Maybe you have a different problem than I do with my camera. In mine, I can take the batteries right out of the charger, take 3-4 pics, and the camera will give me a "low battery" warning and shut itself off. then if I put the batteries in a flashlight or test them with a meter I find that I have a nearly full charge. A pair of AA lithium batteries, on the other hand, lasts for months (I only use the camera occasionally.)
nate
Some of the better chargers have an indicator bulb that will light off a single cell if it can source enough current. Separate the sheep from the goats, weed out the bad ones.
What I did a while back, was to charge em all up. Put eight batteries in an appliance that takes eight cells (in my case, citizens band walkie talkie. In the US, they designated 26.955 through 27.405 megahertz for public use). Leave the radio on ovenight, to provide a low drain in series. Check the batteries in the AM, see which ones are dead. I may need to do that again.
It is very possible my batteries have reached the end of their life. Time to buy more. And need to date these carefully.
It is annoying trying to find the bad cell(s) in multiple sets of four without a voltmeter or a tester to hand.
I do have both voltmeter, and tester. I am also wondering. I changed chargers, a couple weeks ago. I'd been using a Sanyo wall charger, and switched to a Battery Manager Ultra. I read years ago, on the web, that the BMU doesn't charge, completely. I am going back to the Sanyo for a while. And will also someday do the test with the batteries in series.
Your NiMH battery is rated at 1.2V [althought it may overcharge a bit]. Your AA battery is rated at 1.5V. If the camera is using 2 batteries in series, it is expecting 3V and getting only 2.8V. A marginal operating environment. Many cameras [my Canons] are engineered with a high cutoff voltage and really need alkalines to work for the maximum period. The NiMH don't match the job.
I'm a huge fan of the Eneloops. As far as I'm concerned the Eneloops have ended decades of personal battery hassles. A few tips:
The overwhelming majority of Eneloop users seem to very, very happy, like me.
"John Keiser" wrote in news:oN2dnepm0eq14STUnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@hawaiiantel.net:
I wonder if his camera has a switchable mode for what type of batteries are being used?
My Nimh charge to over 1.5v, a old nicad charger isnt the same. The last ones I charged to 1.55v with a sony Nimh charger. www.batteryuniversi= ty.com has a section on Nimh charging.
It maybe rated 1.2 but full charge is 1.5v, just like a car battery is
75% dead at 12v and fully charged at 12.8vOpps! Bad addition: 2.4 V vs 3.0 V.
I don't know about that. Rayovacs are what I have the best luck with. Bought four 2 years ago, and they still keep the charge longer than others. I tried some of those foreign ones on ebay and they didn't last more than a few months. I took some Duracells to Greece a few years ago, new when I left, and they never would recharge. I made do with alkalines for the rest of the trip, but that's not a lot of fun when you're in a bathing suit most of the time.
When I got home I tried the Rayovacs, and still have those and the same old charger.
However, Rayovacs are hardly cheap, at least not around here, and not on ebay. They cost the most of the lot, even at Walmart. These are NimH, not Ni-Cad. The Rayovac alkalines, however, always seem to be on sale.
That is a clear sign that the camera is not designed for lower voltage rechargeable batteries. It expects around 1.5 V and signals low battery when it gets down to the 1.2 V of NiMh or NiCd batteries.
And full charge for alkalines might be 1.64V. The rechargeables drop below 1.5 very quickly under load.
Right, but if you go into the menu, there's a selection for alkaline, NiCads, or NiMH. Frankly, I expected better of Nikon, and I'm quite disappointed that my inquiry to them went unanswered.
nate
Ive never tested an alkaline at over 1.5 new.
Non-rechargable lithium batteries work best in digital cameras. Last a long time too.
Many users overlook the fact that, by far and away, the BIGGEST drain on the battery is the LCD display. Keep THAT turned off or, at least, set to turn off promptly and you'll enjoy much improved battery life.
I use NiMH AA's and they work fine except if they sit a long time.
The nicad and nimh are 1.2 volts, where alkalines are 1.5, so they do actually have a lower voltage. Maybe that's part of what's happening to you.
If you have a charger that charges 4 batteries, make sure all 4 batteries are charging. I found out that only 2 were charging, and the pilot light was shutting down, and 2 cells were still need of a charge. Check the voltage after charging, of all 4 cells. The batteries have to be in the charger slots just right. Also, take a pencil eraser and go over the camera and batteries once in a while to keep them clean. I have 2 chargers that do the same thing. Just my 2 cents!
You might explain to the uninformed reader as to WHICH PART of the camera and battery (cells) you apply the pencil eraser.
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