I need a new camera. Biggest concern: batteries.

November 6, 2014 8:05 AM

I have need of a new, relatively inexpensive camera that will be good for outdoors use without access to power for an extended period of time.

I'm planning an upcoming trip to Kilimanjaro (yay!) in which I will not have access to electrical power for about 8 - 10 days. I'd like to take pictures along the way, but I don't think my current camera (which is a little old and eats through rechargeable batteries) is going to cut it.

I'd like to get a new camera for the trip without breaking the bank, and I'm bewildered by all of the choices out there. My biggest issues:

1) Batteries - Hopefully long-lasting, and I will need to be able to carry spares along instead of relying on rechargeables. Since I will be hiking, I want to limit extraneous weight.

2) Point and shoot - I'm not camera-savvy enough to mess with lenses and filters. I don't need the Best Camera Ever, just something that a complete amateur can use to take decent pictures with good resolution.

3) Cost - This camera will probably spend most of the year sitting in a drawer unless I have a special trip planned, so I don't want to spend an obscene amount.

Any suggestions? (Incidentally, it's amazing how much I rely on having regular access to power for my electronic devices. The idea of leaving my Kindle behind on this trip in favor of an actual paperback book feels strangely scary and old-fashioned! What will I do if I can't have access to All the Books at once?)

posted by Salieri to Technology (15 answers total)

Best answer: I'd buy a portable usb phone charger and use it to recharge whatever camera you already have. I've used this one to recharge my kids camera. It should be able to recharge a point and shoot camera half a dozen times or more, they cost $25 and you can use it to recharge your phone.
posted by foodgeek at 8:12 AM on November 6, 2014 [3 favorites]

Best answer: My Canon Powershot takes two AA batteries. I'm not sure how many pictures that is good for, but I'd guess a couple hundred. Two in the camera and a 4-pack in reserve would be way more that you would need. I would strongly recommend getting a camera that takes AAs or AAAs rather than an internal rechargeable. Rechargeable AAs are not reliable in my experience.
posted by SemiSalt at 8:24 AM on November 6, 2014 [1 favorite]

Yeah, your best best would be one that takes plain old AAs which you should be able to find even in remote African towns. Since you specifically don't want a fancy DSLR, you should be able to find a basic point and shoot that takes these.

Alternate idea: portable battery recharger. I just bought the middle-sized version of one of these for my iPhone and am quite happy with it. Plug it in before you go and get it charged up, then use it to recharge your batteries as needed. A full charge on mine seems to be enough juice to recharge my iPhone 4-5 times before I need to find reliable current again.
posted by Naberius at 8:29 AM on November 6, 2014

What about a solar USB charger?
posted by mkultra at 8:30 AM on November 6, 2014

Seconding the portable USB chargers. Most of them just use micro usb to charge(the same cord can also charge most non Apple phones), and come with a usb port to plug any usb cable into. I use two of these that i picked up on sale last year.

They work great and will charge my android phone, my wife's apple phone, my tablet and basically anything with a usb charging cable. I can get two complete charges for my phone on one of those. And they are cheap and portable.
posted by Twain Device at 9:00 AM on November 6, 2014

I don't know if there's much point getting a point and shoot camera as cell phones these days probably take just as good pictures. So if you've got a decent phone just go with that and then get one of those USB battery chargers that take AAs and a bunch of batteries.

Can you borrow a friend's dSLR? If you just set the thing on Auto there won't be much you'll have to do and its battery should last the trip (and if not you can get adapters to let it take AA batteries instead of camera batteries).

Also, if you really want power on the go you could pick up a Biolite camp stove. It burns twigs to cook your food/water and uses the heat to power devices over USB.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 9:38 AM on November 6, 2014

Best answer: If you do go with a camera that uses AA batteries, bring lithium batteries like these. I went through a couple thousand shots on a pair of these in my Panasonic Lumix. They lasted probably ten times longer than regular alkaline ones. As a bonus, they weigh less too.
posted by advicepig at 9:43 AM on November 6, 2014 [2 favorites]

Yes, lithium AAs are the answer. More expensive than alkalines, but virtually no self-discharge (they won't go flat just sitting in the camera) and they can deliver plenty of current for a long, long time.

You might actually try them in your current camera and see how they do. You might not need a new one.
posted by kindall at 10:30 AM on November 6, 2014

Best answer: Even though I have a phone with what most people consider to be a really good camera, if I was spending $$$$$ on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Africa, I'd spend $$$ on a camera with a decent lens to capture the scenes. A Canon S100/110/120 and a couple of spare batteries will be worth it; even the best phones have tiny sensors and crap ergonomics.
posted by scruss at 11:08 AM on November 6, 2014

Best answer: How much money do you want to spend on the camera?

The Canon series and the Lumix Lx7 are both good choices. If they're not too big, a used Micro Four Thirds format from Panasonic or Olympus will take great pictures. I used to have a Canon S95 and now use a Panasonic GX1 with a couple of lenses. You could always sell it on Ebay after the trip too. The Sony RX100-1 is quite popular and a little better than the Canons, but also costs more. I like to go to Flickr and look at pictures from prospective cameras. The Canon S95 has some amazing stuff if you can find one in good shape.

You can find spare batteries cheaply on Ebay.
posted by mecran01 at 11:13 AM on November 6, 2014

Best answer: I've climbed Kilimanjaro. I did it with a Canon 550d, but you say you don't want to carry a DSLR. I also have a Canon S120. It has similar battery life, and is an awesome camera (I'd say second only in the point and shoot category to the Sony R, and the Canon is about half the price of the Sony RX100)

The S120 gets awesome battery life. I'd be confidant of at least 300 shots using it normally. There won't be many opportunities for flash use (you'll be asleep pretty much when he sun goes down anyways :-)).

If it were me I'd buy a second battery to to take with me though. They aren't cheap (~$75 range in Australia), but hey, neither is climbing Kili...

After quite a few multi-day hikes I've found the best way to extend battery life is to NOT review all your images at the end of the day. Wait until you get back for that...
posted by trialex at 2:20 PM on November 6, 2014

GoalZero solar charger.
posted by kcm at 8:06 PM on November 6, 2014

Honestly, this is something that you might be well served picking up a decent film camera for. You can get 35mm (or even 120) for a reasonable price and you can pick up a meter that runs on a solenoid. Then you just pack some film and you're good to go no matter how long you're away from power.
posted by klangklangston at 8:18 PM on November 6, 2014

Response by poster: Thanks for the answers! The advice about the lithium batteries was very good, as were the suggestions for the portable chargers (which I think I'll take advantage of for my Kindle). My current camera was pretty bare bones when I got it a number of years ago, so this might be a good opportunity to upgrade to something a little more advanced. I appreciate the suggestions, and I'm going to check out some of the recommendations and see if I can find a good price.
posted by Salieri at 7:33 AM on November 7, 2014

Best answer: If you do go with a camera that uses AA batteries, bring lithium batteries like these.

Caveat: The link is to Energizer's "Advanced" lithium batteries, which actually aren't the best ones. Energizer "Ultimate" lithium batteries have more juice.
posted by neckro23 at 11:51 AM on November 8, 2014