I just bought my first GOOD digital camera- it is a Sony Cybershot 5.1 MP…anyway I put some heavy duty batteries in it, and it only stays on a few minutes and shuts off for low battery power! I had some new alkalines in it but those only lasted maybe 30 minutes. Are alkaline batteries required? And why does it use so much battery power?
I have an HP 300 MP from a couple of years ago, that takes four NiCad batteries, and I can’t take more than about 20 flash shots with it before the viewer turns off because the batteries are almost dead. For this kind of device, alkaline batteries are a waste of time and money. Go get yourself two sets of decent, rechargeable Nickel Cadmiums. If you don’t already have a charger, you can get a very small one, not much bigger than four batteries, and the whole unit plugs into the the bottom socket on the wall, leaving the top one free. That way, you can be using one set and charging the other.
Nickel/Metal Hydrides (NiMHs) are better. They typically have 75% more capacity for the same size and are less susceptible to memory effect. Not to teach my grandmother, but you need to check the MAh rating of the cells. The higher this is, the higher the capacity (milliamp-hours - e.g. a 2300MAh cell could deliver 2.3 amps for 1 hour, or twice the current for half the time, etc).
You need rechargable batteries.
Alkalines don’t work well with digital cameras because they don’t output peak voltage over the entire life of their stored energy. Those batteries still have plenty of life in them, but they can’t output enough voltage to power your camera. Stick em in your t.v remote.
Rechargables are designed to output a much steadier voltage with less drop off. The flip side is that they will discharge themselves without being used over time.
What they said. BTW, try to get as good NiMH rechargeables as you can (go Google or ask at the camera shop) and try if possible to leave in the morning with a fresh-charged set in the camera and another in the case for reload. Cheap or inferior quality rechargeables are almost as bad as cheap disposables. For the sake of emergencies do keep a set of fresh high-quality alkalines or lithium disposables somewhere near just in case you burn through the rechargeables before you can plug them back in, and absolutely need that last shot.
BTW, common dry cell AA, AAA, C, D, 9V batteries labeled “Heavy Duty” are misleading: that refers to what they are compared to old-school standard batteries, but they are still inferior to alkalines in most applications.
4 AA alkalines in my Olympus SP-500UZ last thru ~200 shots, mixed flash and natural.
1/2 hour on alkalines may be normal, depending on the camera and on how many shots you took during that time. (Which model do you have? SONY makes/made several different 5.1MP cameras).
Some cameras work fine on alkaline batteries. I use them in my Canon A510 all the time. But rechargeable Ni-Mh batteries last even longer, and are more cost-effective.
The main reason cameras use so much power is because processing large images requires a lot of computing power. The electronics in your camera must measure the amount of charge in every one of those 5.1 million pixels, and convert it into digital data. That’s anywhere between 5 and 10 megabytes of data. Then it needs to convert/compress that data to create a JPEG file, then transfer it onto the memory card. All that needs to be done very fast, before the next photo can be taken.
Rechargables are the way to go! In addition, if your camera has the option to turn off the LED screen, turn it off. Using the screen really sucks the power out of your batteries, in my experience.
Yes, true, some eat batteries at a much slower pace – the Canons are very good at that. But it’s still valid that if you’re going to use the camera a lot, you’d better get rechargeables.
What do you consider “good” in rechargables? It took 4 hours to run down the charge on the rayvac rechargables I used while taking pictures at the aquarium. Since the camera defaults to a picture size I don’t like every time I turn it off, it was on steadily for almost the entire 4 hours too.
One thing to keep in mind is that cameras are designed to preserve rechargables
by switching off when the battery voltage drops.
NiMH and NiCd rechargables supply a fairly constant voltage as they are discharging, irrespective of the current they supply. However, when they are nearly empty, the voltage falls sharply. It is important not to over-discharge them as they can be damaged, so the smart circuitry switches off the camera if its supply voltage falls below a certain threshold.
Alkalines lose voltage as they discharge, and the voltage they supply becomes lower with large currents, so they can trip the camera shut-off even if they still have a fair bit of energy in them. I’ve put “dead” alkalines from a camera into a smart flashlight that compensates for falling voltage and run it for hours. I’ve also fooled a camera by replacing its four AA alkalines one at a time, cycling through the cell positions from “fresh” to “old”, to discharge the alkalines more deeply. I don’t recommend this as it risks over-discharging the alkalines and having one leak in your camera, but I have done it. But NiMH rechargables in a Canon camera is the solution that really works for me.
Rechargable batteries are the pits for cameras. They go flat when not even being used.
I use alkaline and a trickle recarger meant for carbon batteries. Have done this since they first came out with no problems. It says alkalines may explode if recharged, so I charge them on a cement floor under a metal pail, with a GFI circuit breaker.
Can’t be too safe, I always say.
Hard to tell – under “normal” use where you turn it off or let it go to power-save when not actually shooting, a fully charged battery pack should be good for over 150 shots, but that depends hugely on the actual camera and the battery. As evidenced by Squink above, there’s equipment that against conventional wisdom can go on forever on the output from 4 alkalines, being more tolerant of the cells’ discharge pattern
“Good” rechargeable? I say a brand-name NiMH AA rated at 2100mAh or greater. I do suggest asking at a camera shop or checking the web pages (DCRP, etc.) since in addition to the mass-market majors like Energizer or Ray-O, there are brands that are more targeted to the photo market. I’m just leery of gear-bundled brand-X cells.
the only problem I have found with rechargeables is that the initial peak voltage (1.3-1.4 V) was not able to drive my brand of camera (old olympus). Had to use alkalines which have a higher starting voltage(1.5-1.6 V) . When the alkalines voltage dropped off below what the camera needed I then used them in my bike light to get the last bit of juice out of them.