Trying to use NEXcell 1300mA batteries and my Nikon 700 coolpix. I seems as though the batteries are being drained within 30 minutes of use. (mixture of flash and non-flash)

I tested the batteries with a battery tester and they are charged.

Any ideas?? I have heard that the size is different for some of these batteries, could this be the case, or just poor contact??

thanks, jack

-- Jack Rieden (jrieden@hotmail.com), January 03, 2000

Answers

Sorry for the slow response... We didn't test the Coolpix 700, but what might be going on is that the open-circuit voltage of NiMH and NiCd batteries is quite a bit lower than that of alkaline cells. Cameras generally decide whether a battery is good or not by its output voltage. Thus, the Coolpix 700 could be thinking the NiMH cells look low when they're actually pretty fresh. I don't know if Nikon has a fix for this via firmware, or if that's just the way things are. You might try checking with them. I've heard that some NiMH batteries have (slightly) higher output voltages, but haven't tested any to be sure. (The rumors have been that higher-capacity batteries have a slightly different chemistry, producing the minutely higher voltage.) I'd suggest checking on the NikonTech forum, at www.nikontechusa.com. Good luck!

-- Dave Etchells (web@imaging-resource.com), January 16, 2000.