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Canon A20 Problems

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LAWRENCE CHEUNG

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This camera is good in all aspects except one. The battery life is too short.
I have returned it to Cannon HK, but still the same.

I have tried a few packs of new batteries (SANYO, GP, MITSUBISHI) and 3 charger, the problem still exist.
Whenever I brought it out, I would be worry with it battery consumption.
I cannot enjoy this camera from the day I bought it.

Does anyone have opinion/suggestion to me.
Thanks in advance!
 
Lawrence,

It would be helpful if you gave us a frame of reference regarding battery life. Did they fizzle out after 15 minutes of shooting with a full charge, or perhaps an hour, or longer?

Also, sometimes new rechargables don't reach their full strength with the very first charge...it takes several cycles to build up their strength.
 
Hi

I have one A20 for an year and since the start that i use 1600 NIMH (the brand is Varta if that is of any help). the batteries are still the same and i can take about 240 shot's at full resolution always with the LCD on (with a few flashes in the middle). Since i can almost fill an 256 Mb CF card with a pack of batteries with the LCD on (and the most of the time i don't shut down the camera, she shut's down after i believe 30 seconds).

This is just what i can do with mine just for an example.

Hope it could helped you.

RR
LAWRENCE CHEUNG said:
This camera is good in all aspects except one. The battery life is
too short.
I have returned it to Cannon HK, but still the same.
I have tried a few packs of new batteries (SANYO, GP, MITSUBISHI)
and 3 charger, the problem still exist.
Whenever I brought it out, I would be worry with it battery
consumption.
I cannot enjoy this camera from the day I bought it.

Does anyone have opinion/suggestion to me.
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
--
RR
 
I concur with RR. MY A20 just goes and goes. Yesterday I took a full 256MB card and half of a 128MB before the battery warning came on.

Don't worry about the camera so much, you should read up a bit on how to get the best from your NiMH rechargable batteries. I have two sets of Kodak 1600mAh and a set of Sanyo 1600 mAh. They just go and go but you have to charge them and run them down a few times before they reach full capicity.

Good luck.

Cheers Tim......
Soneca-II said:
I have one A20 for an year and since the start that i use 1600 NIMH
(the brand is Varta if that is of any help). the batteries are
still the same and i can take about 240 shot's at full resolution
always with the LCD on (with a few flashes in the middle). Since i
can almost fill an 256 Mb CF card with a pack of batteries with the
LCD on (and the most of the time i don't shut down the camera, she
shut's down after i believe 30 seconds).

This is just what i can do with mine just for an example.

Hope it could helped you.

RR
LAWRENCE CHEUNG said:
This camera is good in all aspects except one. The battery life is
too short.
I have returned it to Cannon HK, but still the same.
I have tried a few packs of new batteries (SANYO, GP, MITSUBISHI)
and 3 charger, the problem still exist.
Whenever I brought it out, I would be worry with it battery
consumption.
I cannot enjoy this camera from the day I bought it.

Does anyone have opinion/suggestion to me.
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
--
RR
Click to expand...
 
Thank you for all of you giving me suggestions.

I usually use 30-45 minutes to take 30 shots before the batteries emptied.

The batteries have been recharged several times already. This don't seem to be the reason.
From your discussion, I have 2 possible reasons:

1. Since I usually took photo of my son at home, that means the A20 usually have to flash for each photo. Is the flashes made the A20 has a short battery life?

2. I have a habit of putting the batteries inside the camera. Say, I made 20 shots on this Sunday, with the batteries stayed inside for a week, then took another 10 shots and then being warned. Is the A20 eat batteries although the power is off?

I am thinking of buying my next camera with rechargeable batteries included. Because the problem became complicated (with the charger of brand A + batteries of brand B + camera of brand C). The manufacturers would never say it is their problem.

I say thank you to all of you once again!
Tim Johns said:
Don't worry about the camera so much, you should read up a bit on
how to get the best from your NiMH rechargable batteries. I have
two sets of Kodak 1600mAh and a set of Sanyo 1600 mAh. They just
go and go but you have to charge them and run them down a few times
before they reach full capicity.

Good luck.

Cheers Tim......
Soneca-II said:
I have one A20 for an year and since the start that i use 1600 NIMH
(the brand is Varta if that is of any help). the batteries are
still the same and i can take about 240 shot's at full resolution
always with the LCD on (with a few flashes in the middle). Since i
can almost fill an 256 Mb CF card with a pack of batteries with the
LCD on (and the most of the time i don't shut down the camera, she
shut's down after i believe 30 seconds).

This is just what i can do with mine just for an example.

Hope it could helped you.

RR
LAWRENCE CHEUNG said:
This camera is good in all aspects except one. The battery life is
too short.
I have returned it to Cannon HK, but still the same.
I have tried a few packs of new batteries (SANYO, GP, MITSUBISHI)
and 3 charger, the problem still exist.
Whenever I brought it out, I would be worry with it battery
consumption.
I cannot enjoy this camera from the day I bought it.

Does anyone have opinion/suggestion to me.
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
--
RR
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
I'm not sure if this is going to help you or not, but here goes:

During the nine months that I had my A20, I charged my batteries about once every four weeks. I hardly used the LCD screen and used to take about 200 - 250 pictures per charge. I was using Kodak 1450 nimh batteries.

A family friend of mine purchased the A20 after seeing mine and along with it, he bought Kodak 1600 and 1700 nimh batteries. With the LCD on, one set of batteries lasts him from a day to two days...

are you using nimh batteries?

-Abhay.
http://www.midhas-touch.net
LAWRENCE CHEUNG said:
I usually use 30-45 minutes to take 30 shots before the batteries
emptied.
The batteries have been recharged several times already. This don't
seem to be the reason.
From your discussion, I have 2 possible reasons:
1. Since I usually took photo of my son at home, that means
the A20 usually have to flash for each photo. Is the flashes made
the A20 has a short battery life?
2. I have a habit of putting the batteries inside the camera.
Say, I made 20 shots on this Sunday, with the batteries stayed
inside for a week, then took another 10 shots and then being
warned. Is the A20 eat batteries although the power is off?

I am thinking of buying my next camera with rechargeable batteries
included. Because the problem became complicated (with the charger
of brand A + batteries of brand B + camera of brand C). The
manufacturers would never say it is their problem.

I say thank you to all of you once again!
Tim Johns said:
Don't worry about the camera so much, you should read up a bit on
how to get the best from your NiMH rechargable batteries. I have
two sets of Kodak 1600mAh and a set of Sanyo 1600 mAh. They just
go and go but you have to charge them and run them down a few times
before they reach full capicity.

Good luck.

Cheers Tim......
Soneca-II said:
I have one A20 for an year and since the start that i use 1600 NIMH
(the brand is Varta if that is of any help). the batteries are
still the same and i can take about 240 shot's at full resolution
always with the LCD on (with a few flashes in the middle). Since i
can almost fill an 256 Mb CF card with a pack of batteries with the
LCD on (and the most of the time i don't shut down the camera, she
shut's down after i believe 30 seconds).

This is just what i can do with mine just for an example.

Hope it could helped you.

RR
LAWRENCE CHEUNG said:
This camera is good in all aspects except one. The battery life is
too short.
I have returned it to Cannon HK, but still the same.
I have tried a few packs of new batteries (SANYO, GP, MITSUBISHI)
and 3 charger, the problem still exist.
Whenever I brought it out, I would be worry with it battery
consumption.
I cannot enjoy this camera from the day I bought it.

Does anyone have opinion/suggestion to me.
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
--
RR
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
LAWRENCE CHEUNG said:
Thank you for all of you giving me suggestions.

I usually use 30-45 minutes to take 30 shots before the batteries
emptied.
The batteries have been recharged several times already. This don't
seem to be the reason.
From your discussion, I have 2 possible reasons:
1. Since I usually took photo of my son at home, that means
the A20 usually have to flash for each photo. Is the flashes made
the A20 has a short battery life?
Click to expand...
For what i know the flash need more power than the LCD but the difference is not that big (today just for an example i took about 130 photos always with the LCD on and about 30 with flash and LCD without no indicator of low battery)
LAWRENCE CHEUNG said:
2. I have a habit of putting the batteries inside the camera.
Say, I made 20 shots on this Sunday, with the batteries stayed
inside for a week, then took another 10 shots and then being
warned. Is the A20 eat batteries although the power is off?
Click to expand...
I never (and i don't know if this is a good policy) take out the batteries from the camera when they have sufficient power (no indicator of low batterie) and they never discharged sudendly. Usually i only charge then in the day before o go somere (but i always have another 4 batteries fully charged :) )
LAWRENCE CHEUNG said:
I am thinking of buying my next camera with rechargeable batteries
included. Because the problem became complicated (with the charger
of brand A + batteries of brand B + camera of brand C). The
manufacturers would never say it is their problem.
Click to expand...
At least for what i know there is not a brand issue between the devices. I believe this is more (don't know if you can understand me) silly talk from the brand so if you have an canon camera you are obligated to get an pack of charger and batteries from the same brand (just more profit to them)

But this is only my oppinion (may not correspond to the truth :) )
LAWRENCE CHEUNG said:
I say thank you to all of you once again!
Click to expand...
You'r welcome

RR
LAWRENCE CHEUNG said:
Tim Johns said:
Don't worry about the camera so much, you should read up a bit on
how to get the best from your NiMH rechargable batteries. I have
two sets of Kodak 1600mAh and a set of Sanyo 1600 mAh. They just
go and go but you have to charge them and run them down a few times
before they reach full capicity.

Good luck.

Cheers Tim......
Soneca-II said:
I have one A20 for an year and since the start that i use 1600 NIMH
(the brand is Varta if that is of any help). the batteries are
still the same and i can take about 240 shot's at full resolution
always with the LCD on (with a few flashes in the middle). Since i
can almost fill an 256 Mb CF card with a pack of batteries with the
LCD on (and the most of the time i don't shut down the camera, she
shut's down after i believe 30 seconds).

This is just what i can do with mine just for an example.

Hope it could helped you.

RR
LAWRENCE CHEUNG said:
This camera is good in all aspects except one. The battery life is
too short.
I have returned it to Cannon HK, but still the same.
I have tried a few packs of new batteries (SANYO, GP, MITSUBISHI)
and 3 charger, the problem still exist.
Whenever I brought it out, I would be worry with it battery
consumption.
I cannot enjoy this camera from the day I bought it.

Does anyone have opinion/suggestion to me.
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
--
RR
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--
RR
 
This sounds like a battery problem.

DO NOT USE rechargable Alkaline or (NiCad; Nickel Cadmium) batteries.

For the A20 use minimum 4x 1600mA (NiMH; Nickel Metal Hydride) batteries.

Use higher power 4x 1700ma or 4x 1800mA if available. Do not mix 4 batteries of different mA value. Keep all 4 batteries the same mA value.

You need a good charger for NiMH batteries. A fast charger that will shutoff when the batteries are full. Make sure these batteries don't get hot while charging. Keep the charger door open if possible. Hot batteries will have a shorter life. Good Luck! eL
LAWRENCE CHEUNG said:
This camera is good in all aspects except one. The battery life is
too short.
I have returned it to Cannon HK, but still the same.
I have tried a few packs of new batteries (SANYO, GP, MITSUBISHI)
and 3 charger, the problem still exist.
Whenever I brought it out, I would be worry with it battery
consumption.
I cannot enjoy this camera from the day I bought it.

Does anyone have opinion/suggestion to me.
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
 
eL said:
DO NOT USE rechargable Alkaline or (NiCad; Nickel Cadmium) batteries.

For the A20 use minimum 4x 1600mA (NiMH; Nickel Metal Hydride)
batteries.
Use higher power 4x 1700ma or 4x 1800mA if available. Do not mix 4
batteries of different mA value. Keep all 4 batteries the same mA
value.

You need a good charger for NiMH batteries. A fast charger that
will shutoff when the batteries are full. Make sure these batteries
don't get hot while charging. Keep the charger door open if
possible. Hot batteries will have a shorter life. Good Luck! eL
LAWRENCE CHEUNG said:
This camera is good in all aspects except one. The battery life is
too short.
I have returned it to Cannon HK, but still the same.
I have tried a few packs of new batteries (SANYO, GP, MITSUBISHI)
and 3 charger, the problem still exist.
Whenever I brought it out, I would be worry with it battery
consumption.
I cannot enjoy this camera from the day I bought it.

Does anyone have opinion/suggestion to me.
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
See this thread
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1010&message=3250987
 
Dear All,

This seem to my problem only. No many persons have my experience.

As from most of the opinion/experience I received, that seem to be the problem of the batteries, not the camera.

But I still understand because the batteries and the charger are new and up to the standards:
SANYO 1600mah NiMH x 4
SANYO 1700mah NiMh x 4
GP 1800mah NiMH x 4
GP 1600mah NiMH x 4
GP Quick Charger (1 Hour)
GP Quick Charger (5 Hours)

I bought all these after the A20. However all of these have similar problem.

Because I usually recharge the batteries when the 'Low Batteries Indicator' flashes. I know that by then they are not really empty. Some further questions please:
"Have to recharge several times before the batteries reach its full capacity".

Is that mean I have to manually discharge them to absolutely EMPTY before the next recharge.

I find that the battery apartment use springs as the leads. Is it possible that this is caused by the bad contact of the springs? Just my imagination, I am not sure.

Thanks!
Lawrence CHEUNG
 
Hi,

I have an A10 and I use Energizer Lithium batteries (not rechargeable).

In one of the photography magazines they tested a range of batteries by leaving the LCD screen on and triggering the flash. The NiMH batteries gave up after about 120 shots but the lithiums were still going strong after 600+ shots.

To find out if your camera or batteries are at fault I suggest you try out a set of the Lithiums.

Regards,

Brian
 
It may be my imagination but i think i believe i had read somewhere that you could not use lithium bateries in the AXX series.

But could be only my imagination (i'm not really shure).

RR
Brian Tooze said:
Hi,

I have an A10 and I use Energizer Lithium batteries (not
rechargeable).

In one of the photography magazines they tested a range of
batteries by leaving the LCD screen on and triggering the flash.
The NiMH batteries gave up after about 120 shots but the lithiums
were still going strong after 600+ shots.

To find out if your camera or batteries are at fault I suggest you
try out a set of the Lithiums.

Regards,

Brian
Click to expand...
--
RR
 
Soneca-II said:
It may be my imagination but i think i believe i had read somewhere
that you could not use lithium bateries in the AXX series.

But could be only my imagination (i'm not really shure).

RR

The Camera used for the battery test was a Powershot A10. I have been using them since January without any problems
Click to expand...
 
I am back.

I have another experience today.

I recharged my GP 1800 mah NiMH batteries (x4) with my GP Quick Charger (1 Hour). Then I put them inside the camera and the 'Low Battery Indicator' emerged after 15 photos. . I stopped for 30 minutes and started to shot again. At the fifth photo I took, the indicator emerged again. This time I continue to take photo and shot 64 photos more with the indicator warning until the 64M CF was full.
The indicator seem to appear TOO early, isn't it?

I cannot understand how this occurred.

Under this situation, how can I trust this camera?

I just cannot catch the battery life of this camera. Planning to use it in some activity is a dangerous matter.
Other A20 users who don't have my problem may disagree with me.
 
The indicator responds to where the total battery voltage is floating under use. Different NiMH batteries may give a different result.

A second question is will a 1 hour charge make full use of the battery capacity? It could be too short a time and maybe a slower 3-4 hour charge is better?

Don't mix up 2 groups of 4x battery sets. Use and charger them separately.

You filled up the card successfully. Why not change batteries after a set number of shots? Will the number you come up with be based on all Daylight shots or all Flash shots? eL
LAWRENCE CHEUNG said:
I am back.

I have another experience today.
I recharged my GP 1800 mah NiMH batteries (x4) with my GP Quick
Charger (1 Hour). Then I put them inside the camera and the 'Low
Battery Indicator' emerged after 15 photos. . I stopped for 30
minutes and started to shot again. At the fifth photo I took, the
indicator emerged again. This time I continue to take photo and
shot 64 photos more with the indicator warning until the 64M CF was
full.
The indicator seem to appear TOO early, isn't it?

I cannot understand how this occurred.

Under this situation, how can I trust this camera?
I just cannot catch the battery life of this camera. Planning to
use it in some activity is a dangerous matter.
Other A20 users who don't have my problem may disagree with me.
Click to expand...
 
LAWRENCE CHEUNG said:
I am back.

I have another experience today.
I recharged my GP 1800 mah NiMH batteries (x4) with my GP Quick
Charger (1 Hour). Then I put them inside the camera and the 'Low
Battery Indicator' emerged after 15 photos. . I stopped for 30
minutes and started to shot again. At the fifth photo I took, the
indicator emerged again. This time I continue to take photo and
shot 64 photos more with the indicator warning until the 64M CF was
full.
The indicator seem to appear TOO early, isn't it?

I cannot understand how this occurred.

Under this situation, how can I trust this camera?
I just cannot catch the battery life of this camera. Planning to
use it in some activity is a dangerous matter.
Other A20 users who don't have my problem may disagree with me.
Click to expand...
Several readers have inquired about Nexcell 1800s. I've now tested about 5 different sets, with highly variable results. The Nexcell 1800s have the unfortunate distinction of being the only batteries that have failed completely during my testing. - No less than 3 sets out of the five I tested failed in less than 10 charge cycles. (That is, one battery in each set of 4 died completely.) Short of that, they all showed continuously decreasing capacity as the number of test cycles increased. Not good.
LAWRENCE CHEUNG said:
As you can see some batteries are prone to problems – my suggestion is to try another brand and another set – before making final decisions.
Click to expand...
The Rayovac 1-hour charger does indeed seem to get the batteries too hot. - I observed with several different sets of batteries from various manufacturers that repeated charge cycles in the Rayovac resulted in a noticeable and continuing decrease in maximum capacity. It's darn fast, and charges the batteries pretty completely, but definitely seems to have a negative impact on battery life.
LAWRENCE CHEUNG said:
As noted some of 1 hour chargers – decrease batteries life
Click to expand...
A number of folks have asked for power data on Lithium AA cells. I have a couple of sets of lithiums here, but (still) need to make a minor mod to the test jig to test them. I'll try to get to this "soon." (Don't even ask what "soon" means in this context though. ;-)

http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/BATTS/BATTS.HTM
 
By the way, to charge my NIMH 1600 i have one slow charger from the same brand that takes 16 hours to fully charge the batterie. Even if this batteries oes not have an memory issue so big like the NiCD you should made some slow chargements to the batterie.

Just an ideia

RR
P@l said:
LAWRENCE CHEUNG said:
I am back.

I have another experience today.
I recharged my GP 1800 mah NiMH batteries (x4) with my GP Quick
Charger (1 Hour). Then I put them inside the camera and the 'Low
Battery Indicator' emerged after 15 photos. . I stopped for 30
minutes and started to shot again. At the fifth photo I took, the
indicator emerged again. This time I continue to take photo and
shot 64 photos more with the indicator warning until the 64M CF was
full.
The indicator seem to appear TOO early, isn't it?

I cannot understand how this occurred.

Under this situation, how can I trust this camera?
I just cannot catch the battery life of this camera. Planning to
use it in some activity is a dangerous matter.
Other A20 users who don't have my problem may disagree with me.
Click to expand...
Several readers have inquired about Nexcell 1800s. I've now tested
about 5 different sets, with highly variable results. The Nexcell
1800s have the unfortunate distinction of being the only batteries
that have failed completely during my testing. - No less than 3
sets out of the five I tested failed in less than 10 charge cycles.
(That is, one battery in each set of 4 died completely.) Short of
that, they all showed continuously decreasing capacity as the
number of test cycles increased. Not good.
P@l said:
As you can see some batteries are prone to problems – my suggestion is to try another brand and another set – before making final decisions.
Click to expand...
The Rayovac 1-hour charger does indeed seem to get the batteries
too hot. - I observed with several different sets of batteries from
various manufacturers that repeated charge cycles in the Rayovac
resulted in a noticeable and continuing decrease in maximum
capacity. It's darn fast, and charges the batteries pretty
completely, but definitely seems to have a negative impact on
battery life.
P@l said:
As noted some of 1 hour chargers – decrease batteries life
Click to expand...
A number of folks have asked for power data on Lithium AA cells. I
have a couple of sets of lithiums here, but (still) need to make a
minor mod to the test jig to test them. I'll try to get to this
"soon." (Don't even ask what "soon" means in this context though.
;-)

http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/BATTS/BATTS.HTM
Click to expand...
--
RR
 
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