A digital camera battery is probably the most important digital
camera accessory. Some digital cameras can consume power at an
alarming rate, providing no more than a few hours of continuous
shooting time before the battery is drained. Other cameras are
renowned for the long life of their digital camera battery which
allows users to snap away with barely a thought to power consumption.
It is important to know how you intend to use your camera and
what type of battery it needs.
There are two types of digital camera battery. The most widely
available digital camera battery is a standard AA-size battery.
The other type of digital camera battery is a rechargeable battery
that is made by the manufacturer, otherwise known as a proprietary
battery.
A proprietary digital camera battery offers the advantage
of being lighter and more compact, but they are substantially
more expensive, making the prospect of buying one or two backup
sets much less appealing.
The alkaline AA-size digital camera battery usually has a
very short life - less than an hour in extreme cases - when used
in a digital camera. This type of battery makes an acceptable
emergency backup, especially if you are travelling with your
camera. However, the Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) digital camera
battery can be used instead of the alkaline ones with a charger
and this rechargeable NiMH digital camera battery has a substantially
longer life at an affordable price.
Another type of AA-size battery is the non-rechargeable Lithium
batteries and rechargeable Nickel Cadmium (NiCD) batteries. The
lithium digital camera battery has a superior life to alkaline
AA's and offers good cold-weather performance but their price
and non-rechargeable nature make them less useful than rechargeable
NiMH batteries. It is also important to ensure that your camera
can take a lithium digital camera battery. On the other hand
the NiCD digital camera battery offers the advantage of retaining
their charge while unused, unlike NiMH cells, but have shorter
lives and need to be discharged completely before recharging
which can be extremely inconvenient.
The LCD screen of a digital camera is responsible for consuming
the most power from a digital camera battery so it is worth only
using the LCD when necessary to help conserve the battery life.
Always try to carry at least one backup set of batteries, especially
if you plan on being away from power outlets for an extended
period of time. The universally-available alkaline AA-size battery
can make a convenient emergency backup if your regular digital
camera battery fails.
This article was posted on November 17, 2005