Energizer Lithium batteries ad
 

Just saw a Tee Vee ad for Energizer lithium batteries. It was of a world cup pitch, pull out to see the whole stadium, with thousands of camera flashes going off, as you often see. Of course, using a flash to shoot a stadium event is dumb, because the flash only illuminates about the first 20 feet or so. Use it to get a picture of your row; turn if off to shoot the field.

But back to the ad. Slowly the number of flashes decreases, until there's only one in the whole stadium left flashing. And with each flash, they boil down to a sound effect: click-whirrr. click-whirrr. click-whirrr.

The voiceover suggests that if you equip your digital camera with Energizer's lithium batteries, you'll get longer life out of them.

In your digital camera. Except that the digital camera doesn't make the sound of a "click-whirrr". That's the sound of a motor-driven film camera: the click of the shutter, and the whirrr of a motor winding the film to the next position.

They have to leave that sound effect in, because if they don't, it is assumed that you don't understand that the "flash" they funnel down to is a camera. They assume you are stupid.

Here's the real deal. If you have a digital camera that uses AA batteries, go to www.thomas-distributing.com, buy a Maha 204F charger with a set of at least four NiMH batteries. You'll pay a bit more up front, to buy the charger, but you'll get hundreds of uses out of one set of batteries.

They also have a bunch of replacement NiMH batteries for other sizes of battery, so check that out if you need. Once you have 'em, you'll use 'em in everything electronic.

my father's mavica makes the click-whir sound. just to make the user feel good.

Oh! Well, never mind then!

Actually, that's the craziest thing I've ever heard. Next you'll be telling me that his camera uses some sort of proprietary memory developed by Sony and not interchangeable in any devices produced by any other manufacturer.

My guess is that it either uses a floppy disk or a CD-R. We'll see how it is when he responds. I'mma laugh at you if you were wrong on this one though :)

Mavica uses floppies, so "whirr" is appropriate. Quite a few digital cameras simulate the click; it makes sense to give the photographer feedback as to when he's pushed the button all the way.

floppy. it's a crusty ole mavica.

Does it use AA batteries?

nope. doesn't use AA. uses special rechargeable niMH (think it might even be a standard camera battery). he's gone through three of them in four years. not bad, considering he's probably taken 5000 photos by now.

i was going to buy a coolpix once, and decided against it due to the aa battery thing. i went canon powershot. kickass. even holds an IBM Microdrive. when i put the microdrive in it, the display says "999 pictures to go" all the time. so much room, it can't even fathom it. :)

OK then! The camera in the ad that click-whirrrs has to take AA batteries since that's what the Energizers are.

I have a 640x480 Polaroid and a 1.3Megapixel Olympus. I bought both of them off of ubid cheap, as refurbed units. (I got the Olympus because I wanted something with some more exposure control, and some zoom.) I agree, the NiMH's are great. ALthough my Polaroid eats thru them so fast I wonder if it's normal. Maybe it's just cause the battery meter loses the 1st two of the four "segments" very quickly and makes it look like they're dying quickly.

On the other hand, I got the Olympus in February and it still has the same set of Lithium batteries that came with it, and the battery meter is still on full. So I agree that lithium batteries aren't cost-effective for the casual hobbyist whose camera can use AA batteries, but my experience suggests there is a difference in the battery life, and it's not just hype.

oh, did i mention my wife has an olympus that does click-whirr? that one uses AA. :D

Ack.. -- gECK -- .. pffffff ff fffffffffff