When choosing a digital camera most people pay attention to its size, number of megapixels, lens or features like macro and manual ISO (exposure). Few people, even enthusiasts like myself, think about the most basic component of a digital camera; the battery. Perhaps it’s because good battery life is a given in this day and age, but as I recently discovered this is not always the case.
Many consumer and pro grade cameras that ship today do so with propriety batteries. What does this mean to you? Well it means that the only company making the battery is the one you bought your camera from. They have a monopoly over the batteries you need to make your camera work, and they can charge however much they like.
In most cases, these batteries are relatively high quality and one is usually included with the camera. The problem is that some companies (Kodak in my case) include a single non-rechargeable battery. My CRV3 battery lasted for a week and I was impressed. The $30 price tag to have one sent here is a little excessive for a non-rechargeable though, so I looked for alternatives. My Kodak Z712 IS takes good old AAs, but one set only lasts for about five or ten minutes. I lived with this frustrating inconvenience for about a year and then began looking for alternatives.
In an attempt to prevent the further lining of Kodak’s pockets, I bought a third-party rechargeable battery and charger. The price was right, but the camera won’t even turn on. So now I’m back where I started: pay the obnoxiously high price for a genuine Kodak battery or live with the terrible performance of AAs.
The moral of this story is to consider the basics of your camera before pulling the trigger. I got burned by proprietary batteries and you could too.
