Digital Camera Canon Powershot Review

I usually stay with Canon accessories for my Canon cameras, just for the 'peace of mind' I can expect from the same manufacturer. But in this case, I see no reasons to choose this package (Canon CBK4-300 Battery and Charger Kit) just because of the brand name. Consider the following facts:

1. Canon is not a battery manufacturer. So those 2500mAh rechargeable NiMH cells are simply re-labeled from other vendors.

2. All 2500mA NiMH cells in the market are plagued by the problem of high self-discharge rate. That is, if you charge up a set of those AA cells and leave them in your camera for a few weeks, they may become completely drained before you can take any pictures.

For the price of this Canon battery and charger kit, you can buy an equally good 'smart' charger (for example, the Sony BCG-34HE4), plus eight of the latest generation LSD (low-self-discharge) cells such as SANYO eneloop, Rayovac Hybrid, or Kodak Pre-Charged. Even though their stated capacities appear lower at 2000-2100mAh, those cells can hold 80% of their charge for 6 months or longer. So you don't always have to recharge your camera's batteries the night before, and you can keep another set of charged batteries as standby. This makes LSD cells much more suitable for digital camera applications.

Personally, I have retired all of my old-genreation (2500mAh) NiMH cells, and am using only LSD cells in photo equipment now.

I went with the Canon batteries & charger to avoid any problems with the Canon digital camera they are used for. Whenever I've used rechargeable batteries in an electronic device, they never seem to last long enough. So for the camera, I went with the same brand batteries. I've taken probably 100 photos, use the flash and zoom often, and had the camera on for almost two hours straight in a photography class and the batteries still don't show any loss of power with respect to the camera's battery status indicator. And since this kit comes with 4 batteries, I always have 2 charged spares. Maybe cheaper rechargeables would work, but it wasn't worth the risk and hassle if they failed right when I needed them.

I've bought NiMH (nicknamed Nim-Hah's) from Canon, Energizer, Radio Shack, & RayoVac. We use them in exactly the same way and with the same load everytime. So it's easy for us to tell which gives us the best performance.

How we use them: dozens of flash pictures in a Canon digital camera
Results:
The Canon batteries can recharge the flash diode 30-50% faster than the other brands we tried.
The Canon batteries give us double or more snapshots before having to replace.

Final Note: Some critiques will say that they can't see the difference in value for the higher price. I would say "bull". faster flash warmup and less battery chnges are worth the difference.

JR Fent
IT Recruiter
jrfent.com

I have noticed an over all performance upgrade in my Canon A630 since purchasing these batteries. They last a long time and the Camera operates faster all together. The lag time has reduced in between photos trememndously.

We tried to use a generic battery charger with our Canon and it showed. Our flash recharge time was longer, the lag between photos was noticeable, and the camera ate batteries VERY QUICKLY! With this charger and its batteries, we can use the camera for several outtings and take over 100 pictures, and even some video. We used it at a family event where I took a total of 20 minutes of video and 102 photos. When we got home, the batteries were not even blinking. I was very impressed! Even when you have to charge the two from your camera, you have 2 more ready to go! The batteries charge rapidly and we haven't had a single problem!

I recently bought a Canon S3 IS camera and was pleased to note that it uses AA batteries rather than the costly rechargeable batteries I had in my Canon G2 (about $50 per). I didn't however want to go to the expense and bother of constantly having to replace AA batteries. I was delighted to find this rechargeable option and purchased. To date, it works great. I can use rechargeable batteries most of the time and have non-rechargeable batteries for emergencies (e.g., trips) Great find and purchase. Good value

If you own a Canon PowerShot digital camara this item is a must. Power consumption is quite high in this devices, specially if you like to go on a field trip with it. Charger is quite fast (4 hours for the package). It definitively improves the camera's shooting time frame. It s good advice to always have a spare battery to avoid missing those irrecuperable moments.

On the other hand, I tried other rechargeable batteries but they didn't fit the holes of the camera. Canon's batteries cost a little more than other brands. Other chargers do work faster. However, Canon's dedicated batteries do have an impact in the camera's performance.

Hope this helps.

I purchased these batteries because Canon recommends them for their digital cameras. They do last A LOT longer than regular batteries, even lithium... They charge quicker than other rechargables, I would recommend getting the charger with the batteries and another set, if you are anything like me, you hate being in the middle of taking great shots and the batteries die!!! I keep the extras charged and ready in my bag.

I bought these batteries and charger in either June or July of 07. However, by the time I got them, I had just placed a new set of batteries in my Canon A630. Not wanting to waste the new ones, I figured I'd just charge these and then have them ready when my old ones wore out. To make a long story short, I didn't actually have the chance to use these batteries until early December 07. They worked fine at the time, and I was pleased. I had to charge them shortly before Christmas, which I found reasonable, considering the number of pictures I'd taken (nowhere neat the 100 in one of the earliest reviews, mind you). I had to charge them again 3 weeks later, even though I'd hardly used them at all. I thought it kind of strange at the time, but I didn't think about it too much. That takes us up to early January (around the 7th) of 08. I used my camera for at most 20 minutes (mostly for transferring, not taking pictures), and when I grabbed my camera on January 23rd to get a beautiful landscape, my batteries were dead. Read that again: I used my FULLY CHARGED batteries for LESS THAN 20 MINUTES over a period of LESS THAN THREE WEEKS, and they were dead when I needed them most. After reading more recent reviews, I now understand that they have a horrible self-discharge rate. I wish that some of the reviews that are here now were here when I bought these...

After I got back home (very disappointed at missing my picture opportunity, and angry at my batteries), I immediately put them on the charger. I will admit that they charge almost exactly as the instructions claim (4 hours, 40 minutes to charge all four at once). And now, 16 hours after taking them off the charger, I plugged them back in, just to see how long it would take for the light to stop blinking. I did not use them at all during the 16 hours they were unplugged. It's about 40 minutes later, and they're still charging. Read the other reviews carefully, especially the ones that critique it.

We purchased this for our Canon for when we were going on vacation - that way we could charge one set while we used the other for the day.

1. We NEVER got a full-day's use out of these batteries, even when we used both sets.
2. There are (4) slots on the charger, but (2) of the slots are "quick charge" slots:
The batteries are charged quickly, but NOT TO FULL CAPACITY!!!! (The slots are marked
on the inside of each battery slot. I used a silver marker to remind myself which slot
was which so I could AVOID the "quick charge".)

In the end, we bought regular batteries as back-ups to the rechargeables - which defeats the very purpose of rechargeable batteries!!

Very disappointing.

We will be researching better alternatives to this set.