Canon A520 battery performance

[xoxoxo]

I just bought a new A520 digital camera. According to the battery performance in the user guide. The batteries that come with the camera should be able to take 80 shots, but the low battery icon shown on the LCD just after about 20 shots. Then I went to buy a new pair of Duracell AA alkaline batteries, but they didn't last long either, just around 20 shots. But I didn't change the batteries this time, I just wait for about 5-10 minutes, turned on the camera again and it let's me take another 3-4 shots, then the low battery icon shown again. I repeated this procedure a few times. but still not close to 80 shots totally. I wonder if it's normal. Is it gonna be the same if I use rechargeable batteries.

[Newbie]

A good pair of NiMH rechargeable batteries will last you A LOT longer, it will also be more environmental friendly(as well as wallet friendly). Even on their first use, they will do better than your alkaline batteries... Keep in mind that it takes about 5 charge cycles until the batteries reach full capacity. Also keep in mind that good batteries + crap charger = crap batteries.

Here's an idea of the numbers I got on my A95(uses 4 AA batteries), I had 2 sets and the numbers were close.
1st set of AA alkaline batteries: between 40 and 50 shots
1st charge of 2300mAh niMH batteries: 209 shots
5th charge of 2300mAh NiMH batteries: 409 shots
Between 1st and 5th charge, the number of shot was always increasing. I used the camera in a similar manner at least 50% flash use, 100% LCD use with some review.

The batteries were Powerex 2300mAh NiMH batteries and the charger, a Maha C204W. I charged the batteries for a full night on their first charge and never discharged them more than what my camera did, I never discharged them less than that either(meaning, I waited until my camera showed me the low battery sign to recharge).

[xoxoxo]

The thing is those AA alkaline batteries are still usable on other electronic device which means' it's not out of battery yet. Does it mean my A520 is defective? The canon A520 requires Nimh battery 2300mah. Can I buy a Nimh battery 2500mah instead of 2300mah.
Thank you!

[Newbie]

You can buy 2500mAh, 2000mAh... the number of mAh just mean that the bigger, then longer is *should* last...

Yes the alkaline batteries still have lots of juice, that is because your camera probably needs something like(I will use fictive numbers) 2.2 volt to work... Well alkaline batteries start at 1.45(or maybe 1.65)volt and drop rapidly below 1.1 and then stabilise a bit.... While NiMH batteries start at 1.3 and rapidly drop at 1.2 and then stabilise...

Those numbers are fictive, but they are somewhat close to what it really is... Basicly this means that that Alkaline batteries start much higher and drop by a lot before stabilizing lower than NiMH... While NiMH start lower, drop a little and are very stable.


I hope what I am saying is understandable.

[wolfgangk]

The thing is those AA alkaline batteries are still usable on other electronic device which means' it's not out of battery yet. Does it mean my A520 is defective? The canon A520 requires Nimh battery 2300mah. Can I buy a Nimh battery 2500mah instead of 2300mah.
Thank you!

Digicams are high drain devices and need a battery that can handle a high drain load for an x amount of time; the post by newbie sums this up.

Alkalines are just not good for digicams (this applies to all digicam brands and is not a specific defect of the A520)

Get yourself a nice four pack of Nimh batts 2200maH or higher, a good charger, and you will get a much better battery life.

[jessie25]

I just bought a new Powershot A520 yesterday, and so far I've been pretty impressed with it, except as you said the battery life with Alkalines is pretty dim. I went through two sets of AAs on the first day I had the camera. Now, granted, I played with it a lot, did a bunch of LCD reviewing and testing different settings and took over 120 shots, about half with flash... but that's still two sets of batteries in one day. A rude awakening after my film camera, which needed a battery replacement maybe once every couple of months, if that.

That was yesterday, while my NiMH's were charging. Today I popped them in and so far, so good. The flash seems to recycle faster with the rechargeables too.

I like the option of using alkalines in a pinch, but I'll probably stick with the rechargeables most of the time; they seem to last quite a bit longer.

[Alnath]

The thing is those AA alkaline batteries are still usable on other electronic device which means' it's not out of battery yet. Does it mean my A520 is defective? The canon A520 requires Nimh battery 2300mah. Can I buy a Nimh battery 2500mah instead of 2300mah.
Thank you!

All that means is the device you are putting the batterys in require a lower current draw than the camera. Digital cameras (all of them not just yours) eat normal batteries like there is no tomorrow because Alkalines and the like simply cannot sustain the current drain required, your camera is fine.

Shove the highest rated batterys you can find in it.

[Thalas'shaya]

i second what's been said before. you need high mAh NiMH batteries to make your camera run for long periods. i think they all recommend at least 2100, but you can go higher and it will give you longer battery life, and this will not harm your camera. the higher ratings take a little bit longer to charge, but this is normal. (my 2500's take about 30 minutes more on an 8-hour charger than 2300's do)

[mistonham]

I also recently purchased the a520, but I have not experienced the same battery drain that you have. I took about 50 shots, with the alkalines and then put in the rechargables (because they were charged). Probably two weeks and 200 shots later, I have not had to switch the batteries. I am using 2300's.

Cheers

[Momto4boyz]

I also recently purchased the a520, but I have not experienced the same battery drain that you have. I took about 50 shots, with the alkalines and then put in the rechargables (because they were charged). Probably two weeks and 200 shots later, I have not had to switch the batteries. I am using 2300's.>>>>>>

I have the a510 and just got back from a week at Disney. Before I left I went and bought the panasonic 2300 rechargables with the MH-C204W Powerex charger. I was able to get 6 days of constant use with those batteries. I was very impressed!!! My camera got a ton of use with over 255 photos taken.

[awp]

I know this thread is old, but I just got an A520 and am debating on taking it back. One of the posters above says "The canon A520 requires Nimh battery 2300mah". Where did they read this?

I put in Energizer 2000mah NIMH batteries, fully charged, and took about 5 photos. Turned the camera off. A few minutes later, I wanted to take more photos, the camera came on and said "Change batteries". I put the batteries in a tester and saw that they were still at almost full charge. Took another set (same type of batteries) and had even worse results with the "change batteries" coming on immediately.

Both sets of batteries work perfectly fine in my Kodak Z700 (got both cameras and am going to return one of them). I put the Kodak "digital camera" batteries (non-rechargable) in the Canon and they worked fine (not sure for how long as I just took a few more pics). And the same goes for the alkalines that came with the Canon (again, not sure for how long).

Am I going crazy? I though even 2000mah would be better than using straight alkalines. Is there something about the Canon that you really can't use anything below 2300mah? Trying to figure out if I have a defective unit or not.

[BowerR64]

Its sad they recomend alkaline on tv because they want you to think the batterys are not the problem when infact they are. They dont want you to know how good the NiMH are because they would lose money.

One thing i noticed when i got my NiMH and alkalines as well is there is a film on the camera or the batterys that kinda hinders that connection. I dont know if its from the manufacture or just from sitting on the shelf but i noticed i got better results after i used some sand paper on the contacts. I just kinda scratched them a little and it seems to soften up the contacts so they transfer the energy better. Give it a try the alkalines may pump out a bit more shots but they are no match for NiMH by far.

Alkalines have good voltage but no stamina. NiMH dont have the voltage but they can run circles around alkalines. Pond for pound NiMH are the best for any device.