Re: A dSLR's fastest shutter-speed is really no faster than its flash-sync speed.

On Mon, 09 Jul 2007 14:54:11 -0400, Scott Schuckert wrote:

I would hope so, if one side repeatedly misrepresents the facts as
has been the case so far. I'm pretty confident though that for the
hybrid cars, alkalines won't be an option promoted by anyone, even
if F cells would be used instead of AA cells. :)

I made a JOKE about batteries in hybrid cars, and it's become the topic
of the discussion!

If you don't see that I continued it in a humorous vein (and I
replied to Allen's post, which really didn't add any humor, not to
yours), you need to re-examine what I wrote. I could have added
much about using NiMH vs Li-Ion batteries, but recognized that it
wasn't really appropriate. But I see that in SMS's reply to your
message he's added his usual loony speculation, so I'll correct at
least part of it, as well as something that you wrote :

Let's try this one. Over and over, I read here that people are
clamoring for AA powered digital cameras, as opposed to "expensive,
proprietary" battery packs. Seems to make little sense, except for
people who don't use their cameras much (my "accident camera" in the
car uses disposable AA's)

Very few people are clamoring for AA powered cameras. As was pointed
out, the NiMH proponents repeatedly misrepresent the facts, and I don't
think anyone pays much attention to them.

It doesn't make sense to want to use AA powered digital cameras?
That was true several years (by now "many" years?), when AA powered
cameras were often unable to take more than several dozen shots,
sometimes as few as 10. For at least three years it has been
possible to buy cameras that are able to take *many* shots using
regular alkaline AA or NiMH batteries. The first set of alkaline AA
batteries used in my 2004 Fuji S5100 was good for well over 600
shots, more than 100 taken using the flash at full power. Using
NiMH batteries it's now possible to take well over 1,000 shots per
charge. Many Canon cameras do even better, getting up to 1,600
shots per charge. This makes cameras using AA batteries much more
capable now than they were years ago, and it would be quite
inaccurate to say that they make little sense except for people that
don't use their cameras much, or if used only as an "accident"
camera. Several people have posted messages in the last year or two
praising their Canon A610/A620 type cameras. Several of them noted
that they'd taken up to several hundred pictures over periods
ranging from 3 to 6 months, all on the first set of batteries. It's
not exactly *heavy* use, but neither is it *light* use, and it is
typical of many how many photographers use their cameras.

If you're one of those that clamor for Li-Ion batteries, that's
fine too. But you should realize that when evaluating batteries to
find out which types are the most convenient or the cheapest to use,
no one type always wins out. Much more depends these days on how
the cameras are used than on which types of batteries are used, and
you might be surprised by which types of batteries win out, and
under which conditions. As even the most expensive battery types
these days are quite affordable, most people don't care, making
their sometimes unreasonable biases easier to remain intact. :)


Should we not also seek out AA powered cars? Same arguments - generic
technology, cheaper, get them anywhere... and think how much fun the
hot-rodders could have cleaning 5,000 battery contacts!

Hey, the original Prius used 240 consumer sized NiMH D cells in series
to achieve 288 volts. You're not all that far off. I wonder if the same
people that make up these ridiculous stories about NiMH batteries in
cameras were upset when Toyota moved from D cells to proprietary NiMH
modules. True the D cells they used were not button top, but solder-tab,
so they would be harder to replace, but you can buy solder-tab NiMH
cells without too much difficulty.

This is one of the stupidest statements SMS has ever made. He
supposedly knows all about batteries, used not only in consumer
products, but in heavy duty industrial products as well. If he
wasn't trying to back up his usual bogus points, he would have
recalled that solder tab (and welded tab) cells are NOT used to make
replacement more difficult. They're used to make their use more
reliable. Button top cells have relatively high contact resistance,
and it increases over time, due to the effects of oxidations and
grime. When used at the especially high currents demanded by
electrical auto engines, they would waste more battery power and
produce more heat at the contact points and make for less reliable
operation. The addition of the contact springs alone, needed for
240 button top D cells would also waste space, requiring the use of
a larger battery compartment.

This is no different in NiCD, NiMH and Li-Ion battery packs that
use multiple cells for powering portable phones, cell phones, PDAs
and laptops. They don't use button top batteries and spring metal
contacts. They use cells that have been connected using soldered or
welded tabs because it makes the battery packs more reliable. Almost
all portable phones and cell phones use battery packs that can be
easily replaced in seconds without using tools. Portable phone
battery packs tend to be very inexpensive, but cell phone battery
packs are usually far more expensive, but still easy to replace.

I'm sure that the SMSpinmeister knows all of this, but when did
facts ever get between him and the bogus points he tries to use to
mislead the gullible?

.

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