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 item (Canon NB4-300 Battery Pack) 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 pack, you can buy 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 bought two sets of these so that I would have a backup set to put into my Canon S3 IS when the first set ran dry. Last year, on a trip to Portugal, Spain, and London, I was quite pleased at how long these batteries lasted before having to install the replacement set. I was able to take the majority of 500+ photographs using just one set, fully charged.

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

These are the best batteries I have ever used in a Digital Camera. I own a Canon PowerShot A640 and take a lot of pictures and it is so nice to have battieries that last such a long time and it has also helped the speed of my camera inbetween shots.

I have the PowerShot S3 IS, and with the camera I bought two sets of these batteries. I took approximately 500 pics with the camera's settings on low before I had to change the batteries. I also had a set of the Energizer rechargables, but they have less than half the working-life that these Canon batteries have. I've given the Energizers to my son for his GameBoy, and I will never again have any other batteries with this camera other than these batteries.

I'm shocked by how long these batteries stay charged. I bought the battery charger that came with four batteries and I also purchased a second set of batteries thinking that since they are AA, they will not hold a charge for long. It turns out that I probably only needed one set. I used the camera non-stop on Christmas. Had it on and off frequently for about 12 hours, took 340 indoor pictures and several videos without having to change the batteries. There was still no sign of battery weakness while I've been taking pics of the kids playing with their new toys. Before I purchased this charger, I just used regular AA batteries and had to replace them daily while I was trying to figure out how to use my then new camera.
I'm very pleased with this product!

These are by far the best rechargeable batteries I have owned! I have been using them for over a year now...and not once has my camera died during use.
Well worth the investment!

I always take a spare battery pack so that while I'm recharging one, another is already popped into my camera. So much better than having to carry tons of non-rechargeable batteries.

We received the batteries very quickly and they have been working very well with the new camera battery charger that we also purchased. You will not regret ordering these batteries.

Great buy and very long lasting. Their shelf life is not as good as some, but they still hold their own.