Which battery do you want?

Imagine you are all set to shoot your images and everything is ready. The moment you opened your camera to take a photo you see an icon which says ‘battery low’. Will there be anything worse than this for a photographer? Well, this can be a case with everybody who doesn’t know about batteries. Even if you know about batteries but don’t know which is apt for you then also you can be in deep trouble while taking images. Battery is the food of your camera; if it’s empty then it won’t work at all. Battery is the life blood of your digital camera and you should remember that not all batteries are equal. In this review we will have a close look at some of the important batteries and tell you how you can get the best out of your batteries.

• Your digital camera battery power is measured in mAh or milliamp hours. You should only buy high-mAh batteries. A 1000mAh battery is better than 500mAh as they have a higher power density and also lasts longer.

• If your digital camera works on four AA cells, then you can save good dollars by using the right battery. You should buy good rechargeable batteries for your digital camera. Always charge and look after them properly and save thousands of dollars.

• Make sure you charge your digital camera batteries properly for the correct length of time. You can easily and accurately determine the length of charge by multiplying the mAh figure by 1.4 and then divide that figure by the charger’s current, indicated by its mA figure.

Important Battery Types

• Carbon Zinc: these are the disposable batteries which aren’t suitable for digital cameras.

• Alkaline: These are the general all-purpose batteries which are cheap but not that ideal for your digital camera.

• Lithium: These batteries are light and disposable than the alkaline batteries. These are high power, long lasting and environment friendly batteries. Lithium batteries are suitable for your digital cameras.

• Lithium-ion battery: Some digital cameras now come with this special battery pack and charger. This battery is specially designed for such cameras.

• Nickel Zinc: This is a disposable battery similar to lithium in its good power delivery and low environmental impact.

• NiCad cells: These are the rechargeable batteries but aren’t good for the environment. These batteries can be recharged for over 1000 charge and discharge cycles. This battery can also suffer from the memory effect which is a capacity loss if they are over or partly charged or even not fully discharged before charging.