Question about cameras

[Roughin' It]

more specifically in long distance hiking, do you find it better to have a digital camera that runs off of AA batteries, or a camera battery and plug in charger?

-I could see the convenience of have the AA batteries, but at the same time it could be a pain to keep buying more batteries if you use it alot.
-I could also see the convenience of just plugging in your camera battery charger at a trail town or hostel or whatnot, but then you have to pack the charger and stuff, and what about when the battery dies somewhere you cannot charge it.

[Lyle]

How many photos you think you'll take per day? Camera proprietary batteries generally get more photos per charge than AAs will. Test out your camera ahead of time. If you carry the charger with you, you will most often only have to go a few days between re-charging opportunity. Also, buy an extra battery, and you double your capacity between charges.

Is your charger one with a long power cord that plugs into the actual charger? Look into getting a plug that plugs directly into the charger, thus eliminating the bulk and weight of the cord.

Check out this forum thread at DPReview:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1034&message=34060478

[Wise Old Owl]

Great answer Lyle - and add a spare memory card.

[Blissful]

Mine used AAs and worked well for me

[BrianLe]

Since this question is posed in the "general" forum, I don't think we can assume that the O.P. is necessarily doing long trips. IMO, a camera that takes AA batteries is clearly better for those doing long distance trips. It's not necessarily a bad choice as a general purpose camera for that person too in that you can buy rechargeable nickel-metal-hydride batteries for it, and bring along a spare set.

Of course, bringing along one or more spare sets of batteries is a fine idea for any sort of journey.

Note also that at least some cameras that use a charging base also allow for connecting the cord directly in the camera body --- I think both cameras that I've had with charging bases have been like that, so don't let the existence of a charging base automatically turn you off if you're interested in being able to carry the charging cord with you in your backpack.

[Tinker]

If you can't find a camera that uses AAA batteries, try to find other electronic gear that also uses AA's and, if you're doing a thruhike, use rechargeable batteries and mail a charger ahead of you in a bounce box. You get to be eco-friendly, too.
Fwiw, I have both types of digital cameras, a Sony DSC T-1 and a Nikon Coolpix (with 2x the megapixels). The Sony takes WAY more pictures on a charge than the Nikon does before changing out the AA batt's (but uses a clumsy cradle for recharging).

[Toolumpy]

I bought a reconditioned Olympus Stylus 1010 on Ebay ( about $124.00 I think) and it worked great and continues to do so. Bought an extra battery( lithium - Ion $49.00 I think) also. I hiked 13 days in May of 2009 and only needed one battery. Was told by a guy at Normans camera this camera has a good seal to keep moisture out. Also bought a 2gb Olympus picture card and took 396 pictures and 3 videos and still had room left for 300 pictures. I would give the camera weight but my son put my scale somewhere and now can't find it. Will look for it today. amera is 10.1 megapixel and 7 X optical zoom.

[Toolumpy]

Found my scale. 5.4 oz with 1 battery and 2gb card. Hope this helps.:banana

[Pedaling Fool]

My camera (Panasonic DMC-LZ2) uses two "AA" batteries. I use rechargeable at home, but use regulars on the trail. Too much of a hassel charging on the trail. Easy to get batteries at any dollar store.

Also I found out that when batteries died in my camera they actually are not dead, they can be used on small radios that don't use as much energy. I also used the "dead" batteries to review which pics I would keep and which I would delete; that doesn't take near as much energy as using the camera for picture taking.

[waywardfool]

If your camera has a viewfinder, in addition to the LCD, turn off the LCD by default. Then just turn it on manually if you need to review a shot. Doing this you will go from a couple of hundred shots per charge to several hundreds. The LCD is the biggest power-consumer on a P&S camera.

Resist the temptation to look at a bunch of your pictures on the LCD at night, etc. That's just burning battery time.

[white_russian]

I personally like AA battery. If you have a camera that can use the same charger as your phone with mini/micro USB then go for it.

[Ender]

AA, but use the lithium ones, not the alkaline.

[leaftye]

Some AA powered cameras last a long looooong time. My brothers Canon a720is went over 700 pictures for me with barely a dent in the battery life meter. This was using Eneloop batteries. I'm tempted to buy a Canon SX120is for my thru-hike and hope like crazy that it's as efficient with battery power and the a720is.

As far as the charging goes, you probably won't need to do it very often. If you get battery life like my brothers camera, you'll be charging the batteries in your gps or headlamp more often. If you're staying at a hostel, maybe you can arrange to donate them a battery charger that you can use when you pass thru. This would benefit many people while producing less waste along the trail.

[Johnny Appleseed]

I just got a canon G10 power shot 14.7 megapixel. I gave up on the batteries only camera-too limited of choice. My criteria was very high quality as I am jealous of other pics being good but not mine(35mm film & cheap camera). I was willing to carry the weight of a DSLR camera, and the G10 is NOT a DSLR, but has almost every quality of a DSLR camera. I got mine w/ two rechargeable batteries one 16MB SD card for 465$ shipped from fleabay. I am in love w/ this camera. It is a bit heavy for a hiking camera, say over the ultra thin ones for 100$ but I wanted the quality. All I need is 1 more 16 memory card. It takes just over 2 hrs to recharge a dead battery.

[Powder River]

I just got a canon G10 power shot 14.7 megapixel. I gave up on the batteries only camera-too limited of choice. My criteria was very high quality as I am jealous of other pics being good but not mine(35mm film & cheap camera). I was willing to carry the weight of a DSLR camera, and the G10 is NOT a DSLR, but has almost every quality of a DSLR camera. I got mine w/ two rechargeable batteries one 16MB SD card for 465$ shipped from fleabay. I am in love w/ this camera. It is a bit heavy for a hiking camera, say over the ultra thin ones for 100$ but I wanted the quality. All I need is 1 more 16 memory card. It takes just over 2 hrs to recharge a dead battery.


I carried a G9 on the AT and just got a G11. It is an amazing camera, and was well worth the weight for the pictures it took. I carried as many as two extra batteries, but realized I could get away with 2. On the AT, there is no problem recharging batteries so I wouldn't let that affect which camera you choose. If you are doing the CDT or the Brooks Range, then you might go with AA.