Canon Powershot SX130 IS battery question

[Craig321]

I'm looking at getting the Canon Powershot SX130, it seems to be excellent for the money.

Unfortunately it takes AA batteries, but this could be a benefit for me.

I've read a few reviews, some of them say the battery life is terrible, even with decent rechargable NiMH batteries, and some say it's pretty good at around 350 shots with some Sanyo Eneloops or other decent rechargables.

Does anybody have this camera and have experience with both normal batteries and rechargables please? I would be using both depending on where I am.

Alternatively, are there cameras out there that are just as good with a rechargable/built in battery? Doesn't matter if it's compact, just needs to be decent.

Thanks.

 

[theheyes]

We've got one of these at work and yes it's pretty decent for a compact, the IS works really well.

I can't give you first hand experience because the camera itself isn't mine, but I've yet to hear anyone complain about the battery life and believe me I'd cop for it first because I buy them. We use rechargeable batteries which seem to fair a lot better generally across all cameras.

 

[Craig321]

Do you have any recommendations for rechargables, or am I right in saying Eneloops are pretty good?

I'm guessing I need 2500 mah or something around there for decent battery life?

 

[theheyes]

We use energizer NiMH AAs and they are pretty good. I think they are 2000 mah iirc. Sorry I can't be any more scientific. If you've read mixed reviews online though, that would suggest to me that the truth lies somewhere in between and that ties in with my impression of the camera which is that it is neither spectacularly good nor bad in terms of battery life.

In my experience of point and shoots the AA batteries suffer in the cold more than anything else.

 

[Craig321]

Thanks, I think I'll just go for it, only £99 for the camera at the moment! I can get 8 decent rechargables with a charger for £15 or so, so I can keep 6 charged up while I use the others.