Re: Canon A570IS, 200 shots on eneloop, 10 shots on Alkaline

SMS wrote:
I lent our A570IS to a relative for a cruise to Alaska. She didn't want to take the NiMH batteries and charger, so I told her to bring plenty of disposable AA Alkaline batteries, which she didn't, so she was buying AA batteries on the ship (I cringe to think of the price that Princess must charge for AA batteries). She came back today, complaining that the camera would only take "a few" pictures on a set of AA batteries and that she stopped using it rather than buying AA batteries on the ship.

I've never used Alkaline AA batteries in this camera, but an older A60 uses four AA alkaline batteries without any problems, giving about 150 shots per set. In the A570IS I always use either NiMH or lithium AA cells as a back-up (though now that spare lithium AA batteries aren't allowed in checked luggage, I only keep one emergency set with the camera) and don't take along a couple of four packs). I wonder if this is normal with AA alkaline batteries and this camera. Alkaline batteries have very high internal resistance, and don't last as long in high-current applications as NiMH, but surely they should be good for more than 10 shots or so.

I'm not familiar with the model quoted, but it must surely be more economical on battery drain than my A95. I started to run a test a while back to see how many shots I could get out of a set of alkalines. I gave up and removed them at 150 shots to replace them with the then newly purchased eneloops. I would always recommend the latter over alkalines, but alkalines should work in a pinch.
Obviously results will vary with flash and display usage.
Dave Cohen
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