New technology in digital camera batteries?

Question

So, maybe I just might have a great invention, or maybe it's unreasonable: I wonder if there's a digital camera battery that works like a cell phone battery.

Does anyone know if any camera or battery manufacturers are working on longer-lasting batteries? It seems when I put my charged batteries in the camera, I still only manage to get a few pics or so.

Answer 1

There are two fundamental ways that cameras are powered:

1) AA removable batteries
2) Lithium Ion batteries that say in the camera

The second type is exactly like laptop/phone batteries. They are much better whilst they work, but are more expensive to replace when they finally do fail. If you buy a camera that proves not to be too popular, it may be that by the time the battery fails, a replacement is no longer available. Overall though I still prefer cameras with inbuilt Lithium Ion batteries.

If you have to deal with AAs here's some advice:

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

Some cameras use the same battery technology as cellphone batteries, Lithium ion. If a camera has a strangely shaped proprietary battery, not AAs or anything you normally see, the battery is probably Lithium. They are working on making smaller, more powerful (more expensive) batteries to help make cameras smaller.

But you can't get Lithium batteries in AA or other standard sizes, because they would explode if someone tried to charge them in a regular charger. Also, a lot of aftermarket Lithium batteries are junk. I got some cheap ones for my Nikon CP5400 and they lost their ability to hold power pretty quickly. Then again, I tend to lose batteries shooting nature photos anyhow!

If your camera uses AA batteries, all rechargeables aren't equal. Some NiCd batteries are really bad about losing their charge if you don't use them right after charging. Some don't even seem to have enough power to start with--I can't run my LED flashlight with rechargeables. I had extremely good luck using the NiMH rapid recharge AAs in my Canon A640; I could shoot all day without a flash, and quite a bit with the flash. Costco has a set of those for under $30 and they rock!

I like 15-minute rechargeables because I don't have to remember to charge them the night before I go somewhere. Just put them on the charger, and they're done by the time I eat breakfast.

Answer 3

Aughh. Stop throwing money around. You are using the wrong battery type. Dont buy any the ones you see in grocery stores such as alkaline, long lasting, etc.

Buy a regular nickle cadmium rechargeable set that comes as a package with the charger, and the 4 batteries. Those have been around for at least 5 or 6 years.

These batteries remain charged even when stored. They have no "memory" to lose if you charged them a thousand times. and they retain their charge in your camera when not in use. Just remember to turn the power off the camera.

They are available in every camera store. If you want to get fancy, buy the rechargeable ones that charge in only 15 minutes but those cost an arm and a leg and you will never take that many pictures. 5 hour charging is good enough.

Just remember the name , rechargeable ni-cad batteries and charger set. They cost about 12 dollars at the cheapest unknown brand to around 25 dollars recognizeable name brand.

Answer 4

Just get a NiMH rechargeable batteries (might want to get a spare too) - they're available everywhere, from supermarket to Radio Shack. They're cheap, less than $5 a piece. Your problem will be over.

Answer 5

Thanks for reminding me to put my digital camera on the charger... Seriously. It has a lithium ION like cell phones. Exactly. the same