Rechargeable NMH batteries vrs Alkaline

[YellowSeashell]

I have a PowerShot A430 and an Olympus digital camera and when I try and substitute NMH batteries instead of the Alkaline ones the cameras will not work? How can rechargeable batteries be used in these cameras? Yes I know Alkaline is 1.5 volts and NMH is only 1.2 volts and that is the reason but I still think it is stupid in this day and time to manufacture a camera that will not work on rechargeable batteries. Any suggestions?

[Spookonthe8ball]

I have a PowerShot A430 and an Olympus digital camera and when I try and substitute NMH batteries instead of the Alkaline ones the cameras will not work? How can rechargeable batteries be used in these cameras? Yes I know Alkaline is 1.5 volts and NMH is only 1.2 volts and that is the reason but I still think it is stupid in this day and time to manufacture a camera that will not work on rechargeable batteries. Any suggestions?
Yellowseashell, Look in the manual and see if it requires a setting in the menu for nickel metal hydride. I haven't ran into that problem in a camera, but I have on a Garmin GPS. The voltage difference can make a difference on some units. Other than that check your voltage on each battery and make sure they are all producing the required amount. You might just have a bad cell. It is strange as you have posted that a modern camera will not accept these batteries. I have a mint condition Oly uzi from the early Y2K and it still works fine on nmh batteries.
Spook

[YellowSeashell]

Yep, and my old PowerShot 250 worked great with rechargeables. I will do some more digging in the book but that may take me days. I was looking for a quick solution but alas maybe one doesn't exist.

[Paul79UF]

Have you tried more than one set/brand of NiMH batteries?

Have you tested the batteries in another device or with a battery tester?

What kind of charger are you using?

[downtrodden]

Sounds like dead cell symptoms to me! It doesn't happen all the time, but eventually these rechargeables do just die. I've had two dead cells out of all my rechargeables and one time the camera wouldn't start up at all and the other time the camera would start and go- until i tried to press a button, then it would die.

[Beowulff]

Yes I know Alkaline is 1.5 volts and NMH is only 1.2 volts.....

I think you'll find that the current drain over time is a more important factor than the lower voltage.

For example, in electronic gear with high draw requirements like digital cameras, a 1.2V NiMH battery with a rated capacity of only 1800 mAh can take many more photos than a 1.5V alkaline battery with a rated capacity of 2800 mAh.

Cheers :)

[YellowSeashell]

You guys were right. It appears to have been a dead cell. I replaced them and when the camera worked I threw the original pair away. Thanks