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Need a small point and shoot....

Instead of Panasonic and the like making everything smaller, they should pay clothes manufacturers to make pockets bigger.
 
The ultimate camera is just a button. The works would be in the Cloud and the AI would know the result you wanted.
And we could probably do away with the button.
 
MRC_Hans said:
1) Can run on standard batteries (AA or AAA). Out of charge? Into the nearest 7-11 for a couple of alcalines and your'e go till you get recharged.
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I'd use caution and read plenty of reviews with this on the wishlist. I got my son an inexpensive Polaroid x800 for his fourth birthday, one because it's waterproof/shockproof, and two because I thought throwaway batteries would be better (2xAAA).

He got it and was all excited and started taking pictures of everything! 10 minutes later he comes back to me--battery dead. The thing drains regular alkaline batteries within 30 pictures!

Other cameras probably have better power management, but I'll know better next time!
 
This was my experience using standard AA cells in a camera too. You may find the batteries will have enough juice left to power flashlights or other low current toys.

Rechargeable (NiCad ) AA cells will give a far better result- but it means having a charger and the batteries themselves, which can be pricy.
 
If you use AA or AAA batteries regularly, do a price comparison and find out how many full price name brand alkalines a set of NiCD batteries and charger are equal to.

You will run, not walk, to the store.

I don't use my rechargables very often now, but they and the charger paid for themselves in a very short time when I did use them.

For my camera I'm trying the "ultimate lithium" to see if they last long enough to justify the insane price. My little Nikon coolpix L18 can chew up a set of copper tops in amazingly short time when I'm doing tripod work.
 
shawmutt said:
I'd use caution and read plenty of reviews with this on the wishlist. I got my son an inexpensive Polaroid x800 for his fourth birthday, one because it's waterproof/shockproof, and two because I thought throwaway batteries would be better (2xAAA).

He got it and was all excited and started taking pictures of everything! 10 minutes later he comes back to me--battery dead. The thing drains regular alkaline batteries within 30 pictures!

Other cameras probably have better power management, but I'll know better next time!
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You will want to run on the rechargeable for most of the time, but the alkaline will do in a fix. The cameras I have had (Sony) did better than 30 pictures on them, but even then, it might be 30 shots you missed. Probably the cheap polaroid is one with the flash always on, tight?

The best use of 'always flash' cameras is for landfills.

I always use rechargeable, but always carry a pair of alkaline for spares.

ETA: It's like these spare wheels for cars with an substandard tyre (and sometimes undersized): It's not the best substitute, but it gets you home.

Hans
 
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All cameras running on AA are slower than cameras with lithium batteries.
And the convenience factor is much overrated. I have seen small Nikons which could get 2 pictures out of a pair of new AAs, and sometimes the new AAs couldn't even last during the power on cycle. The users were pretty disappointed about this.
You can spend the price of a second lithium battery easily on replacement AAs and don't get the same usage and much more hassle with changing batteries every few pictures taken.
 
gambling_cruiser said:
All cameras running on AA are slower than cameras with lithium batteries.
And the convenience factor is much overrated. I have seen small Nikons which could get 2 pictures out of a pair of new AAs, and sometimes the new AAs couldn't even last during the power on cycle. The users were pretty disappointed about this.
You can spend the price of a second lithium battery easily on replacement AAs and don't get the same usage and much more hassle with changing batteries every few pictures taken.
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Uhm, I can't say if certain cameras have problems with primary1) batteries, but let's get a few things straight: It is only recently that rechargeable have been available with even the same capacity in mA/h as primary batteries, especially alkaline. So it is not a capacity problem, directly. The trouble with primary batteries is that their internal resistance is higher, so although there is actually plenty of energy in them, the output voltage falls, making the camera 'believe' the battery is discharged. Digital cameras monitor battery voltage and refuse to work on a flat battery, because this might cause memory mess up.

To (partly) get around this problem, it is important to use alkaline or similar heavy duty batteries, but you will still find that those batteries that your camera refused to run on will probably power other portable devices happily for a long time afterwards.


Hans


1) Primary battery: A battery with 'built-in' charge, unlike a rechargeable. Primaries have limited or no recharge ability.
 
But it doesn't help that the AAs have energy left for a flashlight if the digital camera refuses to work with it. You can use also empty AAs to throw at mormones or other proselytizers at your door, but for a lot of cameras they are useless.
I didn't by such a thing myself, unlike Jeff Keller (DCRP) i always prefer lithium rechargeables.
 
gambling_cruiser said:
But it doesn't help that the AAs have energy left for a flashlight if the digital camera refuses to work with it. You can use also empty AAs to throw at mormones or other proselytizers at your door, but for a lot of cameras they are useless.
I didn't by such a thing myself, unlike Jeff Keller (DCRP) i always prefer lithium rechargeables.
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Sure, if they won't work for you, they won't. But they worked for me.

Hans
 
The worst batteries are NIMHs.
At my job a have a measurement device with that crap.
After a week or two of no recharge they are completely empty.
An external sensor has this type of battery permanently installed.
I am looking forward to the moment when I can get rid of that crap.
(it's a 7000 Euro crap, thats the problem).
 
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Captain Obvious said:
Instead of Panasonic and the like making everything smaller, they should pay clothes manufacturers to make pockets bigger.
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Long, long ago I was an engineer on the first true wireless PDA, the Motorola Envoy. The Envoy was a 700 gram device that was larger than any pocket I had. But that did not stop us from having our floor people pocket the thing at trade shows; We got them all tailored clothes with big enough pockets.
 
roger said:
This one looks pretty handy.



http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=24402http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/imagehosting/thum_5084e98774e676e4.png
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Ahhh, the Mammoth. Haven't seen that one for a while.


Back to the discussion of batteries, it's been my experience that cameras with built-in flashes eat batteries, especially when they default to On. I've got a small GE-brand 8mp camera I keep in my laptop bag. Runs on two AA cells, and I get over a hundred shots per set AS LONG as I don't use the flash.

It ain't the same as my Canon 5DMk2, but it's not bad. I use it to grab "sky shots" for putting into HD videos, as a single frame of HD is only about 2mp.

Beanbag
 
I'm traveling to Egypt in two weeks, and decided I wanted a camera. My wife has a Canon DSLR, with a great lens. I didn't think I needed a DSLR as well, but something I can put inmy pocket, but still takes good pictures.

I found the 'Compact Travel Zoom' Cameras. Small enough to fit in a pocket, but with up to 16x optical zoom.

I picked up this: http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/digital_cameras/powershot_sx230_hs

It's a good camera. got good reviews, and gives me enough control over the pictures.

Downside? Batteries suck. and do they. I've picked up 3 spare batteries for the camera, and I hope it'll get me through a day of taking pictures.
 
Spent an hour at Heathrow yesterday, brousing the compact cameras in Dixon's.
Seems the two latest trends are GPS tagging and ultra zooms- which seem to be from really wide angle to mid length telephoto-both Canon and Nikon had models in those ranges,. For low light, some now shoot the equivalent of 6400ISO, though I wonder what the results are like. There was one Nikon with a really nice f1.8 - 2.5 4 X zoom That would give decent results in low light. Prices ranged from £58 to over £300. No sign of them being a threatened species for now.
 
gambling_cruiser said:
The worst batteries are NIMHs.
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Not necessarily, it depends very much on what you're using them for. NiMH have higher self-discharge than some other batteries, so they're not very good for low power devices that go a long time between charges. But for things that tend to be charged regularly, like mobile phones, or that need higher currents, like cameras with flash, NiMH can better than the alternatives.
 
Here's an interesting comparison between the Sony NEX 7 (a $1500 interchangeable lens compact camera), the Fuji X100 (at $1200 compact camera), and the iphone 4s camera.
 
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sol invictus said:
Here's an interesting comparison between the Sony NEX 7 (a $1500 interchangeable lens compact camera), the Fuji X100 (at $1200 compact camera), and the iphone 4s camera.
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Camera phones really have come on, the camera in my other half's Samsung G2 is stunning compared to the old also 8 megapixel Sony point and click we have, plus it's got a lot more bells and whistles. (Obviously no proper zoom and so on.)
 
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