How long should I expect the batteries to last. I just got my camera and a set of NMHD only last about 30 pictures.

-- Ernie Patterson (efpatterson@mindspring.com), June 01, 1999

Answers

I have found that it all depends on what charger and batteries you use. It happens that the Olympus charger and batteries have lasted me through well over 40- 50 shots. I don;t use the LCD much though and that's what eats up the jui

-- Rona Oberman (ronaoberman@earthlink.net), June 01, 1999.

"How long will the batteries last?", is a pretty subjective question. It depends on a number of factors like how much you use the LCD display, how much zooming in and out you do, how much the camera draws while operating, whether you use the flash or not, and to a great degree on the batteries and charger themselves.

If you just received your camera and batteries it may be that you'll have to charge them and discharge them a few times to get them to hold a full charge. Many of the chargers on the market are not the greatest, several are guilty of charging at a lower rate than advertised or switching to trickle prematurely. One thing you can do is use a digital voltmeter to measure the battery voltage while charging or after you remove them from the charger to make sure they are coming up to a fully charged terminal voltage of about 1.414, or so.(at least that's what I get after removing them from the charger)

I have a Toshiba PDR-M1 and get over 200 shots with flash and lcd on a set of Nexcell NiMHs from Thomas Distributing. If you have one of the less costly chargers that are advertised to take 24 hours to charge the batteries and also claim that its OK to leave the batteries in them indefinitely you may need to leave the batteries in at least 36-48 hours to get a full charge, since these trickle only units tend to be designed to put a very low charging curent. You're better off with a Delta V type charger with a timer and automatic switchover to trickle. Thomas sells a couple that seem to have pretty nice specs. The trickle units are nice for keeping a set ready to go though. I use one all the time to keep a set ready for whatever pops up.

-- Gerald M. Payne (gmp@francorp.francomm.com), June 02, 1999.