Digital Cameras

[redddraggon]

I got one a good few years ago, 3 or 4 I think. It was ok to a degree, but the battery life lasted all of about 10 photos if I was lucky.

The very short battery life has put me off digital cameras, but I'm thinking of getting one again, has the battery like improved?

I want it to be powered by cheap (ie AA) or rechargeable (ie plug the camera into the wall like a phone) batteries, can anyone recommend one for about £100? Battery life is a priority and image quality is obviously also quite important.

(hope this is in the right place)

[Funkstar]

The creative forum might have been the best place for this, but not to worry.

Yes battery life has improved considerably. You are talking about 250-300 shots out of a charge for most cameras. There is an industry standard way of testing this too, so it is farely reliable and comparisons between cameras/manufacturers are valid.

Most cameras use their own lithion ion battery packs (just like phones), although some of the slightly larger ones so use a couple of AA or AAAs.

I haven't looked at the £100 cameras for a long time so I can't advise on any one in particular. However, don't get sucked into the MegaPixel myth. Just because one camera has a higher pixel count, doesn't make it a better camera. To get a denser sensor into the camera at that price point, what have they sacrificed to do it? probably the image processing and surrounding electronics as well as the lens.

I'm sure others can give you more specific advice though

[redddraggon]

I've made a post in the creative forum, but thanks anyway.

[this_is_gav]

I'll post here as we've already started.

If you can stretch to around ~£140 you really can't go wrong with a Fuji F31 FD for a point-and-shooter by all accounts. Normally I'd recommend a Canon for a P&S, but these things are bordering on unanimously recommended.

Regarding batteries, you should get a hell of a lot more mileage than ~10 shots from any set. A camera that uses 4 AA rechargables should last at the very least a 1gb memory card (@ perhaps 5 mega-pixels). My advice would be to get a seperate charger and a couple of sets of decent NiMH (2000mAh upwards) batteries and they'll just keep going from a full charge, and you'll always have a spare set for when they do die.

All in (memory card and batteries) it'll cost more than you'd probably want to spend, but it would be so worth it.

[Mithrandir]

Canon are the best in the business. Your budget should get you a Powershot A series. They use AA batteries and the optics on Canons are really second to none.

I'm still using my A60 which is about 4 years old. It's a 2 megapixel but the pictures Ican take can put a lot of current cameras to shame.

I use rechargavle AAs and they can last for about 400 odd shots.

[redddraggon]

I spent about £140 last time on an olympus 3.2MP. I was getting the 10 shots off 2 x Duracell AA I found it rather disappointing, I'd put the batteries in in the morning - camera was off, coming to use it and within a few shots it'd start flashing low battery.

[Mithrandir]

Not sure how compact you really want it:

Canon Powershot A550 (7mp, 4x optical) £109.99 delivered This has manual options too so you can dabble into the more creative side of things. It also has automatic features if you're not too keen on playing around with too many options.

Also grab about 4 x rechargable batteries too.

[PieEater]

I spent about £140 last time on an olympus 3.2MP. I was getting the 10 shots off 2 x Duracell AA I found it rather disappointing, I'd put the batteries in in the morning - camera was off, coming to use it and within a few shots it'd start flashing low battery.

That's because you need to use NiMH rechargeable batteries for digital camera's. As has been suggested those rated 2000 or more will give you plenty of life.

[Giraffe]

The best I've seen are the Sanyo Eneloop - hold a charge for a long time and can be used to -10C.

http://www.eneloop.info/215.html

Peter.