How do you manage batteries for digital camera

Just got our first digital camera. We wanted the easiest shoot and point -got the Nikon 2100.
We have been reading that the batteries do not last long. How do you mangage to always have enough charged batteries while touring?

july 1 on the brilliance
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I turn off the screen display which uses a lot of power and always have a 2nd fully charged back up battery. We take a lot of pictures and have never run out of both batterys.

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msmeltz:
I have a Nikon 2000 (earlier version to yours) which I love --- I always put in freshly charged batteries daily and bring an extra set of charged Energizer's (NIMH)batteries along with me just in case. Remember to recharge them in your room after a day of touring.

Have a great cruise and enjoy your new toy !

Dave

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We have an Olympus C750... it loves batteries the way it eats so many up... or maybe it's because I take so many pictures...

We buy lots of batteries (figure one set per day), and in our camera bag, we carry two fresh sets all the time. We also bring the rechargeable battery pack and charger just in case....

We figure it this way - we won't get to go to some of these places very often, if ever again, so it would be a terrible shame to loose pictures because of some cheap batteries... $thousands cruise vs $1 battery...

Ernie and Cheryl

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Wehave 3 sets of recharable batteries and a charger with us. One set in the camera, one in ther camera bag and one in the charger on the ship. It will eat reagular and energizer batteries, when we bought our camera a year ago, the store put in a set of energizer batteries, could not believe in a hour we had to throw them out.

norm

We use rechardgable batteries and always have a freshly charged set. We just charge them up overnight.

The specs list Nikon EN-MH1 NiMH batteries.
They look to be the same as a normal AA or AAA size in the photo, but I can't be sure, compare them, and buy other brands of the same size with more info if they are the same.

** Notes on Nickel Metal Hydride batteries.
A good one can have 2-3 times the charge as most new batteries, and be able to provide more current. (Many digital cameras' say low battery when normal batteries have a charge, but can't provide the current at the speed the camera needs)
They don't hold charge as well as other batteries, so if you leave one on a shelf a good amount of charge is gone in a couple of weeks where there would be very little loss in most other battery types. They are for high current short time uses like cameras.
They can be charged many times without loosing the ability to recharge. (Much better than most rechargeables)
Get the highest charge size you can get for a reasonable price.
** Notes based on practice
The generic brands (and there are more generics than non generic brands available) tend to have widely varying quality, and bad batteries can drive you nuts. If you're willing to pay a few bucks more get a name brand. Panasonics have been rock solid for me. (NexCell's were the bad batteries I had, avoid them)
Internally they tend to be very fragile, drop one and they quit working well. You generally find out when trying to grab the shot you really wanted.
Basically, have a couple of spare sets and charge them right before you go and you'll be fine.
For a long trip like a weeklong cruise, swap batteries daily and charge the other set overnight and bring it along as a spare during the day.

BigDave

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We just got a new Nikon, it uses a CRV3 battery, one battery is about $10.00 at WalMart. It really lasts, but I'm going to get the rechagable one with a spare battery. Ten dollars a pop is a bit much for a battery.


***

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Many thanks for all the replies.
marilyn

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We have the Nikon Coolpix and it has an energy save mode, and shuts itself off when not used in so many minutes. But we do bring a spare set and always keep them charged. And since we also have a video camers, an extension cord with multiple outlets is a must for the cabin.

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Last adds:

The ads and manuals for most digital cameras suggest much longer battery life than anyone will ever achieve. Don't believe any such prediction and do as suggested above, bring lots of batteries. When out on a shorex, be sure to carry two spare sets, not just one.

If your camera has an optical (physical) zoom and you use it a lot, that will chew up battries as well. Some models permit you to switch off your optical zoom, which is a good idea in many cases.

Our recharging unit made by Eveready burned out on our first night in France. We used just an adapter and the different voltage in France fried the unit. While most shipboard currents match US 110, some ships use a European standard. Therefore to be safe you may want to invest in a voltage converter.

Walt Tuthill
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I use rechargeable batteries in my Olympus. I always carry a spare set with me. One tip is don't use the lcd screen to shoot your pictures. Use the view finder. This will dramatically increase your battery life. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

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never had a battery problem with my nikon d70. I shout jpeg large wirh normal compresion and get anywhere from 1500 to 2000 shots on a charge. Even with that capacity I still carry a full charged back up battery with me.

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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> And since we also have a video camers, an extension cord with multiple outlets is a must for the cabin.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

An extension cord is not neccessary, only a plug adapter with multiple outlets is needed. I take two adapters that plug directly to the ship outlet. They swivel, take up very little room and each have 3 plug outlet. So...a two plug outlet on the ship can become 6 plug outlets if needed (but I usually just use one adapter and give the other to my kids for their stateroom).

I use the adapters for recharging camera batteries, charging cell phone, hair dryer and hot curlers.

I leave one set of batteries charging all the time and the second set in my camera. I switch out each morning.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> One tip is don't use the lcd screen to shoot your pictures. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
That's the fun of the digital...looking at the picture that you just took and deciding if you need to take another. I leave the LCD on at all times. I have never had a problem with running out of energy.

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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Our recharging unit made by Eveready burned out on our first night in France. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
I have a Nikon, uses EN-EL2 rechargeable batteries. The non-rechargeables of this style are very expensive, like $15 each!
On our last cruise, we had the same experience as Walt. In the hotel in San Juan, the recharger, fizzed and the charge light went out. No idea why. Fortunately our first port of call was St Thomas and I could buy a universal charger. I always carry two rechargeables and ensure that one, if not both, are charged overnight.

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Buy lithium batteries!!!!

I discovered these from a climbing buddy of mine many years ago. I used them for my climbing headlamp and GPS. They are very light, but best of all, last about 5 times longer than ordinary batteries. (they also work in the cold, very important when climbing Mt. Ranier at 2 in the morning, not so important for a camera though [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img] ) I use lithium batteries in ALL my small electronics now. Wonderful little inventions.

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This is my tip for rechargeable AA batteries...

My camera uses 4 AA's so I got a little plastic clip-closed holder that holds 4 AA batteries.

With a Sharpie or Magic Marker, I drew an UP arrow on the holder.

This way, fully recharged batteries go into the holder with their positive ends UP (with the arrow) and the discharged/dead batteries from the camera go back into the holder pointing DOWN.

I always know which set of batteries are ready to go into the camera at swap time.

And, I can easily tell which batteries need to be recharged when I get back to the room.

Dumb little idea, maybe, but it might help someone out.

Bill & Jane Lynch


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------------------------------

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To Izzyvet: Do the lithium batteries come in AA size? I haven't seen them in my shopping sqrees. My Nikon 990 uses 4 AA and I always take my charger and 4 spares with me and keep them in my case. The only problem I sometimes encounter is that one battery will go bad and it is difficult to figure out which one it is.I have Metal Hydride batteries. Maybe I should go to Radio Shack for some kind of tester!!

John L.

As a previous poster stated, I always have a fresh set in the camera in the morning, a backup set with me, and one in the charger in the cabin. Just keep rotating these babies. Never have a problem. And I use my screen all the time (like to cull out the bad shots on the spot) and take a lot of flash pics.

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We have 2 digital cameras. Both with optical zooms. We have 2 rechargable batteries for one and 3 for the other. We take a lot of photos and take them and view them with the LCD screen. We have never used all the battery power in one battery even when we were using only one camera. We will take over 1000 photos on a 2 week cruise and keep around 600 - 800 of them. We do completely recharge the battery all the time and do change off batterhies. We always have a fully charged one in the camera when we leave in the morning and another fully charged with us. Both of our cameras are Kodak. One is a DC 4900 and the other a DX6490.

Our son has problems with the battery but he keeps his camera on all the time just in case there is a photo he wants to get. We turn our off when not taking a photo.