Digital camera with AA batteries??

david sugar · Jun 27, 2003

My son needs a camera that takes AA batteries. He will be out of the country and will have trouble recharging. Canon S400 or S45 would be perfect except for batteries. An alternate suggestion wouldbe appreciated. Price range $400 - 500. 4 Megapixel. Ease of use is important.

Thanks in advance

Pingme · Jun 27, 2003

Hello,

Olympus C-5050, This camera is a little out your price range but it takes AA batteries.

Sonyad · Jun 27, 2003

Minolta s414 about $350 and the Canon A70 about $300 are the ones that come to mind. There are others though.

david sugar said:
My son needs a camera that takes AA batteries. He will be out of
the country and will have trouble recharging. Canon S400 or S45
would be perfect except for batteries. An alternate suggestion
wouldbe appreciated. Price range $400 - 500. 4 Megapixel. Ease of
use is important.

Thanks in advance

New2dig · Jun 27, 2003

Based on the small cameras you mentioned, you are looking for a pocketable camera. The Minolta DiMAGE S414 doesn't fit the bill there but is 4 megapixel and uses 4 AA batteries. It also has a 4x optical zoom. It can be found for less than $400 (in the U.S.).

I do not have this camera but considered it before getting my Canon A70 which uses AA batteries but is 3 megapixel.

david sugar said:
My son needs a camera that takes AA batteries. He will be out of
the country and will have trouble recharging. Canon S400 or S45
would be perfect except for batteries. An alternate suggestion
wouldbe appreciated. Price range $400 - 500. 4 Megapixel. Ease of
use is important.

Thanks in advance

RickS · Jun 27, 2003

A70 is 3 Mp.

Most of the Olympus and many of the Minoltas use AA batts. The new Oly C-750 (a little above your specified range) would make a good choice with its wide-angle to long zoom capability. I also prefer its Electronic Viewfinder.

But, the Minolta S414 would be hard to pass up at its price point.

Rick

Sonyad said:
david sugar said:

My son needs a camera that takes AA batteries. He will be out of
the country and will have trouble recharging. Canon S400 or S45
would be perfect except for batteries. An alternate suggestion
wouldbe appreciated. Price range $400 - 500. 4 Megapixel. Ease of
use is important.

Thanks in advance

Click to expand...

Tom-UK · Jun 27, 2003

David,

Have a look at the Sony DSC-P92. It's a 5mp compact camera which uses 2xAA batteries. It was launched earlier this year, and has been designed with a lower drain LCD. This helps with battery life. I have the DSC-P72 as a second camera. This is the 3.2mp version of the same camera. Image quality is excellent in almost all respects. Occassionally reds are oversaturated. However, coming from a Minolta F100 where colours were well undersaturated, I don't think it's too much of an issue. Minolta F100 battery drain was so horrendous that it made the camera almost unusable for me.

On the subject of batteries, if recharging NiMH batteries is going to be a problem, I suggest your son buys some Energizer AA Photo Lithium batteries. These are far and away the longest last AA batteries for high drain devices. Infact it's the only lithium AA battery in the world. It's a blue and silver battery. Don't confuse it for the Energizer e2 Titanium which is in orange packaging.

Last note. A 3.2 mp camera will produce good prints almost up to A4 size. Are you sure you need the extra megapixel? You could bye the Sony DSC-P72, and buy an extra memory card with the money saved.

Good luck.
Tom

david sugar said:
My son needs a camera that takes AA batteries. He will be out of
the country and will have trouble recharging. Canon S400 or S45
would be perfect except for batteries. An alternate suggestion
wouldbe appreciated. Price range $400 - 500. 4 Megapixel. Ease of
use is important.

Thanks in advance

Doug Ames · Jun 27, 2003

Sounds like you are looking for something compact and low cost, preferably using 2 x AA batteries. Take a look at the Fuji A303 - it's only 3.2 Mpixels, but I think it fits in the niche you are looking at.

S Crook · Jun 27, 2003

Don't know how the Lithium AA's are but if you use alkalines I'd suggest buying in bulk (typically 24/box) as you will eat them up at an alarming rate. NiMH (and perhaps Li primary cells too?) have lower internal resistance so tolerate the high peak current draw better. Whatever battery chemistry, test before he goes so he knows what to expect.

Tom-UK said:
Have a look at the Sony DSC-P92. It's a 5mp compact camera which
uses 2xAA batteries. It was launched earlier this year, and has
been designed with a lower drain LCD. This helps with battery
life. I have the DSC-P72 as a second camera. This is the 3.2mp
version of the same camera. Image quality is excellent in almost
all respects. Occassionally reds are oversaturated. However, coming
from a Minolta F100 where colours were well undersaturated, I don't
think it's too much of an issue. Minolta F100 battery drain was so
horrendous that it made the camera almost unusable for me.

On the subject of batteries, if recharging NiMH batteries is going
to be a problem, I suggest your son buys some Energizer AA Photo
Lithium batteries. These are far and away the longest last AA
batteries for high drain devices. Infact it's the only lithium AA
battery in the world. It's a blue and silver battery. Don't confuse
it for the Energizer e2 Titanium which is in orange packaging.

Last note. A 3.2 mp camera will produce good prints almost up to A4
size. Are you sure you need the extra megapixel? You could bye the
Sony DSC-P72, and buy an extra memory card with the money saved.

Good luck.
Tom

david sugar said:

My son needs a camera that takes AA batteries. He will be out of
the country and will have trouble recharging. Canon S400 or S45
would be perfect except for batteries. An alternate suggestion
wouldbe appreciated. Price range $400 - 500. 4 Megapixel. Ease of
use is important.

Thanks in advance

Click to expand...

Hans59567 · Jun 27, 2003

david sugar said:
My son needs a camera that takes AA batteries. He will be out of
the country and will have trouble recharging. Canon S400 or S45
would be perfect except for batteries. An alternate suggestion
wouldbe appreciated. Price range $400 - 500. 4 Megapixel. Ease of
use is important.

Hi David,

I don't know if there is any digital camera which runs on normal, heavy duty, AA cells (for instance Duracell), other than the NiMh cells, which can deliver the needed high currents, but which have to be reloaded after 100 or 200 pictures. In any case: The Minolta S414 needs them. There ARE non reloadable Li-ion AA batteries: Very hard to find and very expensive.

The big advantage of AA cells is that there are, easy to find, fast (one hour) loaders with an universal powerplug set and fit for 120Volts 60 Hz and 240Volts 50 Hz powergrids and for 12 Volt car outlet (cigarette lighter plug). And that spare sets are so cheap. When acces for an hour to any power outlet is not available: Your son has a problem. There are (slow) loaders powered by solar cells. You can even consider a film camera, which are now very cheap for its quality: One hour print services around the corner worldwide (if there is electric current

Hans

Tom-UK · Jun 27, 2003

He doesn't have a problem if he uses Energizer Lithium AA's. They're not cheap but they are excellent.

http://www.energizer.com/products/e2photo.asp

Tom

Hans said:
david sugar said:

My son needs a camera that takes AA batteries. He will be out of
the country and will have trouble recharging. Canon S400 or S45
would be perfect except for batteries. An alternate suggestion
wouldbe appreciated. Price range $400 - 500. 4 Megapixel. Ease of
use is important.

Click to expand...

Hi David,
I don't know if there is any digital camera which runs on normal,
heavy duty, AA cells (for instance Duracell), other than the NiMh
cells, which can deliver the needed high currents, but which have
to be reloaded after 100 or 200 pictures. In any case: The Minolta
S414 needs them. There ARE non reloadable Li-ion AA batteries: Very
hard to find and very expensive.
The big advantage of AA cells is that there are, easy to find, fast
(one hour) loaders with an universal powerplug set and fit for
120Volts 60 Hz and 240Volts 50 Hz powergrids and for 12 Volt car
outlet (cigarette lighter plug). And that spare sets are so cheap.
When acces for an hour to any power outlet is not available: Your
son has a problem. There are (slow) loaders powered by solar cells.
You can even consider a film camera, which are now very cheap for
its quality: One hour print services around the corner worldwide
(if there is electric current
Hans

Hans59567 · Jun 27, 2003

Tom, Thanks for the link.

I stand corrected about their price: 12 $$ for a 4-pack 2900 milliampere/hour batteries: Not that sky high expensive. It means that you can make about 1000 pictures with three sets. (very rough estimation)

Good to have a spare set on the shelf for emergency and below freezing temperatures because Nimh batteries drop almost dead then. The shelf life is many years. (fully charged Nimh batteries are loosing their load within weeks: 30 % First week, slowing down thereafter)

Hans

Tom-UK said:
http://www.energizer.com/products/e2photo.asp

Tom

Hans said:

david sugar said:

My son needs a camera that takes AA batteries. He will be out of
the country and will have trouble recharging. Canon S400 or S45
would be perfect except for batteries. An alternate suggestion
would be appreciated. Price range $400 - 500. 4 Megapixel. Ease of
use is important.

Click to expand...

Hi David,
I don't know if there is any digital camera which runs on normal,
heavy duty, AA cells (for instance Duracell), other than the NiMh
cells, which can deliver the needed high currents, but which have
to be reloaded after 100 or 200 pictures. In any case: The Minolta
S414 needs them. There ARE non reloadable Li-ion AA batteries: Very
hard to find and very expensive.
The big advantage of AA cells is that there are, easy to find, fast
(one hour) loaders with an universal powerplug set and fit for
120Volts 60 Hz and 240Volts 50 Hz powergrids and for 12 Volt car
outlet (cigarette lighter plug). And that spare sets are so cheap.
When acces for an hour to any power outlet is not available: Your
son has a problem. There are (slow) loaders powered by solar cells.
You can even consider a film camera, which are now very cheap for
its quality: One hour print services around the corner worldwide
(if there is electric current
Hans

Click to expand...

Alf B. · Jun 28, 2003

Hans

NiMH batteries are now available at capacities of 2200 mah, not far off that of lithiums and their low price still makes them the cheapest option.

I use an "intelligent" Uniross 1-2 hour quick charger which charges 2-4 AA 2000mah NiMH's in about 1 hour.

It costs about £30 here in the UK and comes with a 240v mains adapter and a 12v Cigarette lighter plug lead for use in a car or even with a motorbike!

Being intelligent it can never over-charge the batteries and will "maintain" the batteries if they are left in the charger after the charge cycle has finished.

Alf B.

RJNedimyer · Jun 28, 2003

david sugar said:
My son needs a camera that takes AA batteries. He will be out of
the country and will have trouble recharging. Canon S400 or S45
would be perfect except for batteries. An alternate suggestion
wouldbe appreciated. Price range $400 - 500. 4 Megapixel. Ease of
use is important.

Thanks in advance

Tell him to look at the Fuji 602 I know it is a 3/6MP but when you have all the details it looks much better.

--
Ray
RJNedimyer

homer timpson · Jun 28, 2003

RJNedimyer said:
david sugar said:

My son needs a camera that takes AA batteries. He will be out of
the country and will have trouble recharging. Canon S400 or S45
would be perfect except for batteries. An alternate suggestion
wouldbe appreciated. Price range $400 - 500. 4 Megapixel. Ease of
use is important.

Thanks in advance

Click to expand...

Sorry if I make myself look like a 'muppet' by asking this question - but do you mean 'out of the country' as in travelling abroad, or, in the countryside without access to mains power?

I only ask because I bought my Canon S30 in the States - and have had no problems charging the original battery here in the UK or, on vaction recently, in Turkey.

Simple, and cheap, travel adapters are readily available.

If, however, it relates to inaccessible situations ..................... I will go away quietly!!

Brian

Pjt · Jun 29, 2003

Here is a helpful article for you about using batteries.

http://www.outdooreyes.com/photo48.php3

--
Outdoor photography newsletter and outdoor photography forum.
http://www.outdooreyes.com

Search

Digital camera with AA batteries??

david sugar

New member

Pingme

Forum Enthusiast

Sonyad

Senior Member

New2dig

Member

RickS

Senior Member

Tom-UK

Well-known member

Doug Ames

Forum Enthusiast

S Crook

Senior Member

Hans59567

Senior Member

Tom-UK

Well-known member

Hans59567

Senior Member

Alf B.

Leading Member

RJNedimyer

Veteran Member

homer timpson

New member

Pjt

Active member

Similar threads

Keyboard shortcuts