A710 IS Battery Questions

[halfbuck]

Hello all,

I'm concerned about the amount of time that batteries are lasting in my new Canon A710 IS. I've been using some cheap 2200 mAh NiMH rechargable AA's. They did well in my A70, but with the A710 IS, it doesn't take long to get a Low Battery indicator.

I've read info on how some NiMH's can drop off quickly to below a camera's low voltage point. Is this a concern with the A710 IS?

I'm considering some of the Sanyo 2700's and also the eneloops. I currently use a Maha C204-F charger.

Anyone with the A710 IS have any recommendations? What's worked well for you?

I'll soon be going on a 2-week vacation and do not want any regrets come SNAP time!

THANKS!

[outpost05]

I have been using MAHA Powerex 2700 rechargables in my A710. They have lasted through several different 3 day weekends of picture taking. I have always recharged them when I got home, so I have never seen how long they would last until getting the low battery signal. Each time I took 200+ pictures with the LCD on and replayed them several times without getting a low signal.
For back-up I carry a couple of non rechargable Lithium batteries, as well as 2 spare recharchable Maha 2700s. I know the lithiums will always be charged and should last 2 weeks easy (in case there is no chance to charge up the rechargables).

[reppans]

I got my Charger/Sanyo Batts from here: http://ripvan100.com/

Everything you ever wanted to know about batteries:
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=133440

Had a really bad experience with brand new, but cheap, batteries (2700mAh/1.25v, made in China, "Power2000"). Bought 12 batts, but couldn't get more than 20mins of video from any combination of fully charged batts in my 710. Alkalines ran over 30mins of video. Returned them all.

Then bought the Sanyos 2700s, and RipVan's charger. I got 3.5 hours of video (15 gigs) of recording from 710 from the first set . The damn things last so long, that I now need to worry about NiMh self-discharge being a problem.... so I also picked some Eneloops for their shelf life. 2700's for vacations and heavy use, Eneloops for the "light" days.

Get the Sanyos... a real quality battery. Lots of good chargers too, but I like RipVan's for it's portability. Read through some of RipVan's forum or Candlepower's forums and you'll learn a ton about how to manage NiMh to their best advantages.

[halfbuck]

Thanks for the info, guys.

Hey reppans - Mind answering a couple of questions since you have the same camera?

Going with your recommendation of the Sanyo 2700's, for my all day outings, I'm thinking one pair of 2700's in the camera + one spare pair of 2700's + one pair of Eneloops (as day to day backups, since they hold their charge). I'll be using a belt bag, so I'll have limited space. Sound like a safe bet for maybe 200 - 300 pics? My old A70 used 4 AA's. With just one spare set, I never had to worry about not having enough juice.

How would you compare the Sanyo 2700's to the Eneloops during heavy use (one day or less)? I've read that the Eneloops can actually last quite a while during heavy use, even though they are only 2000's, since they don't self-discharge as quickly starting out.

About the charger. I'll check out RipVan's. My Maha C204-F seems to do fine. I've never tested the batteries with a meter to see how well it's charging them. Don't know if it's designed for the higher capacity batteries either.

Thanks! Appreciate it!

[reppans]

Sound like a safe bet for maybe 200 - 300 pics?

LOL... I had similar thoughts after I returned those crap Power2000s ("how many back-ups I'll need to carry to get a few hundred shots?"). Now I'm worried about not taking enough pix to keep these babies cycled properly .

[Sanyo] 2700s+2700s+Eneloops = about 1500 pics! No need to carry more than one pair of spare batteries for this camera, it is very energy efficient (if you have good batts). No need to back up your back-ups, you can always buy alkalines on the slim chance your primary back-ups are not enough.

Yes the Eneloops are very long lasting for mere 2000s. Here's another user that had our similar experience with substandard NiMh: http://www.stevesforums.com/forums/v...m_id=15&page=1
If you read through the thread, she got 438 pics from her first set of Eneloops (another 2batt A series rated the same life as the 710). I personally don't have the patience to test batteries in single shot mode. Even testing in video mode can be pain, when your pushing 2-3 hours of recording time .

If I bring my GPS with me (also 2AAs) I'll add a pair of Lithium AA back-ups as well. These should be even stronger than the 2700s, and have a 10 yrs shelf life. Haven't, and hope to never, use them though.

The Maha is high rated charger, you'll be fine with that .

[halfbuck]

Thanks reppans. I've purchased the Sanyo 2700's and Eneloops.

Aside from the two 2700's in the camera, my belt bag has room for 2 spare 2700's and 2 back-up Eneloops. I'm glad to hear that it will be more than enough to get me through a full day of shooting.

Thanks.