I am purchasing the Fuji MX-1700. The Lithium-Ion NP80 battery that comes w/ the camera appears to be rechargable. Do you recommend purchasing additional batteries? If so, where is the best place to purchase them? How many?

Thanks, Brian

-- Brian (woodcycl@home.com), October 11, 1999

Answers

Sounds like a good idea. I'm very close to deciding on buying an S- 10 which uses the same battery. I used to use two sets of NiMH rechargables in other cameras. The spares came in handy often. I could charge one set while using the other. This is the problem with this Fuji battery though, I think you have to recharge the battery in the camera itself, so you can't recharge one set while shooting with another. If I get an S-10 I'll buy one spare, and see if I can get by with that. No idea about pricing/availability on it.

-- benoit (foo@bar.com), October 11, 1999.

Brian,

I just ordered the Fuji MX-1700 from egghead.com. I also ordered the following from buy.com; 1. NP-80 lithium-ion battery....................$44.95 2. BC-80 external battery charger for NP-80.....$54.95 3. MicroTech 32mb smartmedia card...............$77.95 These were the best prices I found. I felt that the external battery charger was important because it charges the battery in 2 hours as opposed to overnight in the camera. Mike

-- Mike Orenstein (mikeore@prodigy.net), October 24, 1999.

I came across this query over 2 years later so I am really only commenting for anyone one else who strays this way. Relying on just one battery is very limiting and frustrating if it starts to die at the wrong time! I have used a Kodak 4800 day after day on a tour and found I could get by with just two NP-80's but am now thinking a third spare would be helpful as I was also using an SLR camera. For speed I have a separate charger which recharges the batteries quite quickly and I start each day with at least two fresh batteries. Looking at the current prices a quick search with Yahoo or Google will reveal a massive variety in prices (currently $59.95 to $89.95) whereas if you are lucky they can be found on Ebay much cheaper (I was checking the ebay bid prices against the market). For many common batteries there is always someone undercutting the market significantly. I have not found that shop for NP80's yet but '7dayshop.com' is good on many lithiums.

-- Adrian Dennis (adrian_dennis@croydon.gov.uk), April 11, 2002.