Powershot A540 battery life

I am wondering for those of you who own a Powersot A540 if you have had a poor battery life using regualr alkeline batteries? I have seen that due to the spring in the batery cover that that may be why but mine doesnt have a problem with that. I go through so many batteries due to this problem and am going to possibly mail in my camera to get fixed. I was wondering if anyone had the same problem and have rechargable batteries helped this situation. I have a 1g memort card ( i think) and it takes about 250 pics, but I can only take about 10 beofre abtteries die. I was at a concert teh other night , piut fresh good name brand batteries in and was only able to take 3 pictures. I love my camera besides the battery problem.

Help,
Courtney (aggravated)

Are you using alkaline batteries or rechargeables? Alkalines will give the kind of life you're experiencing. Rechargeables will last a lot longer.

I have been using regular alkeline and was wondering if I am better off getting rechargables before I send it in for repairs. So you think they would solve the problem?

They will give you much better life. They'll also be cheaper in the long run. YOur camera wants its power in brief spurts of high current; alkalines are optimized to give a slow, steady current and as such are ideal for radios, flashlights and the like. NiMH rechargeables can produce the bursts that digital cameras need.

Also do you know how to take action pictures in a fast shutter. Like 12 pic in a row without pausing?

If "fast" is 2 frames a second, check p. 34 of your Advanced manual and get at least a SanDisk Ultra II (an Extreme III would be better) card. Don't hope to use flash while doing this though - the flash won't be able to keep up.

LOl I cant find my manual

Download a copy here. You will need to allow pop-ups.

So all in all you think if I try to get the rechargable batteries it should make my camera stop with the battery light always flaghing and draining my cameras batteries? Any preferable brand?

Just look for some with a good mAh rating. Eneloops are well spoken of around here.

I have been using rechargable batteries since I got the camera. When I have to use regular batteries, they poop out right away.

I have Energizer 2500Mah rechargeables and i can get almost 800 shots in light conditions with lots of on offs and such on a single charge (took about 5 charge discharges to break them into full capacity)

In cold windy rainy conditions i can get 200-300.

89AKurt wrote in post #4342263
I have been using rechargable batteries since I got the camera. When I have to use regular batteries, they poop out right away.

If you carry 2-3 sets of alkalines and swap out each set as it fades, it'll be able to recover some while the next runs down. What happens (greatly simplified) is that alkalines can't create free electrons as fast as NiMH batteries, so you drain the available free electrons. Letting the batteries rest allows some more electrons to become free and you can get a few more shots. Not as good as using NiMH, I'll agree. I'm several hundred shots and about 6 weeks into a set of 4x AA NiMH in my A620 ATM.

my camera always flashed a low battery light after only a few pictures but i usually could still take 20-40 more but now it is even getting worse. I can put batteries in that are charged without a load reading 1.359 volts ,they are powerx 2000MmAh. now when i turn camera on it shows a black screen with change the batteries .Going to call canon tomorrow.