High Sierra Topix

I explicitly choose my camera to have

a) An optical viewfinder
b) AA batteries

Unfortunately these are getting harder and harder to come by in the prosumer range. (They disappeared in the compact range several years ago). I'm currently using a Canon SX20.

The AA batteries I share between my headlamp, camera, and GPS.

*Really* wish the various industries could come up with a different set of non-proprietary batteries to replace AA's.

*Really* wish the various industries could come up with a different set of non-proprietary batteries to replace AA's.

Fedak,

Good luck with that. My GPS has a rechargeable batt pack, and then a AA secondary pack (never necessary though). My Petzl headlamp has AAA bats which last a year easy, and then the camera has those lil' rectangular Li batts. I could live without the GPS and the headlamp if necessary. Hence, I carry the extra camera batteries. My old HP 406 camera ran on 2 AA's. one very cold morning, I got two pictures out of it before I had to change out the batteries. i'm a fan of Li now..

I have been trying to solve this issue also this year as I have a long trip planned. I decided on going with a Brunton Restore since it has an internal battery. Besides solar charging you have the advantage of on resupplies at resorts you can plug it in and bring the charge back to full so you have that spare from the start to charge gear. The trouble is that most people mentioned camera batteries and this is still a problem for me because I plan to bring a Canon G12 which takes NB-7T batteries and none of the chargers accept USB charging which is what most of these small solar chargers use. I cannot seem to find any adapters that will allow me to charge an NB-7T using USB so essentially I am back to square one. My only other tactic will be to bring an extra battery and charge them when I resupply at the resorts. Most people myself including don't go more then 10 days without resupply so an extra battery or two should get you to power. I still plan to use the charger for recharging AA batteries for my GPS so I will let you know the results at the end of the season.

It amazes me how ignorent I am of all this stuff... But my different cameras do take different better pictures. The Panasonic can't be beat for distance shots.

I still want to know if someone knows of a solar system that will charge batteries.

East Side Hiker wrote:I still want to know if someone knows of a solar system that will charge batteries.

What type of batteries?

the Brunton 12v system comes with a 12v female plugin for a charger of your choice, which is usually AA or AAA (purchased separately, and adds to the weight). you might be SOL for specialty batts. If your camera has a USB plug-in, for recharge which mine do, you can carry that cable. I chose not to go Solar. 4 batteries: 1 camera.

I prefer to just standardize as best I can, carry extra batts as necessary, and deal.

If you are lucky enough to have a camera that uses AA batteries, there is a great solution: use Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries. They seem to last forever and they have the added advantages of being lighter than NiMh or alkaline batteries, they do not leach power over time, and they perform well in extreme cold. I use them with my Canon A620 and get average over 2,000 shots per set of four batteries. Pentax makes two DSLR models that can use AA batteries, the K-x and the K-r. With my K-x, I am also averaging 2,000+ shots per set of four batteries. This year I think I will take the K-x backpacking.

I agree with Mike. In past trips I used nothing but the Energizer Lithium AA's. They are a superior battery in every way. Even with a heavy DSLR like my 5D2 one set of 6 in it lasted for a month on the trail. They can be costly but sometimes you can find deals such as I got them on Amazon for 6 dollars for a pack of 4.

If at any point you do consider rechargeable AA's I have heard good things about Sanyo Eneloop batteries. You can buy them with a USB charger that will work with a solar charger.

RoguePhotonic wrote:I agree with Mike. In past trips I used nothing but the Energizer Lithium AA's. They are a superior battery in every way. Even with a heavy DSLR like my 5D2 one set of 6 in it lasted for a month on the trail. They can be costly but sometimes you can find deals such as I got them on Amazon for 6 dollars for a pack of 4.

I get them on ebay in 20 packs or larger, usually under $1 per battery. They last forever in storage

for my D90, I bought this thing to be able to replace batteries away from power outlets - it replaces the original nikon battery and allows me to use AAs:

http://www.amazon.com/Zeikos-Profession ... B001F8HRY8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;