battery problem for digicam

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ananth

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i was gifted a digicam for Diwali-a CANON Powershot A530.
this cam runs on 2 AA batteries.in the box there were 2 AA Canon Alkaline batteries supplied,which got exhausted within 30-40 shots.
so,i replaced them with 2 ordinary AA batteries(the Rs.7 ones),and immediately(just as i pressed 'on') the cam showed "low Battery" sign and stopped working.
i again got two more similar batteries and the same thing happened.
i tried both these pairs in my Sony CD walkman and they worked fine,in fact the indicator even showing that the battery was full.
this is ridiculus!now i know alkaline batteries are preffered for a digicam,but it should atleast click a few photos with ordinary batteries and not immediately show 'low battery' and not work at all.
can someone help.
 
i dont think zinc-carbon batteries will work at all in digicams. should prolly be mentioned in your users maual. try getting some rechargeables
 
i checked the manual and it said use supplied batteries or use NiMH batteries.
1.are all rechargable batteries the NiMH type?
2.are all alkaline batteries the NiMH type?
3.also,why shouldnt ordinary zinc chloride batteries work in a digicam?
 
1)yes. rechargeables are either (usually) NiCd or NiMh sometimes you might get lithium ones too (rare)

NiMh capacity (few thousand mAh)> NiCd cpacity(few hundred mAh)

so when buying rechargeables for a digicam, insist on NiMH. 2000~2500 mAh is typical

NiCd's are more suited to for walkmans etc

2)no! alkalines are , well, alkalines. NiMH and alkalines are different types of batteries, just like zinc chloride and alkaline are different.

3)digicams load the batteries more than your average clock or walkman, thus the need for higher capacity batteries. its not just the capacity alone. zinc chlorides just cant supply the peak currents the cams demand i guess :)
 
Digital cameras are always a battery hogg.

normal batteries will not even last for 5 shots as lcd will drain out the batteries in no time.

If you want to use alkaline batteries, which are not rechargable, you have to select only one brand that is DURACELL but still with minimal usage of LCD it will not last you more that 30-40 shots as your camera uses only 2 batteries.

The best and IMO the worthy option for you is usage on NIMH rechargable batteries with a good charger.

GP / SONY / SANYO are some good brands and 2300-2500 mAh batteries are costing 80-150 per piece depending upon city, store, brand and reseller. Make sure you are buying from a good dealer as there are high chances of fakes.

Chargers are many available in market, you can look and ask the dealer for the recommendations. In stead of going to an electronics dealer go to a shop which is selling photo goods as they have high churning rate of batteries and charger you will get good advise there.

there was one thread in TE itself about digicam batteries. i will search and post a link.
 
ZInc-Carbon batts won't work as the peak current drawn (When the Sensor & FLash are charging up) is quite a bit more than the peak current rating of Zinc carbons (This has nothing to do with the capacity of the battery, the same battery would work perfectly fine in a low current drawing device like ur walkman)

Thus when the camera starts up, the heavy current drawn by it causes a sudden drop in the Potential difference of the battery which is why you get the low-bat message

The only options for Digicams are:

- Alkalines: Expensive in the long run though

- NiCd rechargeables- Cheap, but you'll need to carry multiple charged pairs while travelling as they are good only for 15-30 odd shots

- NiMH rechargeables: relatively Expensive , but the most apt power source for digicams....Not only will they run much longer per charge, but will also have a much longer life span as they will not need frequent recharges...BTW make sure that when you buy NiMHs, you get a electronic charger with them, and not the el-cheapo transformer based 100 Rupee chargers
 
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