My New Digital Camera Eats Batteries ???

I recently purchased a Pentax Optio30 Digital Camera.

It is a great camera EXCEPT it seems to go through batteries like crazy.

For example, when I am using two rechargeable AA NiMH (fully charged) batteries, after only about 10 to 12 "flash" shots, it needs to have the batteries replaced.

Do you think it is a problem with the camera itself; the batteries; or something else?

Any ideas would be appreciated.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

I think all digicams eat batteries, but not that bad... How long does it last on a set of alkaline batteries?

Most digicams are like that. Although my minolta dimage a2 lasts a very very long time on it's lithium ion battery. My Toshiba PDR M81 is ok on the 2200mAh nihms I got for it. Just get some more batts for backups. Quick chargers are great for this purpose.

some camera really really eat batts,
the display and the flash eat the most, some displays actually eat alot more than a flash

that sounds even worse than usual though,
I dont know much about that perticular camera though, sorry

I have only used the NiMH batteries -- I have not tried any other types of batteries.

Something is wrong. If using rechargeable nimh batteries, it should not die that quickly. Please go to this site and ask the same question.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1028

Oh, you'll have to register before making a post but it's not a big deal.

That seems a bit quick for bats to die. In Steves Digicams review he states "The battery life when using high-capacity NiMH cells or a RCR-V3 pack was very good even when using the color LCD all the time and frequently reviewing the pictures and making menu changes." So maybe your batteries are bad. Have you tried a different set?

Yes, that is definitly not right. My old camera ran on 2 AA nimh batteries and it could do about 60-100 shots with flash and LCD display on. Over all, I didn't like the camera so I gave it back. May have been a minolta /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thinking.gif

What are the pros and cons between a rechargable NiMH battery and a rechargable Lithium-ion battery?

Would I expect one type of battery to last longer than the other in my digital camera?

my digital takes 4AA's and I can use it all weekend on a set no issues..

fuji finepix

My Canon PowerShot G3 has a Lithium-Ion battery pack. I've charged it about 20 times total in 2.5 years and over 4000 pictures. Most charges were only partial charges.

It also depends on the mAh capacity of the batts. Maybe he is using a lower capacity nimh. My Toshiba takes 4 AA batts and I can take quite a lot of pics before I need to recharge. It helps if you try not to use preview and the lcd so much.

Steve's digicams says that the rechargeable LiIons have roughly twice the capacity of the NiMH's. They're a LOT more expensive though.

How do you know the cells are fully charged? If you didn't check the voltage and run them through a few charge/discharge cycles if they needed it, they were likely not fully charged. The weakest one many have become damaged by overdischarging.

Try AA lithiums, or get a good charger and try some more NiMH. You could even try alkaline. My camera gets more pictures than that on alkaline.

I've seen cameras that tell you only to use NiMH. I think they are playing games with you, but if your camera says that, you will have to use other types of cells at your own risk.

I use nimhs too, 4AA, 2300mahs. They give good runtime. Alkalines Energisers and Duracells too, but when I use cheapo AAs alkalines, I was surprised that one new set of 4 cheapo AAs last me only a few shots, less than 5 minutes.

My Canon A80 is kind to batteries. So is the old Olympus we have at work. I bought a "Leica" made by panasonic and while it has a great lens for a 2MP camera, it eats batteries like a mosquito swarm at a nudist colony. Depends on the camera.

I had a Nikon 4500 that went for hours on one battery. I upgraded to a Nikon 5700 and I got less than 90 minutes of the same kind of shooting with the same capacity (and the same) battery pack. Upgraded to a D100 and I've filled up 4+ memory cards at 96 Jpegs each and used less than 1/4 power.

Eluminator has a good idea. Try the Eveready lithium AA's. You should get I'm gonna say at least 200 shots, unless you spend a real lot of the time reviewing the photos on the LCD monitor. If you only get a few, say less then 50 then you know the problem is the camera. I wonder if you do have a weak nimh AA, bringing down the other cells.

David try a set of Li AA cells and see how long they last. In our smaller Sony that uses 2 cells I have found the 2100 and 2000mA cells last about 20 shots, but oddly enough the 1800mA's are lasting about 50 shots, then again Lithium AA run about 400 shots. I am guessing this has something to do with the cells and how the lower capacity one can hold the voltage a bit more. In any case try a different set of NiMH's.

Most digital cameras are dry cell hogs (battery pigs).
I don't believe there is any malfunction or problem with your particular Pentax Optio30.

Any idea what kind of current draw is involved here?

I believe most cameras are close to 1.0 amp with everything on.

Tom