Digital Cameras and batteries - advive please ?

[Phil K]

I am going to buy a digital camera, and quite fancy the Nikon Coolpix 3100, if I dont win on e-bay for another type (not tell you lot which - you'd bid against me for spite ! ) but one thing I noticed is this thing about batteries. Rechargeable NiMH is the desired battery type apparently, but I notice there's 1800 and 2100, and 2300. I presume bigger is better, but a little more input would be good. What should I aim for ?

Also - I was so tempted by the overseas offers for the one I really want, a Nikon 4300 - but there is a chance that I'd get thumped by those bastards on the customs (you know - the wankers that do sweet F.A. about the flood of drugs, but jump on someone trying to get his pants a few quid cheaper) but how often do you get bopped on VAT ? A friend had it with 2 pairs of wranglers from the US - hence the above comment, and as I set it up for him, I felt partially responsible and also one when the customs tossers held a small bunch of books for a sodding month before reluctantly accepting that it DIDN'T constitude a whopping vat, or anything extra - but what is the chance of getting it minus the crippling VAT, and as my son works in the channel islands doing placement from uni, is there a chance I'd get round it that way ? All advice accepted with lots of "Ta, mate"'s

[LTR12101B]

http://www.cliffshade.com/dpfwiw/ and particularly - http://www.cliffshade.com/dpfwiw/batteries.htm

In the main, look at TOTAL Capacity - if you can get an extra set of lower capacity for the same money, it may add up to more.

Another test found that some of the highest capacities can a little highly strung - and begin to lose capacity unless treated with rather more respect than is normal.

1300mAH was the "first generation" - still supplied with some consumer Battery/charger packs.

1700-1800 seems to be "second generation"

http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/BATTS/BATTS.HTM
That's the one I was looking for - high-load underperformance seems to be more likely with higher capacities - not how many of the 2000's actuall drop below some of the 1800's

www.7dayshop.com - hard to beat for chargers and batteries (see "specials")

[Phil K]

http://www.cliffshade.com/dpfwiw/ and particularly - http://www.cliffshade.com/dpfwiw/batteries.htm

In the main, look at TOTAL Capacity - if you can get an extra set of lower capacity for the same money, it may add up to more.

Another test found that some of the highest capacities can a little highly strung - and begin to lose capacity unless treated with rather more respect than is normal.

1300mAH was the "first generation" - still supplied with some consumer Battery/charger packs.

1700-1800 seems to be "second generation"

http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/BATTS/BATTS.HTM
That's the one I was looking for - high-load underperformance seems to be more likely with higher capacities - not how many of the 2000's actuall drop below some of the 1800's

www.7dayshop.com - hard to beat for chargers and batteries (see "specials")

Good stuff. And one of the chappies I expected to be the one to come up with the goods did just that ! Well done, LTR12101B ! Or may I call you LTR ?

[aybesea]

I use an 1800 battery in my Pentax and it "keeps going and going and..."

Seriously, I can easily shoot a 1 week vacation on a single charge. Don't know about the Nikon though.

[Phil K]

I use an 1800 battery in my Pentax and it "keeps going and going and..."

Seriously, I can easily shoot a 1 week vacation on a single charge. Don't know about the Nikon though.

Sounds good. I have seen a pack of 4x2000 NiHM batteries with charger on ebay for £12.50. I may well.....

[VIPER_1069]

I use 1700mAh UNIROSS Ni-MH in my KONICA

Work very well indeed the charge lasts a lot longer than NI-CADS altho they do take longer to charge

8 hrs compared to 3 hrs for NI-CADS but in the long run you get better results

You can pick a pack up of 4 with a charger for around £15 - £20 for AA's

Possibly cheaper if you shop around

[Phil K]

I use 1700mAh UNIROSS Ni-MH in my KONICA

Ended up buying the 4 Megapixel Samsung Digimax V4 from eBay. Paid 15 quid more than I had intended, but what the hell. Got a charger with it, a 64mb secure digital memory card and a card reader thrown in too. The camera is 3 weeks old and comes with the certificate for the 3 year warranty. So not too shabby. Just have to get the £100 quid extra to the £145 I had put by for the camera ! (Paid for it by Paypal, so I'll have 4 weeks to get the rest of the cash)

[VIPER_1069]

lol ya best get selling yerself on the black market then eh phil lol

[Phil K]

lol ya best get selling yerself on the black market then eh phil lol

I would if I had anything to offer !

[LTR12101B]

£262.24 at PC World - so for almost new with a couple of extras, you did ok.

Is it 2 batteries to a set, or 4.

PS. Beware of loading Nicads into an end loading battery bay - I've never seen a fuzzy ended NiMH, but I've seen plenty of Nicads go like that, - and if that gunk gets on the far battery terminals - AARGH!.

NiMH battery management is a bit of an art - they have a faster charge loss than Nicad, and can go down by 1% per day - some seem to be WORSE, at least for usable charge in a sensitive camera (2-cell models tend to be less forgiving than 4-cell).

Real pro's use a modified or home-built ultra low rate charger for sustaining - I've wondered about building a SOLAR sustain charger - a couple of low cost panels, and a seperate back diode and resistor to distribute charge to multiple sets?

[Phil K]

£262.24 at PC World - so for almost new with a couple of extras, you did ok.

Is it 2 batteries to a set, or 4.

PS. Beware of loading Nicads into an end loading battery bay - I've never seen a fuzzy ended NiMH, but I've seen plenty of Nicads go like that, - and if that gunk gets on the far battery terminals - AARGH!.

NiMH battery management is a bit of an art - they have a faster charge loss than Nicad, and can go down by 1% per day - some seem to be WORSE, at least for usable charge in a sensitive camera (2-cell models tend to be less forgiving than 4-cell).

Real pro's use a modified or home-built ultra low rate charger for sustaining - I've wondered about building a SOLAR sustain charger - a couple of low cost panels, and a seperate back diode and resistor to distribute charge to multiple sets?

All interesting stuff....