there was thread here about battery life, and some of the new technology
wrt digital cameras (eating AA Alkalines). i got suckered into buying
another camera, and guess what, it really EATS AA'a, changing batteries
would be a full time job.

the previous owner said he used 1600mah NMiH rechargeables and got
50-60 shots, some w/flash, some without the lcd on, but was generally
happy.

Question: before i even think about buying into an expensive set up
for only occaisional use, i need to know what is the actual capacity of
the current crop of AA Alkaline battery. googling now, but find nothing
beyond suggested uses on manufacturers sites.

Thanks! --Loren

Loren,

AA alkalines are higher capacity than the rechargeables,
but they are best utilized at slower rates of discharge.
Cameras are high rate-of-discharge applications and that's
why alkaline AAs don't deliver the performance you'd
normally expect.

Your friend was correct in recommending NiMH rechargeables,
you can get a decent set of 4 and a charger for about
$10 if you look for sales. Never need to pay more than
about $15.

We can discuss it further when we get together regarding
the guns, I've used NiMH and high-capacity NiCads in
many applications over the years.

Martin


lcoe wrote in message news:%[email protected]
there was thread here about battery life, and some of the new technology
wrt digital cameras (eating AA Alkalines). i got suckered into buying
another camera, and guess what, it really EATS AA'a, changing batteries
would be a full time job.

the previous owner said he used 1600mah NMiH rechargeables and got
50-60 shots, some w/flash, some without the lcd on, but was generally
happy.

Question: before i even think about buying into an expensive set up
for only occaisional use, i need to know what is the actual capacity of
the current crop of AA Alkaline battery. googling now, but find nothing
beyond suggested uses on manufacturers sites.

Thanks! --Loren

Zack Lau wrote:

You ought to be able to find the info on a Duracell web
site. A couple of years ago, they said 2215 mAh at a cutoff
voltage of 0.8 volts. Problem is, most modern cameras won't
run with a battery that low,

Asside from that, you must specify the drain rate. Compare the Ah
capacity at 20 hour rate and 1 hour rate. Quite a difference. It
depends on both cell chemistry and structure.

I have a 12V (10 cell), 60Ah set of vented cell, sintered plate NiCd's
that *tested* 500a for 5 minutes to a 9V end point after cold soaking
overnight at -40. Try that with a 60Ah lead-acid battery!

Ted

Your friend was correct in recommending NiMH rechargeables,
you can get a decent set of 4 and a charger for about
$10 if you look for sales. Never need to pay more than
about $15.

Please don't do that! Those cheap chargers are either constant current
or timer terminated. Pay somewhat more and you can charge your
batteries whenever you feel like it without worrying about state of
charge. Ray-o-vac has a good charger but, personally, I like the Maha
line. My 204 isn't as versatile as some of the newer ones but it works
well. I paid Cdn$30 for it a couple years ago.
For example, see
http://www.thomas-distributing.com/batteries.htm

Ted

(...)
there was thread here about battery life, and some of the new technology
wrt digital cameras (eating AA Alkalines). i got suckered into buying
another camera, and guess what, it really EATS AA'a, changing batteries
would be a full time job.

the previous owner said he used 1600mah NMiH rechargeables and got
50-60 shots, some w/flash, some without the lcd on, but was generally
happy.

Question: before i even think about buying into an expensive set up
for only occaisional use, i need to know what is the actual capacity of
the current crop of AA Alkaline battery. googling now, but find nothing
beyond suggested uses on manufacturers sites.

Thanks! --Loren

Maybe you could check out rechargables?
http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/BATTS/BATTS.HTM

--Len

On Wed, 09 Jul 2003 21:04:18 GMT, Ted Edwards wrote:

Your friend was correct in recommending NiMH rechargeables,
you can get a decent set of 4 and a charger for about
$10 if you look for sales. Never need to pay more than
about $15.

Please don't do that! Those cheap chargers are either constant current
or timer terminated. Pay somewhat more and you can charge your
batteries whenever you feel like it without worrying about state of
charge. Ray-o-vac has a good charger but, personally, I like the Maha
line. My 204 isn't as versatile as some of the newer ones but it works
well. I paid Cdn$30 for it a couple years ago.
For example, see
http://www.thomas-distributing.com/batteries.htm

Ted

Greetings Ted and Icoe,
What Ted Says! When I bought my digital camera I researched it (with
lots of help from RCM) and the gist of the battery life question was
to get the 1800 mah nimh batteries, made by MAHA, from Thomas
Distributing. They lasted longer that alkaline batteries in digital
cameras. And they can be thrown in the charger any time. When the
batteries get about halfway down I exchange 'em. Keeps plenty o charge
in the camera. And battery life is great. much better than the manual
said to expect with alkalines. Thomas Distributing has a battery and
charger deal. I just got four batteries as my camera uses two. Works
great.
Cheers,
Eric R Snow

On Wed, 09 Jul 2003 21:04:18 GMT, Ted Edwards wrote:

Your friend was correct in recommending NiMH rechargeables,
you can get a decent set of 4 and a charger for about
$10 if you look for sales. Never need to pay more than
about $15.

Please don't do that! Those cheap chargers are either constant current
or timer terminated. Pay somewhat more and you can charge your
batteries whenever you feel like it without worrying about state of
charge. Ray-o-vac has a good charger but, personally, I like the Maha
line. My 204 isn't as versatile as some of the newer ones but it works
well. I paid Cdn$30 for it a couple years ago.
For example, see
http://www.thomas-distributing.com/batteries.htm

Ted

Cannot beat the New Discovery IQ9000 universal charger for AAs, Nicad,
NiMH, or alkaline. It uses a CEC1100 Microprocessor. 200:1 negative
pulse charge technology. 900ma charge current

Another point is peak current capability.
I believe NiMH have much higher current capability than alkiline.
...lew...

also see www.dpreview.com for digital camera info.

You'd be best to use NiMH's (typically 1600-2300 mA-hr in AA these days) and
a good inteligent charger and charge as slowly as practical (4-6 hrs vs. 1-2
hrs), as Alklines, while rated at 2400-2800 mA-hr (all at 10 hour rate???),
have higher internal impedence so run hotter and do not last nearly as long
as the NiMH's, not to mention you must throw them out vs. charge them.
Alternately look at cameras using propriatary Li-Ion batteries.

"Thor" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 09 Jul 2003 21:44:38 GMT, "Len Turnbow"

wrote:

(...)
there was thread here about battery life, and some of the new
technology
wrt digital cameras (eating AA Alkalines). i got suckered into
buying
another camera, and guess what, it really EATS AA'a, changing
batteries
would be a full time job.

the previous owner said he used 1600mah NMiH rechargeables and got
50-60 shots, some w/flash, some without the lcd on, but was generally
happy.

Question: before i even think about buying into an expensive set up
for only occaisional use, i need to know what is the actual capacity
of
the current crop of AA Alkaline battery. googling now, but find
nothing
beyond suggested uses on manufacturers sites.

Thanks! --Loren

Maybe you could check out rechargables?
http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/BATTS/BATTS.HTM

--Len

Also look at http://www.hosfelt.com/
They have higher capacity Ni-MH batteries in their printed catalog but not
shown
on the web page. Avoid quick chargers like the plague!

Thor

Ted Edwards wrote in message ...
Your friend was correct in recommending NiMH rechargeables,
you can get a decent set of 4 and a charger for about
$10 if you look for sales. Never need to pay more than
about $15.

Please don't do that! Those cheap chargers are either constant current
or timer terminated. Pay somewhat more and you can charge your
batteries whenever you feel like it without worrying about state of
charge. Ray-o-vac has a good charger but, personally, I like the Maha
line. My 204 isn't as versatile as some of the newer ones but it works
well. I paid Cdn$30 for it a couple years ago.
For example, see
http://www.thomas-distributing.com/batteries.htm
Ted

Ted,

That's partly correct. Yes, the cheap chargers are constant-
current, but no, they are not a problem. For most NiMH cells,
the "cheap" chargers are charging at a rate less than C/10, and
are no problem even if left plugged in all day. I bought my
sets from bydusa online over a year ago, and all cells are
still going strong. I paid $7.49 for the charger PLUS four
1800 mAH cells. Bought two sets, keep one charger at home and
the other in my camera bag with fresh cells in it. Makes a
good "battery holder".

Only if you want a "fast charger" do you need to step up to the
more expensive setup with microprocessor, and yes, you can get a
great one for less than $15. For 22.95 you can have the charger
and EIGHT NiMH cells (four AA and four AAA, I use the AAA in FRS
walkie-talkies). Model V-1000 package:

http://www.batteryspace.com

This thing works great, and it's dual-power, either AC or an
included cigarette-lighter adapter. I've also used it for
over a year. I keep this one in the console of my truck for
when I need to quick-charge cells, as it's not as small as the
slow charger that I keep in the camera bag.

best regards,

Martin