- Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 58 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
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32 out of 37 people found this review helpful
3.5 stars
"Great camera but SHORT battery life!"
Pros: Had many automated features that make using the camera somewhat easy
Cons: Used regular AA batteries that only lasted 0.5 a day even with the large LCD viewfinder "off"
Summary: I took this camera with me to Southern Africa (South Africa, Zambia and Botswana) to capture landscapes and animal pictures. There were a ton of good opportunities to shoot them, but 2 days into the trip, the camera seemed to have died due to a mechanical problem. However, the problem was that the AA batteries that I was using didn't provide enough power to extend and retract the zoom lens. The way I diagonosed the problem is that I went to a camera store, and we tried some new regular drugstore-type AA batteries. After putting in those new batteries, the lens retracted and the camera was fully functional again, but we had diagnosed the overall problem to be the weak batteries. The only way to resolve this was to get some Lithium batteries which were $18 per pair! While the camera was functional for one full day, it didn't seem reasonable to have to buy them in order to make the camera simply operate. Anyway, the pictures turned out well, but the battery power required is very high.
- 6 replies to this review
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I haven't made up my mind yet.. I'm still comparing. CR reported the Cannon w/ 550 shots compared to 300 for the Sony.
In visiting several stores, I felt the Canon felt better ergonomically and focused much better through the viewfinder.
Sony has a better Flash range - important for my indoor shots. I'm still trying to decide, but am leaning towards waiting for Canon's S3 (6 mpx)to come out next month -- and then compare the two cameras again. I like that Canon's view screen can be flipped and protected. Sony's LCD is much larger, but I've always prefered the viewfinder. -
I want to take a single frame shot, but I get multifram slow motion. Is this a camera defect or an operator problem?
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No digital camera works well with Alkaline batteries. If you had done your research you would have known that.
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You mean you seriously went on vacation with only one set of the AA batteries and expected them to last an entire vacation???? If you had done any checking at all you should have found that most AA batteries will last for maybe a day. Just bring a charger and or spares. This camera is slightly short on battery life, but the flexibility and cheapness of AA is nice. Anyone with enough sense to pack some spares and the charger for longer trips won't have a problem.
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Use a good set of powerful 2500 mAh or above NiMh, alkalines are worthless.
If you use a good charger like the LaCrosse BC900/RS900 then it can discharge the batteries fully then recharge them to minimize the memory effect. It can even do this repeatedly until no increase is detected to renew old batteries.
You can even do a test to see just how powerful the batteries really are, eg I have 2 sets of 2 2300s from different manufacturers , and 1 set came in at 1843/1934 mAh the other cheaper set at 2430/2500 mAh , so guess which company gets my business now ! -
I read that you had problems using the Sony H1 and resolve it with Lithium batteries. I don't know if you read the manual of the camera, it said that the only batteries that you can use are NiMH. Also, the manual specified that you can't use Alkaline and Lithium batteries. I use Energizer 2300mAh NiMH batteries and also the Sony 2500mAh NiMH. They works great, I took close to 230 pics with one pair of them. Try to turn off the automatic review after a shot and do not select the Continuous AF. They consume a lot of energy.
