AA versus Rechargable Li

[beatfreak]

Hey everybody,

I'm looking for a little advice from anyone who wants to help. As the title states my troubles revolve around the battery issue. I should probably give a little background info. I'm coming from the US and either heading towards Korea &/or South east Asia, or over to South Africa. I've already got this huge Kodak that proved to be a problem in south africa as it turned me into a walking target for crime...so I've decided to go for a compact instead.

I've mainly been looking at the Nikon Coolpix s550 and the fuji z100 FD...leaning towards the Nikon (any advice on this is also appreciated!). Both seem to be perfect for me till I started to think about power issues as both cameras require recharging the battery. I had to do this before in S. Africa, but it was no problem as I was permanently located somewhere. Now I'm talking about moving around and worried about carrying gear and weight. I understand I can get one of those small plug adapters, but do they even deal with the differences in voltage (i'm no electric engineer!), and is it worth it?

Otherwise, I could go for a camera that packs AA's (I was looking at a Panasonic Luminex, suggestions are welcome!). I'm not too worried about the batteries running out as I turn off my cam a lot and you can buy them almost anywhere. However, most of the camera's I prefer don't use AA's, not to mention there is the increased pollution issues which definitely have some weight in my mind.

So, any advice, recommendations, rants or raves? I appreciate it all, thanks for reading. Be well, have fun, keep it crazy!

[Eagle]

beatfreak, I've heard that South Africa has a "crime problem", so I'm not surprised that you had difficulties when carrying a larger Camera. Perhaps I should leave my dSLR at home if I ever decide to visit S.A.?

I'm not familiar with either of the Cameras you mentioned, so can't provide any recommendations (I'm more familiar with Canon cameras). I did find one review for the Fuji model at www.steves-digicams.com but wasn't able to find anything for the Nikon model (it was apparently just released in January 2008?).

You might also have a look at the Canon SD-series Cameras (ie: SD-870IS), as some of these provide not only somewhat of a "wide angle" Lens but also image stabilization. They are also very compact and easy to fit into a shirt pocket. Check the reviews if you find one that looks like it might fit your criteria.

Regarding the "charging issue", I checked the specifications for the Nikon S-550, and it appears this is supplied with a "world" Charger that will operate from 100-240 VAC. That means you should only require a Plug Adapter to use this in the countries you mentioned. I suspect the Fuji will have the same capability, but you would need to verify that before purchase. For a list and photos of the electrical plugs used in various parts of the world, check www.kropla.com (very comprehensive!) or www.adrianwarren.com.

If you decide to go for a slightly larger Camera that uses "AA" batteries, have a look at the Canon A-series. They routinely get very good reviews, and an advantage of these is that they're not only fairly compact but also provide a full range of manual controls. If you find a model that interests you, check www.dpreview.com to determine whether it's been reviewed. When using "AA" batteries, using higher capacity (2100 maH or higher) Ni-MH (Nickel Metal-Hydride) rechargeable batteries is a good idea.

Whichever Camera you decide to buy, I'd highly recommend taking at least one spare battery and of course lots of memory card capacity. A small Case is also a good idea, especially to keep the display from being "scratched" (I prefer the LowePro line of cases).

One word of caution though - some areas of South Africa use 250 VAC, which is higher than most "world" travel chargers are designed for. If you do travel there, it would be a good idea to verify the line voltage before connecting the Charger! The Kropla site has details on that.

Hope this has provided a few points to help with your selection.

Good luck and happy travels!

[beatfreak]

Eagle,

Thanks for looking into all that for me, I really appreciate it. I ended up walking into a camera shop to get an expert opinion and walked out with a canon powershot a1000 IS. Its AA supported, which I ended up buying some lithium AAs. I still have to upload some photos to see how they look, but at the moment I don't like the camera. I bought it cause it was AA based , canon (which everyone seems to recommend), and had what I wanted, or so I thought. In the end, I think I'm more picky than I had planned for. I don't like the menu scree, couldn't figure out how to get black and white immediately, and am worried about the exterior manually moving scene selection rotory as a friend once got some sand caught there and it put an end to usuage on that trip. But...I'm going to work with it some more before I decide, I've got 14 days to return. Thanks again!

[pointofnoreturn]

I'm a huge fan of Ni-MH batteries. All you have to do is bring a teeny charger (and adapter/converter - I forgot which one I used when recharging the batteries) and charge them accordingly.

Not a fan of AA batteries - too much hassle. But it's up to you of course.

[Eagle]

beatfreak, if you're not entirely pleased with the Camera, try and find another model that fits your needs better. The Battery type is only one of the criteria I use when choosing a Camera. All of my Cameras use Li-Ion rechargeable Batteries (not AA) and so far I haven't had any problems with these. The Canon Chargers are designed for "world" operation and are very compact with folding pins.

The Canon "A" series generally get good ratings, and these have the benefit of not only "auto" but full "manual" controls. the A1000 IS seems to be a fairly new Camera, so there aren't many reviews yet. However, the few that I've seen give it favourable marks.

I find the Canon menus far easier to use than many others. Sony menus just about put me into "brain lock"!

Good luck with the Camera!

[Libby]

I found a set of rechargable batteries at a camera store in New Brunswick last week that I'm quite plased with. They are Sony CyberEnergy Ni-MHs with a recharger that is worldwide usable (just need the adaptor!). The best part was the price. Regularly $50 I got them for half that.

I'll let you know how many pictures I get with a single charge!

[seanmtl]

I always get my rechargeable batteries from Costco. They're called Sanyo Eneloops, they hold a good charge, and don't die down after a couple years like most rechargeables.