 milliamp and I'd agree. You can get them even higher than that.

Answer 8

I have had 2 cams with Lithium ion rechargeable batteries and no problems at all. I would never buy a camera that took AA or AAA batteries. and especially not the little round photo lithium ones. my new panasonic lumix camera has energy save mode that dims the lcd and you can turn continuous auto focus off to further conserve batt. life. Incidentally, I highly reccommend the Lumix DMC-TZ3

Answer 9

im not sure about the canon but I had a samsung that done the same I just carried around spare batteries.

Best to review what cameras to buy. Sell it and buy a diffrent one

Answer 10

check the amperes of your rechargeable battery. ideally, especially for new cameras, you need the milli amperes to be at least 2500 mah.