Digital Camera Batteries

[ProgrammerGuy]

Hello Everyone,

This might seem like an obvious question to most but being that I'm new to the world of digital cameras and photography I've been wondering. I have a Kodak digital camera and the book says it uses NiMH type batteries. It also says that "it is not recommended" that you use plain old AA batteries with the camera but it doesn't say it will destroy your camera or anything like that. So what's the scoop? In a pinch, can I use a standard AA battery with my camera or will it simply kill the camera?

Thanks!
Anthony

 

[xgerryx]

I don't think they will hurt your camera, but I have see a couple of case's where alkalines simply will not work where as NiMHs will.

If left in the camera to long, the alkalines probably are a greater threat as far as leakage is concerned.

 

[uly7]

Your best bet it will be to buy some rechargeable batteries, because the other batteries don't last very long.
You may have to spend some money in the beginning, but in the long run, it's better.
Uly7

 

[Tuppence2]

Hello,

That's right. The AA batteries life will be very, very short. A friend of a friend used them and then wondered why every time he took a group of photos the batteries wouldn't work. If you want to save the charge on rechargeable batteries, use a smart-card reader to upload images to your computer. The camera needn't be switched on that way.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=smart-card+readers&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

http://www.edigitalphoto.com/eReviews/0203edp_digital/


Bye,
Penny.

 

[barnnyardd]

my olmpus 4 megapixel camera also uses nimh aa batteries.we found a rayovac charger that comes with 4 batteries that only take 15 minutes to fully charge. it also comes with 2 adapters to charge them. 1 is for charging in the house the other is for charging in the car cigarette lighter plug. we bought it at sams club for under20.00 including sales tax. it works great and the batteries hold the charge very well. we love it mainly because of the car adapter.

 

[ProgrammerGuy]

Thanks to everyone who answered!

 

[acraftylady]

Hey barnnyard would you mind telling me how long those rayovac batteries last in the camera? What I mean is do they go a long time if your shooting for a couple of hours with the view screen on. The reason I ask is I have the Olympus camedia C3000 and I have had the same Olympus batteries and recharger for 3yrs. now but they don't charge in 15min. and that car adapter sounds nice. The Olympus ones are 1600mAh and they are nice because I can shoot for a lot of hours using the view screen before they die but if the rayovac you mention are as good as that then I would like to go that way and have the faster charge time.

 

[barnnyardd]

acraftylady i have not had the camera very long. when we first got it we used alkaline batteries and after about a week we went to use it and the batteries were dead and the camera was off.when we got the rayovacs we charged them and took about 20 pictures came home and downloaded them to the pc and put the camera away. about 3 weeks later we got it out and took about 25 more pictures and they were still charged.i just took the camera out now and it came on .they have only had the original charge so far .that is about the best i can tell you right now. maybe that can give you some idea.

 

[kiwiguy]

acraftylady, the newer NiMh rechargeable batteries are now 2,200 mA/h and fast charge, nearly half as much again in capacity to your 1,600 mA/h ones. I also have a car charger/home charger unit and its great.

Be aware though that all brands of rechargeable batteries will "self discharge" about 2% per day, even whan not used, even when not installed in the camera. Its a function of the battery chemistry, and not related to the brand.

I always top up my batteries before using the camera, even though it probably shortens the life of them.
They are quite cheap to replace anyway now, and the inconvenience of having them go flat on the job is then avoided.

 

[acraftylady]

Thanks for the info. I was thinking of trying another brand but I have had such good luck with these Olympus ones I guess I should stick with that brand. It's three years now and I am still charging the same ones and they are still lasting long but I know they don't last forever.

 

[Cris_Cr0ss]

my olmpus 4 megapixel camera also uses nimh aa batteries.we found a rayovac charger that comes with 4 batteries that only take 15 minutes to fully charge. it also comes with 2 adapters to charge them. 1 is for charging in the house the other is for charging in the car cigarette lighter plug. we bought it at sams club for under20.00 including sales tax. it works great and the batteries hold the charge very well. we love it mainly because of the car adapter.

I use those and have never had a fault with them, I also used the batteries for my remote control which uses AAA and my wireless mouse and keyboard so think how much money im saving.

 

[Viji R]

Hi Anthony - one of the things you may wish to consider in the recommended type of battery is that rechargeable batteries run at 1.3 V while regular AA batteries run at 1.5 Volts. So, using the regular batteries may cause some problems for your camera - with the slight over voltage. Thus the warnings from the manufacturers. At least that why I think it is not advisable to put in the regular batteries over the manufacturers erchargeble batteries.

Cheers,

Viji Rajasundram

 

[MickeyMouse]

Hi, I have a Kodak DX4330 digi camera which I love and I just went & bought extra Batteries for it that I can recharge on the dock. They are the two together with the red band Kodak Rechargeable Ni-HM battery pack and I must have taken at least l000 pictures with the batteries so I bought this as a spare when on vacation & not able to recharge while out and about. They run $15.00. Also I found a Kodak EasyShare Rapid Charger which includes the battery pak for $34.00 at Comp USA. It just plugs into the wall and recharges the pak. I though it was neat for traveling. Best Buy also carries the Kodak rechargeable batteris.

 

[2talll]

my olmpus 4 megapixel camera also uses nimh aa batteries.we found a rayovac charger that comes with 4 batteries that only take 15 minutes to fully charge. it also comes with 2 adapters to charge them. 1 is for charging in the house the other is for charging in the car cigarette lighter plug. we bought it at sams club for under20.00 including sales tax. it works great and the batteries hold the charge very well. we love it mainly because of the car adapter.

Barnnyardd,
If you don't mind me asking how much was the Rayovac charger and batteries? I have Maxwell rechargeable batteries for m two Fuji digital cameras and didn't realize until yesterday how long it take sto charge the batteries.

We had a fun fair at the school I teach at yesterday, and the kids that used my old camera only got 29 pics before the batteries dies because they kept it on too long between pictures. I only got about 50 pics with my new camera before the batteries died because I was running the dunk tank and was trying to get the pictures of the kids falling in. I had a spare set of batteries for the new on, but not for the old one. We went in school and charged them, but one set took 3 hours to charge and the other set still wasn't charged 5 hours later.

The car charger would also be great because my car has two cigarette lighters.

Maybe I'll get lucky and find it at BestBuy, Target, or one of those places today when I go shopping.

EDIT: Nevermind- I was too stupid to see that you put the price until I scrolled back up. D'oh!

 

[gsmitheman]

It seems that the number of pictures from a set of batteries is becoming less of an issue. Most new cameras with average flash use and lcd are getting 200-400 pictures on a charge. This type of information is supplied with most cameras today as a selling feature.

I generally swap them out before they fail because I can't believe I can expect another day of shooting (Olympus C3020). Previous Toshiba (early model) was a different story.