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Alkaline Battery life in the E-20! I am amazed!!!!

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Jason Stoller

Jason Stoller

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I was in a discussion thread over in the Minolta forum in regard to battery life in reference to the D7. They get about 100 to 140 shots they claim with 1800 Nimh batteries. Alkaline batteries are about worthless in a D7 and they get maybe 5 shots and the camera dies. Obviously they do not like me there so I was asked by a poster how many shots can I get either on Alkaline batteries or NiMH batteries in my E-20. Well, to be honest I didn't know so I went to the store, bought some Duracell Ultra coppertops, popped them in my E-20, set the quality to SQ and fired away in my house. I did not use the flash, but I left the LCD review go on after every picture like normal. I used a 128 Ridata CF for my test. Believe it or not I took 304 photo's with Alkaline Batteries. This just blew me away. I think this is good information to know esp if someone forgets their extra set of NiMH, Battery pack, or lipo grip and gets in a pinch.

Has anyone done a test for maxthe NiMh batteries?--Jason Stoller [email protected]
Catching that special moment with a great camera
 
Hey Jason

This is definitely VERY useful information - the E10 was completely useless on alkaline (like 10 shots). One of the less mentioned improvements on the E20 seems to be the power management - I haven't really checked to see how many shots I get out of my 1600 Nimh - but it does seem better.

kind regards
jono slack
Jason Stoller said:
I was in a discussion thread over in the Minolta forum in regard to
battery life in reference to the D7. They get about 100 to 140
shots they claim with 1800 Nimh batteries. Alkaline batteries are
about worthless in a D7 and they get maybe 5 shots and the camera
dies. Obviously they do not like me there so I was asked by a
poster how many shots can I get either on Alkaline batteries or
NiMH batteries in my E-20. Well, to be honest I didn't know so I
went to the store, bought some Duracell Ultra coppertops, popped
them in my E-20, set the quality to SQ and fired away in my house.
I did not use the flash, but I left the LCD review go on after
every picture like normal. I used a 128 Ridata CF for my test.
Believe it or not I took 304 photo's with Alkaline Batteries.
This just blew me away. I think this is good information to know
esp if someone forgets their extra set of NiMH, Battery pack, or
lipo grip and gets in a pinch.

Has anyone done a test for maxthe NiMh batteries?
--
Jason Stoller [email protected]
Catching that special moment with a great camera
Click to expand...
--Jono Slack http://www.slack.co.uk
 
Jason Stoller said:
Believe it or not I took 304 photo's with Alkaline Batteries.
This just blew me away. I think this is good information to know
esp if someone forgets their extra set of NiMH, Battery pack, or
lipo grip and gets in a pinch.

Has anyone done a test for maxthe NiMh batteries?
Click to expand...
That's INCREDIBLE! I have to try that too! Last night I was out
with a freshly charged set of 1400NiMH (fully used a couple of
times before so they should be on the top of their life) and they
died after 19 shots! I couldn't even get the 20th shot. Granted,
it was cold, but certainly not freezing! And no LCD usage, no
(p)review, no flash, even IR assist disabled. Most shots MF. I was
so disappointed. I guess I'll have to switch to Alkalines now.

I'm sorry to say this but I'm starting to dislike my E-10. Perhaps in a
studio it's a good camera, but for versatile outdoor use the machine
just keeps disappointing me in many ways. I should have bought the
C4040 or the Canon G2. Much cheaper, much more reliable. 19 shots
on a set of 1400NiMHs is worse than a D7 on a bad day.

Bram, who is glad he's kept his 2020 as a backup----------------------------------------------------------------------Amsterdam, The Netherlands http://www.pbase.com/brambos
 
I have to try that too! Last night I was out
Bram Bos said:
with a freshly charged set of 1400NiMH (fully used a couple of
times before so they should be on the top of their life) and they

died after 19 shots! I couldn't even get the 20th shot. > Bram, who is glad he's kept his 2020 as a backup
Click to expand...
Bram,

Buy or borrow a cheepo voltmetre and check your batteries after charging - you may have a duff one.

--TomB
 
Tom Barlow said:
Tom Barlow said:
times before so they should be on the top of their life) and they
died after 19 shots! I couldn't even get the 20th shot.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Tom Barlow said:
Buy or borrow a cheepo voltmetre and check your batteries after
charging - you may have a duff one.
Click to expand...
hi there.. yeah.. I wish it was something like that, but I have quite
a bunch of sets (1100s, 1400z, 1600s, 1800s, all different brands) which
perform very well in my other camera (Oly C2020) but consistently
fail to give me any satisfactory performance on the E-10. I've never
gotten more than 50 shots out of a set. And that's without flash and
LCD usage. I find this disappointing and a drawback for everyday E10 use.

Bram----------------------------------------------------------------------Amsterdam, The Netherlands http://www.pbase.com/brambos
 
Something is wrong. What kind of charger are you using? I'm using the Rayovac 1 hour charger with Rayovac 1600mah batteries with great results. You should be getting at least 3 times the number of shots.
 
There has to be an explanation. I don't have an E-10 but I do have an E-20 and I literally get 100+ shots from it with 1600mah AA batteries with mixed flash usage and lcd usage. It usually runs closer to 150 shots per set of batteries.

Is your camera new? Possibly something wrong with the power management. Are you using a micro-drive?

Tommy
Bram Bos said:
Bram Bos said:
Believe it or not I took 304 photo's with Alkaline Batteries.
This just blew me away. I think this is good information to know
esp if someone forgets their extra set of NiMH, Battery pack, or
lipo grip and gets in a pinch.

Has anyone done a test for maxthe NiMh batteries?
Click to expand...
That's INCREDIBLE! I have to try that too! Last night I was out
with a freshly charged set of 1400NiMH (fully used a couple of
times before so they should be on the top of their life) and they
died after 19 shots! I couldn't even get the 20th shot. Granted,
it was cold, but certainly not freezing! And no LCD usage, no
(p)review, no flash, even IR assist disabled. Most shots MF. I was
so disappointed. I guess I'll have to switch to Alkalines now.

I'm sorry to say this but I'm starting to dislike my E-10. Perhaps
in a
studio it's a good camera, but for versatile outdoor use the machine
just keeps disappointing me in many ways. I should have bought the
C4040 or the Canon G2. Much cheaper, much more reliable. 19 shots
on a set of 1400NiMHs is worse than a D7 on a bad day.

Bram, who is glad he's kept his 2020 as a backup
--
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
http://www.pbase.com/brambos
Click to expand...
--Tommy
 
Tommy Martin said:
There has to be an explanation. I don't have an E-10 but I do have
an E-20 and I literally get 100+ shots from it with 1600mah AA
batteries with mixed flash usage and lcd usage. It usually runs
closer to 150 shots per set of batteries.
Click to expand...
That's my experience with my other Olympus (C2020z) as well.
Tommy Martin said:
Is your camera new? Possibly something wrong with the power
management. Are you using a micro-drive?
Click to expand...
Nope. No microdrive, no LCD, no flash, no IR focussing. I've bought
a brand new charger (Hahnel Rapid charger - Rayovac nor Maha are
available in Europe) the most advanced I could find to make sure my
batteries are charged properly, but any set of batteries keeps running
out of juice after a few dozen shots - tops. After shutting down and
switching on the E-10 I may get some 10 more shots and then it's
flat. Same situation when charging with my other (timed) charger.
So it has to be the E-10 that's hogging my batteries. And it's my
biggest gripe with this cam.

Bram

----------------------------------------------------------------------Amsterdam, The Netherlands http://www.pbase.com/brambos
 
Hi Bram

2 points

1. you won't get anything out of alkalines on an E10 - ten shots if you're lucky

2. I only use 1600 nimh - and I regularly got 150-200 shots out of a set of batteries. I don't think 1400 is enough for it - really

3. don't despair - you'll grow to love it

kind regards
jono
Bram Bos said:
Bram Bos said:
Believe it or not I took 304 photo's with Alkaline Batteries.
This just blew me away. I think this is good information to know
esp if someone forgets their extra set of NiMH, Battery pack, or
lipo grip and gets in a pinch.

Has anyone done a test for maxthe NiMh batteries?
Click to expand...
That's INCREDIBLE! I have to try that too! Last night I was out
with a freshly charged set of 1400NiMH (fully used a couple of
times before so they should be on the top of their life) and they
died after 19 shots! I couldn't even get the 20th shot. Granted,
it was cold, but certainly not freezing! And no LCD usage, no
(p)review, no flash, even IR assist disabled. Most shots MF. I was
so disappointed. I guess I'll have to switch to Alkalines now.

I'm sorry to say this but I'm starting to dislike my E-10. Perhaps
in a
studio it's a good camera, but for versatile outdoor use the machine
just keeps disappointing me in many ways. I should have bought the
C4040 or the Canon G2. Much cheaper, much more reliable. 19 shots
on a set of 1400NiMHs is worse than a D7 on a bad day.

Bram, who is glad he's kept his 2020 as a backup
--
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
http://www.pbase.com/brambos
Click to expand...
--Jono Slack http://www.slack.co.uk
 
Back to OLY Bram

There's DEFINITELY something wrong here - the best I did was 600 shots out of two sets of nimh at a wedding (with the E10)

really

kind regards
jono
Bram Bos said:
Bram Bos said:
There has to be an explanation. I don't have an E-10 but I do have
an E-20 and I literally get 100+ shots from it with 1600mah AA
batteries with mixed flash usage and lcd usage. It usually runs
closer to 150 shots per set of batteries.
Click to expand...
That's my experience with my other Olympus (C2020z) as well.
Bram Bos said:
Is your camera new? Possibly something wrong with the power
management. Are you using a micro-drive?
Click to expand...
Nope. No microdrive, no LCD, no flash, no IR focussing. I've bought
a brand new charger (Hahnel Rapid charger - Rayovac nor Maha are
available in Europe) the most advanced I could find to make sure my
batteries are charged properly, but any set of batteries keeps running
out of juice after a few dozen shots - tops. After shutting down and
switching on the E-10 I may get some 10 more shots and then it's
flat. Same situation when charging with my other (timed) charger.
So it has to be the E-10 that's hogging my batteries. And it's my
biggest gripe with this cam.

Bram

--
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
http://www.pbase.com/brambos
Click to expand...
--Jono Slack http://www.slack.co.uk
 
Hello Bram,

No problems with my E-10/20 regarding power consumption ...
  • 1300 mAH's: about 100 photos
  • 1600 mAH's GP : about 150 photo's
  • 1600 mAH's Varta: about 300 photos
  • 1800 mAH's GP: about 250 photos
So, there must be somtthing wrong for certain ...
Remember, NimH's loose power when not in use.
I alwyas recharge my batteries before a main shooting.

Kind regards,
Jaja
http://www.belgiumdigital.com
 
Bram,

I agree- you do indeed have something odd going on with either E-10 or your NiMH battery sets. Seems you have a mix of brands and capacities.
A few ideas that might help get to the root of the problem...

Be sure that you are not mixing cell brand names and capacities even though those of different brand names may be marked with like capacity.

When you purchase packs of cells, mark the date of purchase on the cell with a permanent marker to keep a rough track of age. NiMH cells are good for about 300-500 charge/ discharge cycles with gradually degrading capacity. Capacity degrades sharply near end of service life.
I also responded to your thread "Q from the Batteryman"...

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1022&message=2088983

You should be getting MUCH better performance from E-10 than you speak of. Don't let 'duff' cells put you off a fine camera and pleasing photos!

Hang in there!

David
Bram Bos said:
That's INCREDIBLE! I have to try that too! Last night I was out
with a freshly charged set of 1400NiMH (fully used a couple of
times before so they should be on the top of their life) and they
died after 19 shots! I couldn't even get the 20th shot. Granted,
it was cold, but certainly not freezing! And no LCD usage, no
(p)review, no flash, even IR assist disabled. Most shots MF. I was
so disappointed. I guess I'll have to switch to Alkalines now.

I'm sorry to say this but I'm starting to dislike my E-10. Perhaps
in a
studio it's a good camera, but for versatile outdoor use the machine
just keeps disappointing me in many ways. I should have bought the
C4040 or the Canon G2. Much cheaper, much more reliable. 19 shots
on a set of 1400NiMHs is worse than a D7 on a bad day.

Bram, who is glad he's kept his 2020 as a backup
--
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
http://www.pbase.com/brambos
Click to expand...
 
Hi:

My results agree with Jaja's. I use GP 1800ma Nimh batteries with a Powehaus rapid charger (both from http://www.greenbatteries.com ). I average 200 pictures per set, some with the built in flash. Mark all the batteries so you can use and recharge them as sets. This may help. If it doesn't. something is not right with the charger or the batteries. I think it's unlikely that there is fault with the camera.

Let us know.

Steven
David Meyers said:
I agree- you do indeed have something odd going on with either E-10
or your NiMH battery sets. Seems you have a mix of brands and
capacities.
A few ideas that might help get to the root of the problem...
Be sure that you are not mixing cell brand names and capacities
even though those of different brand names may be marked with like
capacity.
When you purchase packs of cells, mark the date of purchase on the
cell with a permanent marker to keep a rough track of age. NiMH
cells are good for about 300-500 charge/ discharge cycles with
gradually degrading capacity. Capacity degrades sharply near end of
service life.
I also responded to your thread "Q from the Batteryman"...

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1022&message=2088983

You should be getting MUCH better performance from E-10 than you
speak of. Don't let 'duff' cells put you off a fine camera and
pleasing photos!

Hang in there!

David
Bram Bos said:
That's INCREDIBLE! I have to try that too! Last night I was out
with a freshly charged set of 1400NiMH (fully used a couple of
times before so they should be on the top of their life) and they
died after 19 shots! I couldn't even get the 20th shot. Granted,
it was cold, but certainly not freezing! And no LCD usage, no
(p)review, no flash, even IR assist disabled. Most shots MF. I was
so disappointed. I guess I'll have to switch to Alkalines now.

I'm sorry to say this but I'm starting to dislike my E-10. Perhaps
in a
studio it's a good camera, but for versatile outdoor use the machine
just keeps disappointing me in many ways. I should have bought the
C4040 or the Canon G2. Much cheaper, much more reliable. 19 shots
on a set of 1400NiMHs is worse than a D7 on a bad day.

Bram, who is glad he's kept his 2020 as a backup
--
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
http://www.pbase.com/brambos
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--Steven
 
The problem could be the charger - some chargers just work on a timer system while the better smart chargers have some kind of test system built in that optimally charges the batteries.

Also in my experience NimHi batteries lose charge very quickly when stored. I find that fully charged batteries left for a week before use don't last long at all but put the same set in freshly charged and they will last 10 times as long. This is contrary to the technical literature which usually suggests they will discharge slowly over a couple of months. It would be nice to be able to understand battery behaviour reliably but so long as my practical experience continues to contradict the specs I guess that is just not going to happen...
Steven said:
My results agree with Jaja's. I use GP 1800ma Nimh batteries with a
Powehaus rapid charger (both from http://www.greenbatteries.com ). I
average 200 pictures per set, some with the built in flash. Mark
all the batteries so you can use and recharge them as sets. This
may help. If it doesn't. something is not right with the charger or
the batteries. I think it's unlikely that there is fault with the
camera.

Let us know.

Steven
David Meyers said:
I agree- you do indeed have something odd going on with either E-10
or your NiMH battery sets. Seems you have a mix of brands and
capacities.
A few ideas that might help get to the root of the problem...
Be sure that you are not mixing cell brand names and capacities
even though those of different brand names may be marked with like
capacity.
When you purchase packs of cells, mark the date of purchase on the
cell with a permanent marker to keep a rough track of age. NiMH
cells are good for about 300-500 charge/ discharge cycles with
gradually degrading capacity. Capacity degrades sharply near end of
service life.
I also responded to your thread "Q from the Batteryman"...

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1022&message=2088983

You should be getting MUCH better performance from E-10 than you
speak of. Don't let 'duff' cells put you off a fine camera and
pleasing photos!

Hang in there!

David
Bram Bos said:
That's INCREDIBLE! I have to try that too! Last night I was out
with a freshly charged set of 1400NiMH (fully used a couple of
times before so they should be on the top of their life) and they
died after 19 shots! I couldn't even get the 20th shot. Granted,
it was cold, but certainly not freezing! And no LCD usage, no
(p)review, no flash, even IR assist disabled. Most shots MF. I was
so disappointed. I guess I'll have to switch to Alkalines now.

I'm sorry to say this but I'm starting to dislike my E-10. Perhaps
in a
studio it's a good camera, but for versatile outdoor use the machine
just keeps disappointing me in many ways. I should have bought the
C4040 or the Canon G2. Much cheaper, much more reliable. 19 shots
on a set of 1400NiMHs is worse than a D7 on a bad day.

Bram, who is glad he's kept his 2020 as a backup
--
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
http://www.pbase.com/brambos
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--
Steven
Click to expand...
 
Steven60115 said:
David Meyers said:
Bram,

I agree- you do indeed have something odd going on with either E-10
or your NiMH battery sets. Seems you have a mix of brands and
capacities.
A few ideas that might help get to the root of the problem...
Be sure that you are not mixing cell brand names and capacities
even though those of different brand names may be marked with like
capacity.
When you purchase packs of cells, mark the date of purchase on the
cell with a permanent marker to keep a rough track of age. NiMH
cells are good for about 300-500 charge/ discharge cycles with
gradually degrading capacity. Capacity degrades sharply near end of
service life.
I also responded to your thread "Q from the Batteryman"...

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1022&message=2088983

You should be getting MUCH better performance from E-10 than you
speak of. Don't let 'duff' cells put you off a fine camera and
pleasing photos!

Hang in there!
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Hi Bram

I agree with others it is unlikely to be a camera fault. I have been making an nimh charger based on the philips 1102 chip and realise that many commercial chargers can not achieve 1 hr charge .. more of this elsewhere.

Do yourself a favour go buy a set of new 1800 nimh charge fully preferably at slower rate ,say 3hr, and use several times then tell me you cannot get results comparable to Jonos.

Keep the faith, if your results were typical this forum would be swamped with complaints,
regards
peter
 
Bram, I previously owned and E-10 and if you shoot in cold weather then yes you may have some difficulty with NiMh batteries. Alkaline life will be shortened also. What you might do is get a Li-Ion battery pack from Thomas distributing. This is what I used prior to getting my Lipo Grip. The Li-Ion Battery pack can be found at Thomas Distributing for about $59 and will work in cold weather better. There are also other battery packs on the market that I am sure other users here can suggest.

Jason
Bram Bos said:
Bram Bos said:
Believe it or not I took 304 photo's with Alkaline Batteries.
This just blew me away. I think this is good information to know
esp if someone forgets their extra set of NiMH, Battery pack, or
lipo grip and gets in a pinch.

Has anyone done a test for maxthe NiMh batteries?
Click to expand...
That's INCREDIBLE! I have to try that too! Last night I was out
with a freshly charged set of 1400NiMH (fully used a couple of
times before so they should be on the top of their life) and they
died after 19 shots! I couldn't even get the 20th shot. Granted,
it was cold, but certainly not freezing! And no LCD usage, no
(p)review, no flash, even IR assist disabled. Most shots MF. I was
so disappointed. I guess I'll have to switch to Alkalines now.

I'm sorry to say this but I'm starting to dislike my E-10. Perhaps
in a
studio it's a good camera, but for versatile outdoor use the machine
just keeps disappointing me in many ways. I should have bought the
C4040 or the Canon G2. Much cheaper, much more reliable. 19 shots
on a set of 1400NiMHs is worse than a D7 on a bad day.

Bram, who is glad he's kept his 2020 as a backup
--
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
http://www.pbase.com/brambos
Click to expand...
--Jason Stoller [email protected] that special moment with a great camera
 
Bram I used the Li-Ion battery pack and a couple sets of Power Ex 1600NiMh batteries when I was in your country last March and it lasted me all day and into the evening with my E-10.
Bram Bos said:
Bram Bos said:
Bram Bos said:
times before so they should be on the top of their life) and they
died after 19 shots! I couldn't even get the 20th shot.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Bram Bos said:
Buy or borrow a cheepo voltmetre and check your batteries after
charging - you may have a duff one.
Click to expand...
hi there.. yeah.. I wish it was something like that, but I have quite
a bunch of sets (1100s, 1400z, 1600s, 1800s, all different brands)
which
perform very well in my other camera (Oly C2020) but consistently
fail to give me any satisfactory performance on the E-10. I've never
gotten more than 50 shots out of a set. And that's without flash and
LCD usage. I find this disappointing and a drawback for everyday
E10 use.

Bram
--
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
http://www.pbase.com/brambos
Click to expand...
--Jason Stoller [email protected] that special moment with a great camera
 
Bram do a search for Thomas Distributing on http://www.google.com . I think they ship to Europe. I used 2 sets of Power EX 1600NiMH batteries and the Li-Ion battery pack when I was in your country last March and it got me through the whole day and evening. I had a 1 gig Microdrive in the E-10 and left it on most of the Day!

Jason
Bram Bos said:
Bram Bos said:
There has to be an explanation. I don't have an E-10 but I do have
an E-20 and I literally get 100+ shots from it with 1600mah AA
batteries with mixed flash usage and lcd usage. It usually runs
closer to 150 shots per set of batteries.
Click to expand...
That's my experience with my other Olympus (C2020z) as well.
Bram Bos said:
Is your camera new? Possibly something wrong with the power
management. Are you using a micro-drive?
Click to expand...
Nope. No microdrive, no LCD, no flash, no IR focussing. I've bought
a brand new charger (Hahnel Rapid charger - Rayovac nor Maha are
available in Europe) the most advanced I could find to make sure my
batteries are charged properly, but any set of batteries keeps running
out of juice after a few dozen shots - tops. After shutting down and
switching on the E-10 I may get some 10 more shots and then it's
flat. Same situation when charging with my other (timed) charger.
So it has to be the E-10 that's hogging my batteries. And it's my
biggest gripe with this cam.

Bram

--
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
http://www.pbase.com/brambos
Click to expand...
--Jason Stoller [email protected] that special moment with a great camera
 
Jono Slack said:
Hey Jason

This is definitely VERY useful information - the E10 was completely
useless on alkaline (like 10 shots). One of the less mentioned
improvements on the E20 seems to be the power management - I
haven't really checked to see how many shots I get out of my 1600
Nimh - but it does seem better.
Click to expand...
I can easily fill a 256 card at highest resolution with the 1600 or 1800 NiMH batteries with the 10. I do review some, not all for sure. Otherwise the LCD isn't on. Of course I now have the LiPo LOL--altho' I decided today that I am not going to use it all the time for just 'around' since I have a number of sets of NiMH and I don't want to 'overuse' the battery as I understand about 50 charges are about it (a year) and I will have heavy use for work and trips. I love the ability to use more than one power source.

Diane--Diane B http://www.pbase.com/picnic/galleriesB/W lover, but color is seducing me
 
Tommy Martin said:
There has to be an explanation. I don't have an E-10 but I do have
an E-20 and I literally get 100+ shots from it with 1600mah AA
batteries with mixed flash usage and lcd usage. It usually runs
closer to 150 shots per set of batteries.

Is your camera new? Possibly something wrong with the power
management. Are you using a micro-drive?
Click to expand...
See my post above. I fill a 256 MB CF time after time with the 1600 NiMH batteries. I have Rayovac and the hour charger. I know I could probably get more, but this is what I remember for sure--filled cards.

Diane--Diane B http://www.pbase.com/picnic/galleriesB/W lover, but color is seducing me
 
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