Maximizing Your Digital Camera's Battery Power

Allowing you to take hundreds of pictures on your vacation and family trips is one of the features of a digital camera that professionals and amateurs both like. It is much easier to carry around several memory cards than it is to purchase, pack, and keep track of multiple rolls of film, not to mention the processing fees when you get home!

One of the big disadvantages of digital cameras is the limited battery life they have, much shorter than that of your traditional camera. Here are a few ideas to help you preserve the life of the batteries in your digital camera:

* Turn off the LCD screen; this is the easiest way to increase the life of the batteries in your digital camera. It really isn't necessary to use the LCD screen to frame your pictures, and leaving it on in between pictures drains the batteries much faster than is necessary. This screen uses an extremely large amount of power. You can double or even triple the battery life just by using the view finder on your camera like you did with your old film camera.

* Even though one of the great benefits of a digital camera is the ability to look at your pictures immediately and delete those you don't like, it takes a lot of power to do this. If you can, wait until you can plug your camera in to review your pictures.

* It takes a lot of power to transfer pictures to your computer. When making the transfer, plug your camera into AC power.

* A card reader is a good purchase if you take a lot of photos. It plugs into your computer, and you remove the card from your camera and plug it into the reader.

* Buy Lithium ion batteries; they will last nearly twice as long as a standard battery. And buy extra batteries; keep at least one set of extras with you just in case.

* Charge the camera before you leave the house. Cameras lose their charge when sitting for any length of time.


