Lithium Oxide camera batteries

How do you users deal with recharging in the field?



I have Canon cameras with AA batteries - easily replaced when dead. But I long for a WP camera such as the Olympus or Pentax, both of which use LIOH batteries. The obvious answer is “buy a spare battery” but are you forced to scavenge an AC outlet? Kind of hard to do when in the field. Does anyone operate an AC charger from an inverter attached to your car’s battery? And how many exposures do you get with a fully-charged battery?



Jim

Pentax WP Battery Life
This past weekend I did a test. On a fully charged battery I was able to get 132 photos. Did use the zoom, but only on maybe a dozen shots

OK, and OK
I am aware of the WP housing for the Canon, but I would like to have a pocketable camera, and the housing is almost as expensive as my A-610!



132 shots is pretty good, but I have started taking pics of EVERYTHING, including alternative views (and am honing my editing skills). So I guess a spare battery is a must.



Jim

Lithium batteries
there are two types. Rechargeable (very expensive) and norechargeable. Most that come with your camera are not rechargeable but last the longest of all batteries out there. I’ve seen them for 8.00 bucks for four AA’s



http://lithium-batteries.globalspec.com/LearnMore/Electrical_Electronic_Components/Batteries/Lithium_Batteries



At any rate I find that NiMH batteries work very well and are easy to recharge. they just don’t last as long.



http://michaelbluejay.com/batteries/



Solar chargers out there…http://www.cetsolar.com/solarbatchargers.htm?gclid=CMaa887ekYUCFSMLOAodrAyJKg

Rechargeable
Most WP digicams use a special rechargeable Li-ion accu. I have an old (9 years) Sony digital video cam, the accu still can record 1 hour of video. They don’t have a noticable memory effect and they don’t discharge very much, if they are stored outside the camera (always do this if not in use!).



In opposite to NiCd accus they should be stored fully loaden. A spare accu for the WPi or W10 is available at Eba* for a few bucks.

Possible solution
There are a number of small, cheap inverters designed for cell phone chargers, radios and such. One of these ought to work OK. You would think that Olympus or Pentax would ahve a vehicle charger.



Jim

Brain fart
I’m actually talking about lithium ION batteries.



Sorry for the confusion. Now, what was I doing…



Jim

That’s what I was wondering…but

– Last Updated: May-24-06 4:49 PM EST –

I know you Jim so I tried to play along.

Are you paddling any place this weekend?

I will stay local, maybe Pymatuning or Kinzua if the urge moves me.

Inverter
I use a power inverter in my truck to recharge and power my laptop, GPS, and camera batteries. A couple of weeks ago I used it to power my dremel tool to shave some mini-cell foam for a friend’s boat at the put-in. If you have your vehicle nearby, you should have all the electricity you need.

Battery Life
My rechargeable battery on my Canon 300D DSLR lasts a long time. I’ve taken over 300 shots on one charge at the highest resolution.



I carry an inverter in the car for Laptop, Charging batteries etc. It’s a great thing to have.





Andy

Probably local
I had hoped to make a long week of it, visiting Dad in Pgh and hitting Ohiopyle with friends, but we have a remote sump tank (for a cooling tower) here at work that is leaking and the local fabricator promises that the replacement will be ready. There goes Saturday. I was thinking of headng for Summersville, paddling and doing recovery practice. I figger that the outboard boys wil be smarting from the gas prices and might not be as noticeable.



Long story short, its hard to plan when your scheduling calendar is in the hands of a vendor.



Jim

More evidence
that Canons get great battery life. My A610 AA batteries lasted for well over 200 exposures, and I love fill-flash. When they died I was amazed to find that they were the originals that came with the camera in March.



Jim

I use the truck
You can use a inverter in the vehicle if you don’t have a 12V charger for the batteries.



In the field–Solar can be used if you really “in the field”.