My Digital camera might be bad

[Gig-O-Ram]

We've had our Sony Cybershot DSC-W1 for about 2 years, and we're afraid it may be going out on us. We got some rechargeable batteries with it initially, but we started having problems with them holding a charge, so we started buying regular batteries. But now we're having problems with those too, because I'll put a fresh set into the camera, and after not all that many pictures, the batteries are dead.

So we don't know if the problem lies in the alkalines, the rechargeables, or the battery charger that came with it. We're going to try some new r/c batteries, and see what happens, and maybe get a new charger. Otherwise, we're left to believe a two year old, $400 camera is dying on us.

Has anyone ever run into this with a digi-cam?

[screwballl]

my digital camera eats through batteries like you wouldn't believe. A simple alkaline set now tends to last 20 pictures or a week in the camera, whichever is less. It has been like this the entire time I have had them, the only batteries that last very long are the energizer e2 (e-squared)

[Gig-O-Ram]

I should've added that the r/c batteries that we got with the camera lasted for a really long time - about a year, before they wore out. Then we got another new set of r/c batts, and when we thought they were fully charged, they seemed DOA, because the camera would shut down as soon as we turned it on. So that's when we went to the alkalines, and have had problems ever since. We just can't seem to get the r/c ones to take a charge, which is why we're wondering if the charger is bad, or if the camera is draining them out.

[Panda Man]

Deanolicious is huge about cameras, maybe he can help ;) What brand of batteries are you using? Personally I always use Duracell, they have some made for digital cameras I think - you can pick them up at the wal-mart electronics dept. What is the the warranty on that camera? You could say it is a damaged power cell (may be) and try an RMA.

[Gig-O-Ram]

Originally Posted by Panda Man

Deanolicious is huge about cameras, maybe he can help ;) What brand of batteries are you using? Personally I always use Duracell, they have some made for digital cameras I think - you can pick them up at the wal-mart electronics dept. What is the the warranty on that camera? You could say it is a damaged power cell (may be) and try an RMA.

I think they're Energizer2. As to the warranty...I'm not sure, and I don't think we registered it.

[DeanOlicious]

Stick a couple of regular alkalines in there and see how long it lasts. I've never heard of rechargeables altogether draining faster in a device, only wearing out individually.

Hmm, just figured something when I looked at my desk and saw the samsung camera's capacitor that popped the crap out of my hand a week ago, if your camera is draining even when turned off the capacitor may be expelling it's charge when it's powered off. It takes a lot energy out of those batts and rechargables don't last like high drain alkalines do. If thats the case maybe a camera store can replace it pretty cheap. The cybershot DSC-P52 that I've still got is still running fine after few years, course we've always put regular alkalines in there.
Last thing I can think of is to make sure you fully charge the r/c batts before using them, not maxing the first charge can ruin them, though I'm sure you probably knew to that already.

[Gig-O-Ram]

We've picked up a new charger, and we're trying to get a charge into the OLD r/c batteries we have, and see what happens with those. If we get good results with them, then we've got some more rechargables. If not, we'll charge up the ones the came with the new unit, and hopefully those batts will not give us any headache when fully charged.

My wife was concerned that the camera itself was the culprit. I didn't think it was, but given what you said about the cap, I guess I shouldn't rule it out.

[PrOLifIC_onE]

You mentioned your charger. Use some alcohol wipes or something to clean the connections on the old charger. Make sure there is clean metal for a good connection to the batteries when they recharge. I have 3 sets of r/c batteries for my old fuji digi-cam and they are all still working fine in a rotation after more than 3 years and we use it A LOT. side note: I just recently bought a DSC-W70 so I will be selling the old fuji 3800 pretty soon.

[Gig-O-Ram]

Originally Posted by PrOLifIC_onE

You mentioned your charger. Use some alcohol wipes or something to clean the connections on the old charger. Make sure there is clean metal for a good connection to the batteries when they recharge. I have 3 sets of r/c batteries for my old fuji digi-cam and they are all still working fine in a rotation after more than 3 years and we use it A LOT. side note: I just recently bought a DSC-W70 so I will be selling the old fuji 3800 pretty soon.

Thanks for the suggestion, I will definitely remember that in the future if we have this problem. However, we did get a new charger, and the OLD set of batts that was giving us a headache before no longer seem to be. It used to be we could barely turn the camera on before it's shutting down, but we were messing with it today, and no problems at all. I definitely think there was something going on with the other charger - maybe bad/dirty connections like you said, but no worries now.

[Lead Head]

I noticed better battery life with my digital camera using some Duracell 2850 mAH NIMH batteries. Using a cheap o energizer AA charger. Seems to work pretty good. Most rechargeable batteries are good for 1000-3000 charge cycles, before their capacity starts to really decrease.