Digital Kodak camera newbie Q concerning what kind of batteries I can use in it

Factual Questions
1

I just bought a Kodak C513, and it came with two AA batteries labeled “Kodak Alkaline Battery AA 1.5V LR6”. Page 1 of the manual, under “Loading the Batteries” has a list of batteries that reads thusly:

[ul][li] Kodak oxy-alkaline digital camera batteries AA[/li][li] Kodak Ni-MH rechargeable digital camera batteries AA[/li][li] Kodak Ni-MH rechargeable digital camera batteries KAA 2HR[/li][li] alkaline batteries AA[/li][li] lithium batteries AA[/ul][/li]
And the bottom of the camera itself is imprinted with the following:
[ul][li] AA/Lithium[/li][li] AA/Ni-Mh[/li][li] KAA2HR[/li][li] AAZR6[/li][li] AALR6[/li][/ul]
And when I ask Kodak what kind of batteries I can use, they tell me:

[ul][li] KODAK Rechargeable Ni-MH Batteries (AA Size)[/li][li] KODAK Oxy-Alkaline Digital Camera Battery (AA Size):[/li][li] KODAK EASYSHARE Ni-MH Rechargeable Battery Pack[/ul][/li]
K.

So I have already educated myself concerning digital camera batteries; I’ve already decided that rechargeable Ni-MH is the way I wanna go.

But if I’m reading this right, Kodak sez that I can use either other brands of alkaline AAs, or Kodak brand Ni-MH rechargeables, but that I can’t use other brands of Ni-MH rechargeables.

Which is potentially a PITA, as I wasn’t figuring on having to mail-order batteries (not to mention a charger) from Kodak when I need them, I just wanna buy 'em at Wal-Mart like everybody else.

So. Are there known, potentially explosive issues with using non-Kodak brands of rechargeable Ni-MH AA batteries in Kodak digital cameras?

2

I wouldn’t give it a second thought. A NiMH battery is a NiMH battery, unless you buy an especially crappy one that would fail in any device you use it in.

You may want to find out what capacity the Kodak ones are, and make sure you get batteries with the same capacity or greater, but other than that, I wouldn’t worry about it.

3

All camera makers do that - but any NiMH AA will do. Go for the highest capacity you can find, right now that’s around 2800 mAh.

Or, you can use the Enloop rechargeables which are a slightly different formulation. They don’t carry as much juice, but they will hold their charge much longer. Regular NiMH lose a lot of their charge in two weeks, these new formulated ones will keep for months.

4

Ha. I thought so. :wink: Rat bastard manufacturers, they’ll getcha every time. Like Hoover saying you can only use Hoover bags in their vacuum cleaner [snorts contemptuously]. But vacuum cleaners don’t normally explode if you put a different bag in, and I’ve heard of misuse of batteries causing explosions and fire-type thingies, so I wanted to be sure.

Are those the same thing as these Duracell “pre-charged” Ni-MH rechargeables that I have in my lap right now, which are also supposed to hold a charge longer?

5

Yup, just different brands. Enloop is Sanyo I think.

6

K, thanks.

7

Kodak does not actually have a factory where they build batteries. They just buy batteries from one of the battery companies, and put labels saying “Kodak” on them. Just like Radio Shack, Sams Club, etc. do – none of them manufacture their own batteries, either.

So use the appropriate type of battery from any company at all.