For Nikon CoolPix 950 I bought a battery pack that can last at least 400 to 500 pictures but it is not a NiMH battery pack (I think it is a lead battery pack?). Should I be using NiMH batteries because the lead battery pack work's. I am still very happy with my new camera. Cyril

-- Cyril Levie (cyril@powerantilles.com), May 05, 1999

Answers

People get about 200 shots with top end nimh + charger. The good batts are $2.25 each and the higher end charger (trickle charge when done to keep topped off) is like $25 from thomas distributing or ckcpower. Some guy did major testing of all brands of chargers/batts and this like the killer price performance winner.

I suggest Maha C204F + nexcell 1300mAh.

Lead battery sounds interesting though. :)

-- benoit (foo@bar.com), May 05, 1999.

I'm with Benoit, who answered above. NiMHs should work well for your camera if you don't want to attach the lead acid pack or be bothered with the cord.

One thing you should know about lead acid gel-cell batteries is that most(all?) manufacturers seem to recommend that you keep them charged(trickle charged) and that if you really run them down you put them on a charger within a few hours to prevent sulfation that may kill your battery. The better sources that sell them advertise that the batteries are stored charged and most surplus sources make a lot of the fact that surplus gel-cells have been continuously trickle charged and well maintained. The best thing to do is read the charging instructions and check with the manufacturer if you need more information.

-- Gerald Payne (gmp@francorp.francomm.com), May 06, 1999.