Rechargeable Batteries for Coolpix 3100

I have the Nikon battery charger and two sets of Ni-MH batteries for the 3100. Both sets of batteries have been recharged approximately 5 times after being fully exhausted. The current charging time for both sets is about 45 minutes and they seem to loose power before the specified 80 minutes of useage. I also installed firmware 1.2.

Is the charging time correct for full charging of the batteries (or should it be the 2.5 hours as noted in the instructions)? Why do they loose power before the specified time? And can I use a different brand of charger and batteries?

Fully exhausted... how was that achieved... hope you didn't stick them in a torch or something to run them down!

What mAH rating are your batteries?

david preneta said:

I have the Nikon battery charger and two sets of Ni-MH batteries
for the 3100. Both sets of batteries have been recharged
approximately 5 times after being fully exhausted. The current
charging time for both sets is about 45 minutes and they seem to
loose power before the specified 80 minutes of useage. I also
installed firmware 1.2.

Click to expand...

The mAH rating of my batteries are 2100. When I say "batteries fully exhausted" I mean the camera tells me to replace them with fresh recharged ones.

Do you shoot until the digicam shuts down or the icon indicates out of charge.

45 mins to recharge is a bit rapid!

david preneta said:

The mAH rating of my batteries are 2100. When I say "batteries
fully exhausted" I mean the camera tells me to replace them with
fresh recharged ones.

Click to expand...

I shoot until the camera tells me"battery exhausted replace" on the LCD screen.

I am having same problem, i only get about 10-15 minutes of use before msg that says battery exhausted

david preneta said:

I shoot until the camera tells me"battery exhausted replace" on the
LCD screen.

Click to expand...

steve pelts said:

I am having same problem, i only get about 10-15 minutes of use
before msg that says battery exhausted

Click to expand...

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Ajax32

Nikon states that their NIMH bats need to be cycled (charge/discharge) several times in order to reach full power. I found that the Nikon bats do not perform as well as other bats. I switched to Rayovac NIMH and they work just fine. Set the turn-off time for the display to 30 secs.
Ajacks