light, point/shoot camera that takes regular batteries

by looki-loo Nov 1, 2010 4:03PM PDT

my husband has started hiking and is really wanting a decent camera that takes regular batteries as he doesn't want to be out of juice without a place to recharge.... where he can carry xtra batteries. since it is a camera for hiking, i am looking for light weight;point and shoot;more zoom ranks higher than massive pixels; stabilizer; fast shutter for action (never know what will run by at the top of the mountain) and of course not too expensive, as he can be rough on about everything without ever realizing it. looking for Christmas.... appreciate what info you can provide...

Discussion is locked

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Canon SX120 IS

by PistonCupChampion Nov 2, 2010 12:35AM PDT

There's not a lot of choice when it comes to cameras that still take AA batteries. Of the ones that do, I would choose the SX120 IS, or its replacement, the SX130 IS. Either should be about $200.

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Also to note on battery life!

by whattodo1989 Nov 8, 2010 7:42AM PST

make sure you are using a high milliamperage battery... cameras don't need low energy for long time like most things do... they need surges of energy all at once and that drains normal batteries very quickly...

the way of identifying the milliamperage is by this "mAh" meaning Milli Amp Hours it determines the power of a battery most normal batteries use about 800 mAh, a decent set of rechargeable batteries run at about 2500 mAh... hints for long use of a set of batteries in a AA powered cam find a good set of rechargeable batteries so you can use your camera whenever you like without a worry of it dieing out on you

have a nice day

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battery life

by looki-loo Nov 10, 2010 3:17PM PST

Thank you for the help... now i can get started with at least an idea of what i am doing...

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Not just any rechargeable

by porsche10x Nov 12, 2010 8:28PM PST

Specifically, use NiMH or lithium batteries, not NiCads. Keep a set or three of regular Alkalines in your pocket as backup. That's what's great about the AA cameras.

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Better Solution

by Flatworm Nov 12, 2010 10:35PM PST

Most digital cameras today come with rechargeable LiON batteries that last a VERY long time -- literally thousands of pictures on a single charge. They are also very quick and easy to recharge.

AA batteries in all cases will add considerable weight to your camera over the weight of the proprietary LiON battery that comes in most of them, so if light weight is a consideration then double-As are not a good choice in any event.

A better solution is to purchase a second LiON battery (these usually cost between $20 and $40 and are readily available for all makes) for your camera as a spare, and when the original battery gets low, just replace it with the spare, recharge the original, and the original then becomes the spare. It may seem expensive at first, but it will definitely last the life of the camera and be a far less expensive alternative in the long run than repeatedly replacing high-mAh AAs.

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Thousands?

by snapshot2 Forum moderator Nov 12, 2010 11:56PM PST

Maybe 250 but not thousands.
Very small cameras have very small batteries.

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Better Solution? OP has specific request...

by whattodo1989 Nov 13, 2010 7:30AM PST

OP is looking for a great AA battery camera i simply added in about the milliamp hours as a help to battery life, a set of 4 nickle hydride (NiMH)is cheaper that a spare battery pack and lasts just as long...

I use them for my fathers camera when i bought his so it was simple and cheap... so doing simple math the set of 2(4 total) AA batteries is cheaper and just as efficient...

Lets just try to stay on focus for the OP please

*** OP regards to Original Poster

light, point/shoot camera that takes regular batteries

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