What do I think of proprietory batteries? Try finding a new battery for
my Thinkpad 750C laptop then get back with me on that.
graywolf
http://www.graywolfphoto.com
"Idiot Proof" <==> "Expert Proof"
-----------------------------------
Cory Papenfuss wrote:
And some of us do have a well founded preference for off-the-shelf
general
garden variety power sources. YMMV but please don't simply disparage
the use of
regular old AAs as for some of us there's a lot of advantage to be
had when all
our kit uses the same batteries.
Certainly is an advantage... however the times when I use anything
battery powered but the camera itself are relatively rare. :-)
I remember some folks on the Leica list whining that the SF20 flash
unit took these "godawful non-rechargable lithium cells and what an
expensive pain that was" instead of good old AAs. Well, I bought an
SF20 flash unit because it was reasonably priced and a good match for
my Leica M6TTL. I used it for a year and a half, and when I sold it
the same batteries for the new owner lasted another year or so.
Lithiums are smaller, lighter and pack more capacity.
If you use a lot of flash and other devices that use AA form factor
batteries, yeah, that's a good reason to stick with them. And I don't
think what Pentax has done with the D/DS/DL/DS2 and standard
batteries is at all bad. But overall, if I had a choice between a
battery designed and tailored to give the maximum performance vs a
standardized battery, I'd probably pick the former.
Right... a quick list of things I routinely use that can use AA's
in or around my camera (traveling, etc):
- External Flash
- MP3 player
- Active noise cancelling aviation headset
- Flashlight
Having them all use the same batteries means less expense and
aggrevation of keeping multiple batteries, chargers, etc going.
Also, I submit another argument. If the camera comes with a
proprietary battery, it would be extremely wise to purchase a second
battery immediately. If not, there will likely be that "killer shot"
that gets missed due to battery mismanagement (dead at the wrong
time). Charging that one battery isn't instantaneous (even if power is
available), so having a spare is a good idea. For proprietary
batteries, that adds $50 to the cost of the camera body for off the
bat. With NiMH, you can either use an emergency lithium, AA, or an
inexpensive second NiMH set of rechargables. Cheap insurance.
-Cory
