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jwolf6589

macrumors 601
Original poster
Dec 15, 2010
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Colorado
Just because smoke and carbon monoxide detectors run on alkaline batteries doesn’t mean cameras should. Packing a charger for a trip is much more convenient than packing a dozen or more spare AA batteries.

They aren’t even remotely comparable scenarios.
I don’t disagree
 

Clix Pix

macrumors Core
Like AFB, the smoke alarm in my condominium apartment is hard-wired into the electrical system so I never have to worry about it running out of battery power. It is located in a strategic area of the condo unit, too, so no need to have any in any of the other rooms in the place. That seems a little....excessive.
 

mollyc

macrumors G3
Aug 18, 2016
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Like AFB, the smoke alarm in my condominium apartment is hard-wired into the electrical system so I never have to worry about it running out of battery power. It is located in a strategic area of the condo unit, too, so no need to have any in any of the other rooms in the place. That seems a little....excessive.
There are laws where they need to be. In all bedrooms. At the ceiling of each stair level.

we have about 8 in our house which were all required by code.
 
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Clix Pix

macrumors Core
Probably building fire/electric/etc. codes have changed since my condo building/complex was built in the early 1980's, and I imagine that a lot has to do with square footage and layout of a dwelling as well. I should look and see what the codes are now for multifamily dwellings, although presumably our complex is in compliance or we all would have been instructed years ago to put in additional smoke alarms depending upon the size of the unit, number of bedrooms, etc. The building itself is a "garden-style" one, meaning that each unit's front door opens to the outside which is protected by an overall breezeway/entrance and there are two stairways, one which goes to the two levels above mine and the other which leads to the level beneath mine.
 

chscag

macrumors 601
Feb 17, 2008
4,622
1,946
Fort Worth, Texas
Like AFB, the smoke alarm in my condominium apartment is hard-wired into the electrical system so I never have to worry about it running out of battery power.
Ours are also hard wired to the house electric system, however, each detector also has a battery backup. Power does go off on occasion and as you may have heard here in Texas during the "Big Freeze" many folks lost power for days.

Newer detectors sold by Home Depot and Lowes are equipped with 10 year Lithium batteries and provide both smoke and carbon dioxide detection.
 
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velocityg4

macrumors 604
Dec 19, 2004
7,336
4,726
Georgia
Like AFB, the smoke alarm in my condominium apartment is hard-wired into the electrical system so I never have to worry about it running out of battery power. It is located in a strategic area of the condo unit, too, so no need to have any in any of the other rooms in the place. That seems a little....excessive.

It’s not simply about hearing the alarm. Fire can spread fast. Only one alarm can mean valuable minutes have passed. Before sufficient smoke reached it to set it off.

That can make the difference between something you could stop with a fire extinguisher. To your whole home ruined by fire and water. More importantly an escape route being cut off.

I have an alarm in each bedroom, hallway, living room, basement and garage. They are all wirelessly interconnected. With verbal room announcement of the first detected location. Along with a CO detector at ground level.

A fire extinguisher mounted on the wall. Clearly visible. On each floor, basement and garage. Followed with window hooking escape ladders for each bedroom.

What really sucks. When one battery is low. All alarms go berserk telling me. Usually in the middle of the night.
 

tizeye

macrumors 68040
Jul 17, 2013
3,241
35,935
Orlando, FL
That's assuming you buy the batteries specifically for the remote and then throw them out when the remote dies! I have a bunch of NiMHs, and everything that takes AA gets them (flashes, remotes, flashlights). If I get something that takes AA, it gets a rechargeable from the pile.
Remote dies? I found it to be the opposite in devices where you typically don't think about the battery. With limited use (not primary remote, but stack of others universal remote replaced, the batteries dies and the next time you go to use it find that also corroded. I don't know if gets a last gasp power surge blowing out circuits but even minimal corrosion intrusion to the device kills it and new batteries won't work. I don't know how many remotes, flashlights, clocks and calculators I have had to replace because the batteries killed them.

While I do have a preference for rechargeable AA, some devices don't like them. While the Sony and Godox flashes use AA rechargeable, the related Godox flash controller has problems with the AAA rechargeable. It was a known issue that switching to normal AAA alkaline batteries resolved.
 

Arctic Moose

macrumors 68000
Jun 22, 2017
1,599
2,133
Gothenburg, Sweden
It used to be they all used AA’s back in the old days.
I bought my first Canon IXUS over twenty years ago, and have had many Powershot and EOS models since then. All of them have used rectangular Canon-designed batteries.

I do go through a lot of AA and AAA batteries in toys, tools, flashlights, remotes and smoke alarms.
 

Erehy Dobon

Suspended
Feb 16, 2018
2,161
2,017
No service
Greater energy density is possible with OEM batteries. My G9 has a 7.2V battery, even though that battery is roughly the size of 2 AA batteries side-by-side. To get something close to 7.2V with AA batteries, one would need roughly 5 AA batteries, requirping a much bigger battery compartment. All that adds up to bulk.

All that said, most modern cameras can charge through the USB connection, so if you do happen to forget your charger, you should be able to use an alternalte charger, like a phone charger, in a pinch. If you pack a few spare batteries, then, on average, you'd be going several hundred shots before running out of power.
Almost no one here has correctly addressed why but this comment is a little closer.

Different battery technologies have different performance characteristics. Some battery chemistries handle quick deep discharges and recover quicker than others. Some hardware technologies aren't so reliant on higher voltages.

This isn't anything new. Using 1.2V NiCad rechargeables in an electronic flash unit has been better than using 1.5V alkaline non-rechargeables for decades. Nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) cells took over from NiCad and now most of the rechargeables are Li-Ion.

It's worth pointing out Li-Ion cells aren't all the same. Compare Eneloops versus Eneloop Pros. The latter pack more punch but have a fewer number of available recharges.

The electrical demands of modern photography gear make alkaline battery technology obsolete. That's why few modern cameras request AA or AAA alkalines (rechargeable or single-use).

Alkaline battery technology still has its place. However it hasn't been in photography gear for 20+ years. Even newer cameras back in the Nineties moved away from AA/AAA alkaline cells and moved to CR2 and CR123 lithium cells.
 

jwolf6589

macrumors 601
Original poster
Dec 15, 2010
4,919
1,643
Colorado
I bought my first Canon IXUS over twenty years ago, and have had many Powershot and EOS models since then. All of them have used rectangular Canon-designed batteries.

I do go through a lot of AA and AAA batteries in toys, tools, flashlights, remotes and smoke alarms.
Thats funny. Every Canon, Vivitar, Nikon, and Kodak camera I have used until recently has used AA batteries.
 

jwolf6589

macrumors 601
Original poster
Dec 15, 2010
4,919
1,643
Colorado
Almost no one here has correctly addressed why but this comment is a little closer.

Different battery technologies have different performance characteristics. Some battery chemistries handle quick deep discharges and recover quicker than others. Some hardware technologies aren't so reliant on higher voltages.

This isn't anything new. Using 1.2V NiCad rechargeables in an electronic flash unit has been better than using 1.5V alkaline non-rechargeables for decades. Nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) cells took over from NiCad and now most of the rechargeables are Li-Ion.

It's worth pointing out Li-Ion cells aren't all the same. Compare Eneloops versus Eneloop Pros. The latter pack more punch but have a fewer number of available recharges.

The electrical demands of modern photography gear make alkaline battery technology obsolete. That's why few modern cameras request AA or AAA alkalines (rechargeable or single-use).

Alkaline battery technology still has its place. However it hasn't been in photography gear for 20+ years. Even newer cameras back in the Nineties moved away from AA/AAA alkaline cells and moved to CR2 and CR123 lithium cells.
This is not true. My first digital camera I got in 2003 used AA batteries. The (2) Kodak Digital cameras after I owned used AA batteries. My 2009 Powrshot used AA batteries, and the 2014 Nikon I got after used AA batteries.
 
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Arctic Moose

macrumors 68000
Jun 22, 2017
1,599
2,133
Gothenburg, Sweden
Thats funny. Every Canon, Vivitar, Nikon, and Kodak camera I have used until recently has used AA batteries.

I thought perhaps I misremembered, but according to Wikipedia, the entire IXUS/PowerShot line all used some variant of the NB line of batteries, from 2000 until at least 2017:

I had the original and the SD700 IS from the compact line.

I also had a PowerShot G2 or G3, which used Canon batteries:

From the EOS line, I've had a (2003) 350D, (2010) 550D and (2012) 5D mk III, which all used NB or LP series batteries:

In fact, I couldn't find a single spec for a Canon camera that used AA batteries.
 

jwolf6589

macrumors 601
Original poster
Dec 15, 2010
4,919
1,643
Colorado
I thought perhaps I misremembered, but according to Wikipedia, the entire IXUS/PowerShot line all used some variant of the NB line of batteries, from 2000 until at least 2017:

I had the original and the SD700 IS from the compact line.

I also had a PowerShot G2 or G3, which used Canon batteries:

From the EOS line, I've had a (2003) 350D, (2010) 550D and (2012) 5D mk III, which all used NB or LP series batteries:

In fact, I couldn't find a single spec for a Canon camera that used AA batteries.
Do you want me to take a picture of my 2009 Powershot that uses AA batteries?
 

mollyc

macrumors G3
Aug 18, 2016
8,065
50,745
This is not true. My first digital camera I got in 2003 used AA batteries. The (2) Kodak Digital cameras after I owned used AA batteries. My 2009 Powrshot used AA batteries, and the 2014 Nikon I got after used AA batteries.
Do you want me to take a picture of my 2009 Powershot that uses AA batteries?
These aren’t particularly sophisticated cameras. You are the only semi regular poster in this forum who uses only a point and shoot. The rest are using hybrid or ILCs or relying on their phone and editing with apps.

most of us don’t consider the cameras you’ve listed over your posts to be real cameras and they don’t produce the results we are used to and demand.
 

jwolf6589

macrumors 601
Original poster
Dec 15, 2010
4,919
1,643
Colorado
Not really. If you do want to prove your point you could post some model numbers of the massive amount of Canon, Vivitar, Nikon, and Kodak cameras you've owned, I guess.
I no longer have the Kodak, and Vivitar cameras but they all used AA batteries.
 

jwolf6589

macrumors 601
Original poster
Dec 15, 2010
4,919
1,643
Colorado
These aren’t particularly sophisticated cameras. You are the only semi regular poster in this forum who uses only a point and shoot. The rest are using hybrid or ILCs or relying on their phone and editing with apps.

most of us don’t consider the cameras you’ve listed over your posts to be real cameras and they don’t produce the results we are used to and demand.
You’d be surprised. My latest Powershot is very nice. No it does not run on AA batteries but it has lots and lots of features.
 

r.harris1

macrumors 68020
Feb 20, 2012
2,210
12,757
Denver, Colorado, USA
Do you want me to take a picture of my 2009 Powershot that uses AA batteries?
Please, please no. A simple look on the search engine of your choice would have shown the answer to whatever it is (and I don't really know what "it" is) you're trying to find. Another way to approach it would be to look at the various cameras used on this sub-forum and start from there. Most cameras here are either phones, which have never used AA batteries, or DSLR or mirrorless types: No AA batteries there with the exception of some of the optional battery grips. From that group of cameras, as a Nikon shooter, even going back to the D1 in 1999, the primary battery was never AA. And the other forum members who use point-and-shoots have been more interested in posting their images than discussing their batteries. It's awesome your Powershot is very nice. Go shoot images and post them.
 
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Arctic Moose

macrumors 68000
Jun 22, 2017
1,599
2,133
Gothenburg, Sweden
I no longer have the Kodak, and Vivitar cameras but they all used AA batteries.
And you do not have any images saved you could extract the model numbers in the metadata from? How about the Nikons and Canons? You cannot check or recall these model numbers either? Seems legit.

It used to be they all used AA’s back in the old days.
This statement is in any case clearly false.
 
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