What Digital Camera has good battery life?

Question

I'm looking to buy a digital camera, between 80-130 pounds, can take video as well as pictures but im concerned about battery life. I've found a few which looked good but I clicked on reviews and they were all slaughtered because of poor battery life. Can anyone tell me a camera with good battery life, and around my price range? It would be a great help, or even just say about your own camera and how good/bad it is. Thanks guys...

Answer 1

The best camera for under $200 is the Canon A550

* 7.1 Megapixel
*4X Optical Zoom
* Very good photo quality, noise levels low through ISO 400 (in good light)
* Well built for the price
* Very good performance
* LCD visible in low light
* Some manual controls
* AF-assist lamp, good low light focusing
* Good movie and continuous shooting modes
* Impressive software bundle
* Uses AA batteries; great battery life
* USB 2.0 High Speed support

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

Do you have an optical viewfinder? Turn off the monitor and use it if you do. LCD monitors are battery hungry devices. The longer you leave it on, the quicker the batteries will drain. If you don't have an optical viewfinder so you MUST use the monitor, set it to turn off after the minimum time offered, such as 5 or 10 seconds. Don't spend too much time reviewing your pictures on your camera. Save that for the computer when you can use a card reader and not drain your camera batteries.

Rechargeable batteries are certainly the best, but if you do not use rechargeable batteries, get Energizer e² LITHIUM batteries (or the Duracell equivalent) and you will get much better battery performance. They cost twice as much as alkaline batteries, but they last four times as long.

The Canon Powershot A series cameras do especially well for battery life and they are in your price range. I own a few Nikon DSLR's and I'd buy the Canon Powershot A630 or A640 for myself. These cameras have the larger 1/1.8" (5.2 mm x 7.2 mm) sensor that is nearly double the sensor size you find in many point and shoot cameras and this translates into better image quality. They allow fully automatic use or total user control and offer several stages in between. The only significant difference between these cameras is that the A630 is 8 MP and the A640 is 10 MP.

If you're going to spend up to 130 Pounds, look at a Canon Powershot A630. My brother has had his A630 for about a year and it's a very nice camera. In the USA, the price is $192, so I hope it is still okay and in your price range over there.

If you can go to $300, look at the 10 MP Canon Powershot A640. This is an excellent camera. It sells for $260 and you can add a very nice memory card for under $40.

For either camera, buy a 1 or 2 GB Sandisk Ultra II or Extreme III card. You will NEED the increased capacity and write speed to fully realize the benefits of your camera. The Ultra II would be excellent, but if you are really into video, you might prefer the faster Extreme III. These cards cost from about $25-45 at B&H and several other outlets.

A630: http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_reviews/a630.html
Also: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Canon/canon_a630.asp (Read owner opinions)

A640: http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_reviews/a640.html
Also: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canona640/

Answer 4

Check the www.dpreview.com website for each of the cameras you are considering. All the brand name cameras have pretty good battery life, IF you leave the back screen off. To do that, search on a camera that has an optical viewfinder under 'Features Search'.

If you don't find a camera you like, my suggestion is to get a camera that uses AA batteries like the Canon A series like an A630 or A640. Then get an extra set of rechargable AA that have a rating like 2300mha or 2500mha.

Answer 5

I would like to highly recommend the purchase of a Nikon Coolpix L10 for the following reasons:

1. Besides taking well-exposed hi-quality 5 megapixel pictures, it uses a standard set of rechargeable double AA batteries which last a very long time;
2. Has a 3x optical zoom;
3. The flash setting for "red-eye" correction is on the navigator wheel and not within a submenu;
4. It's very small and light;
5. The digital video feature takes wonderful "sound" videos which are noise free. It records the piano very well with it's built-in microphone;
6. And the price is a mere $120 [sold at Samy's Camera, Staples.com.]

Answer 6

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 7

As others have mentioned, I think AA's are the way to go, so I'd try to find something that uses them. They're cheaper than proprietary batteries, and you can use Alkalines in a pinch (though I get terrible life from Alkalines).

Personally, I use Eneloop Rechargeables. I get around 500-600 shots per charge with my Pentax K100D.

Additionally, unlike other NiMH rechargeables, the Eneloops don't discharge on their own over time. Once you charge them, they keep their charge for a long time. Perfect if you don't plan to use your camera every day!

Good luck!

Answer 8

Mate, for my money, the Canon cameras the way to go.
With standard sized AA (I use rechargeables) the batteries last a long, long time.
Great quality optics, too.

Answer 9

try the Fujifilm S5600, it takes 4 X AA batteries, which means more power. also, shouldn't take long to recharge the 'common' battery :)

Answer 10

buy some energizer rechargables and charger £14 tesco's
they will do the job.
try argos for a deal : hp camera and printer £99.