06
Camera batteries
by Lilian ·
Usually, people buy the brand of camera without thinking twice about the batteries. From experience, batteries is one consideration we should think about too.
Two of my camera use the above rechargeable Ni-MH batteries and it is rather cheap to maintain. My DSLR camera use the lithium-ion battery which is very expensive if I want to buy an original brand of spare battery and charger.
The pros of having a camera with this regular Ni-Mh are:
- cheap and easily available
- if you run out of batteries, you can just grab some alkaline batteries from the nearest 7-Eleven. This is especially useful when you are travelling. When I was in Redang, the bad electricity supply fried my battery charger and I was left with no batteries. Hence, the usefulness of being able to buy the batteries from sundry stores
The cons:
- you need to change batteries more often
- four batteries add up to a lot of weight and space
A note on batteries charger. Avoid buying those superfast charger than takes less than one hour to charge. They get fried easily and I had used three Kodak fast chargers so far. Currently, I am using a charger that takes four hours to completely charge. Works well so far.
Frankly, I am not too concern about how long my batteries can last because I am not a professional photographer who takes continous photos for hours and hours. However, if you are buying a digital camera, remember to invest in a set of spare batteries. There is nothing more frustrating than having that Nat Geo opportunity but your camera is without battery.
There will be no post from me until I return from KL next week. Do enjoy taking photos this Wesak Day. Remember not to melt your camera while taking photos of burning oil lamps and candles. 
Happy Wesak Day to all the Buddhists and happy, long weekend to all. I am going to the Asian X-Games for lots of sports action (photo, that is)!
May 11th, 2006 at 8:46 am
i’m now considering buying my first digital camera. on top of my list is olympus mju 700 and canon powershot a700.
AA battery vs Li-Ion
XD card vs SD card
no manual control vs manual control
image stabilizer vs non
3x optical zoom vs 6x
metal casing vs plastics
weatherproof vs not
trendy design (which my gf fancies) vs rather bulky design
help! which should i decide on? very worried that if i go for mju700, i might run out of battery during once-in-a-lifetime moment.
p.s. great blog, bookmarked u. wish u can post more photography tips, as i’m picking up photography as hobby. love the post on panning and flowing water, can’t wait to try them out once i get my… errr… mju700 or a700:)
May 11th, 2006 at 8:48 am
opps. my mistake, should be Li-Ion vs AA batteries, as all listed on left are mju700 and on the right are a700.
May 11th, 2006 at 3:38 pm
tjy - Canon is one of my first digital camera and I must say they last and last. Why not check the price of an XD card vs. SD and also the battery charger and spare Li-Ion. I am sure you will then have lesser things to think about. You definitely need a spare battery.
Weatherproof does sound fancy but frankly, how often would you take photos in the rain? You wouldn’t want to play with the camera in seawater, right?
If you ask me, I would go for Canon eventhough I don’t like them getting Mawi to advertise.
And manual control is real important ‘cos you will want to twiddle with the buttons later on when you are more expert. And bulky design ‘cos it gives you a nice grip, right? Trendy design looks good but it doesn’t feel good in the palm and may cause shaky hold.
Then, again, Olympus got image stabilizer.. Arggh…I also don’t know! Hahaha, let me know what you chosed eventually? Have you checked out Panasonic Lumix range?
May 11th, 2006 at 5:55 pm
i am slightly siding A700 at the moment. from my survey, the XD card’s double the price of the SD card. and i haven’t find out the price of the spare Li-Ion battery yet. but i do not mind investing a few more hundreds for the card and batteries if the camera is worth the extra ringgits.
too bad i have to work tomorrow, if not, i’ll have 1 extra day during the weekend to survey.
what i like about A700:
manual control, SD card, battery, zoom.
what i dislike about A700:
plastic body (feel like toy), no stabilizer.
what i like about mju700:
stabilizer, night capture, metal body, nice design (tahan tengok)
what i dislike about mju700:
no manual control, expensive card and battery.
now i need to consider lens quality and photo quality as well. mju700’s aperture ranges from f3.4 – f5.7 (not adjustable), whereas A700’s from f2.8 - f4.8. does that means A700’s better in terms of lens quality? please advise. i heard from the olympus salesperson that the lower the value, the better the lens. is this true?
i have not considered any of lumix camera yet. any recommendation?
anyway, thank u very much for ur help. will let u know which one i buy eventually. plan to get it before school holiday.
May 12th, 2006 at 5:10 pm
tjy,
if you are really serious about photography as a hobby, then its better you get some manual controls in your camera so you can play around it. those compact P&S doesn’t teach you anything more that pressing the shutter button. after that you can progress on to a SLR/DSLR.
yes, the smaller the f/ stop, the larger the aperture. this means a faster lens, and you can get more light in, thus better for low light shots. and also better depth of field (DOF).
i think A700 has a better grip, something that you can hold and feel in your hands. i am using canon powershot s80 now, and i am learning alot from it.
but alas, my s80 is not something i can carry around in my pocket due to the size.
you decide.
May 15th, 2006 at 8:34 am
5xmom & cal@ss,
thanks for your advices. i’ve finally bought a700 yesterday. it was actually nicer than i thought it would be after some playing-around-with. too bad it was raining heavily after i bought it home, haven’t got time to try it outdoor. now searching online for the “should-know” for digital photography. going to make this my hobby.
May 15th, 2006 at 9:46 am
tjy,
welcome to the canon family.
but the a700 is not a beginner’s camera. trust me, without image stabilization, taking indoor and low light shots are insanely frustrating at times. but this is also where you will learn.
get a flickr account, start snapping pics and share online. thats what photography is about.
May 15th, 2006 at 7:24 pm
Kodak fast NiMh charger? I never have problem with GP or Sony fast charger(2 hours). Should switch brand when your first charger fried.
May 22nd, 2006 at 1:20 pm
[...] One of digitalphoto’s reader, tjy was contemplating between an Olympus and Canon. He finally decided on  Canon Powershot A700. Out of curiousity, I decided to check out the model and found that it feels the same as my ancient Canon Powershot A10 which was only 1.3MP. My first digital camera bought four years ago. Still in working condition, you know. Despite being dropped several times. [...]
August 9th, 2006 at 11:51 am
where to get the battery casing in Penang?
August 9th, 2006 at 2:45 pm
Jack, hehehe. The casing came along with one of the battery set we bought, I think a Kodak battery charger. Usually, I get my camera stuffs from either Merry Photo along busy Penang Road or Nephmatic from Gurney Plaza.