SX120 IS Battery Life?

I just got a new SX120 that takes 2 AA batteries. I got the low battery warning light after about 50 shots. Is this normal? All shots were taken outside with no flash useage. The batteries were 2400ma cells that were fully charged but about 4 years old. What batteries do you use in your SX120's? How many shots do you get on average? Canon says this camera can use Lithium cells so I might go with them. Thanks. Steve

I took an SX120 to Europe last November & shot a lot of pics in 2+ weeks. I carried 8-AA Cells w/1 charger (all from SterlingTek). I don't think I ever shot more than 600-700 in one day and I only had to change to a 2nd set of batteries a couple of times during the whole trip. I wasn't counting # of shots per set of batteries but I'm guessing that I was getting around 300-400 shots per charge. 50 shots sounds too low, especially if you have a good set of batteries.

Lithium batteries have a considerable longer battery life than regular batteries. I have an XS110(and XS20) and I can get several hundred shots per set of lithium. I hardly ever use the flash though so you might get less shots if you use the flash frequently.

If my rechargables have been sitting around for a while, they sometimes don't last long - but otherwise my SX120 will last for at least several hundred shots without the flash.

At 4 years old, maybe the batteries aren't holding a charge like they're supposed to?

Thanks to all for your responses. I'll assume my batteries are a bit worn and replace them. Then I'll go and shoot some more. If it continues to get 50 shots before the low battery light comes on I'll send it back to Canon. To the people using Lithium batteries, do the Lithiums give more shots than the NIMH? Thanks.

cristphoto wrote in post #10152034
Thanks to all for your responses. I'll assume my batteries are a bit worn and replace them. Then I'll go and shoot some more. If it continues to get 50 shots before the low battery light comes on I'll send it back to Canon. To the people using Lithium batteries, do the Lithiums give more shots than the NIMH? Thanks.

Lithiums will probably give you more shots than any other cells. But LSD (low self discharge) cells like Sanyo Eneloops should be pretty close and the don't cost much more than the primary lithium cells..but the lithiums go in the trash (hopefully the recycling bin) after one use, while the LSD type cells can be recharged thousands of times.

Regular NiMH should last for more than 50 shots though...the cells are probably just not good...rechargable cells need to be charged and discharged fiarly regularly - leaving them for 4 years....doesn't sound good. The LSD cells are supposed to hold about 85% of their charge if not used for a year...regular NiMH cells will be completely dead in about 3 months with zero use and probably not useable after one month.

I keep lithiums in things iike flashlights (I live in "hurricane territory)...they have a shelf life of over 10 years, so they make sense for something I'll use in an emergency and not need to worry about. In my flash guns, I use the Eneloops (or the Duracells that are re-branded Sanyos and are the same)...Using lithiums in the flash guns would just seem like a waste of money and an ecological "no-no". (Duracell makes both the LSD and regular NiMH rechargeables...the higher mAh rated cells seem to not last very long...the LSD cells are only rated at 2000 mAh, but last for a very long time....I can't explain it...perhaps others can).

Having said the above, I do use lithiums in my SX10 IS..but I would not if it were the camera I used most often...I barely use it, so I don't want to have to think about recharging...I probably get a thousand shots with the cells, but that could be a year for me. (my other cameras all use rechargeable Lithim Ion...but my flash units get a lot of use, so I use the LSD cells in them.

Hope this makes sense.

Peace,
D.

I'd also say to go with the Eneloops. I carry a set of lithium AAs for emergency use, but rely on the Eneloops for day-to-day. High capacity NiMH cells tend to self-discharge at a very rapid pace, so unless you use them a lot on a daily basis they won't perform as well as you might expect.

Delija and Jon - I'll probably get the Eneloop type NIMH cells. My batteries I put in the new SX120 were freshly charged 2400ma Energizers but they were also over 4 years old. I guess the rechargeables were near their end of life. Thanks for the replies.