Battery life on Canon A series (esp A540), how well do they work?

[DougK]

Looking to purchase a Canon A540 point and shoot as a vacation camera to take to places I do not want to take expensive pro-level DSLRs cameras.

I am interested in the A540 because in addition to doing most of what I need above land, it can be put into a Canon housing for diving.

While in a Best Buy today looking at the A540, a clerk who was a photo expert, asked how long I would be "on a scuba session" and stated he did not think the camera would last a hour constantly on and that I would be better off with a Canon model that has the rechargable Canon battery. The A540 uses to double AAs.

A quick call to Canon seemed to confirm that while in the housing you CAN NOT turn the camera on and off to save battery power. IS THIS CORRECT?

The Canon tech person said that I could set the camera to go to sleep -- like a computer's power saver feature -- while underwater to save battery life and that it would walk up very quickly. ARE THESE STATEMENTS CORRECT and does anyone use the camera like this underwater? What battery life do you experience?

Finally this is the subjective question, I am a professional above water photographer. Do you folks that use the Canon P&S's feel they do a decent job underwater or do you feel I will be disppointed with the results. At the moment I do not have the funds to invest in a $1000 dollar housing for the pro camera. So this is a temp situation that might last a year or two. And in that time I would like to have a few photos to show from my dives.

Any comments welcome.

PS. One question I for got to ask the Canon folks do these cameras and housing have a way to use any external stobes if the need would arrise before I get a housing for the pro camera?

 

[Jamdiver]

I'd go with the A620 Doug...
A lot more full featured and a much better camera overall..
It retails for about $210 now, so it definitely is not expensive.

Anyway to answer your questions..
I speak from experience here as I own/use an A610 and dive frequently with it.

I set my camera to stay on all the time when I dive, I set the power saving feature to off, the only thing that I do is set the lcd display to shut off after a minute.
If I see something that I want to shoot, I just touch a button and it comes back on.

With rechargeable batteries (Energizer 2500mah) which I use and recommend to anyone who is serious about using a digicam and not constantly getting the low light battery warning.
I can take hundreds of shots, review pics, play with with the camera all day before the low battery indicator comes on.

You can access and control every function of the camera while in the housing.
Whoever you called at Canon is either misinformed or ignorant of this.

As to the results you'll get with it, I feel that the powershot A620 is a very competent and full featured compact camera.
Manual control, array of features, great battery life, nice lens (used to be found only on the G series camera), speedy operation and great image quality..
I mean just check out the review at dpreview here, it got highly recommended which is no mean feat.

You can definitely add a strobe to this camera...
Anyway I invite you to have a look at my gallery here and do a search in this forum and you will many great pictures that have been taken with the Canon powershot cameras.
I'm not the only one using an A610/A620

I would really go for the A620 though...

Link to my general gallery.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisgordon/

I have a ton of topside photos here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisgordon/sets/72157594173107013/

U/W photo sets..
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisgordon/sets/72057594138940388/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisgordon/sets/72157594173105543/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisgordon/sets/72057594086345582/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisgordon/sets/72157594173106624/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisgordon/sets/72157594177069075/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisgordon/sets/72157594201209957/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisgordon/sets/72157594173109055/

Kind Regards

 

[Diver Dennis]

I agree with Jam. The A620 is the way to go if you don't want to house the DSLR. What camera do you use above water? A housing for a Rebel runs about $1300 plus the strobes run about $850 each with arms, a LOT more expensive than an A620.

Take a look at Jam's photos. They are an excellent example of the amazing shots you can get with a P&S camera.

 

[Jamdiver]

I'd also say not just mine, if you ever get the chance look at some shots taken with the Olympus 505o or 5060 they're all over the net and were the staple of many an underwater photographer.

For my money, those are some of the best images that i've seen out of a compact that was released at that time and still hold up very very well to the current generation of compact cameras .

 

[alo100]

How about Fuji FinePix F30? 580 shots for one full battery life, A620 is also good, 500 shots, with LCD on(CIPA standard).
Please don't get me wrong I'm also having a Canon compact.

Hope it helps!

Canon PowerShot A520 300 shots 2300 mAh NiMH
Canon PowerShot A530/A540 360 shots 2500 mAh NiMH
Canon PowerShot A700 400 shots 2500 mAh NiMH
Canon PowerShot A95 400 shots 2300 mAh NIMH
Canon PowerShot A610/620 500 shots 2300 mAh NIMH
Casio Exilim EX-P700 200 shots NP-40 li-ion
Fuji FinePix E550 200 shots 2300 mAh NIMH
HP Photosmart R817 250 shots R07 li-ion
Kodak EasyShare Z760 185 shots KLIC-5000 li-ion
Nikon Coolpix L1 230 shots unknown NiMH
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ2 390 shots unknown NiMH
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W7 380 shots 2100 mAh NIMH
Canon PowerShot SD600 160 shots
Canon PowerShot SD700 IS 240 shots
Casio Exilim EX-Z850 440 shots
Fuji FinePix F10 500 shots
Fuji FinePix F30 580 shots
Fuji FinePix V10 170 shots
HP Photosmart R727 270 shots
Kodak EasyShare V603 150 shots
Nikon Coolpix P4 200 shots
Olympus Stylus 710 180 shots
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX01 320 shots
Pentax Optio T10 130 shots
Samsung Digimax L60 190 shots *
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-N1 300 shots
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W50 390 shots
* Not calculated using CIPA battery life standard

 

[DougK]

Thanks for the replys, I will look into a A620.

Those were some nice photos in the galleries Jam Diver.

What brand strobes work with the A620? Are they Canon or a third party strobe?

Above water I use Nikon cameras, D100, D200 and D1H. I am stuck with Nikon since I work for a newspaper and we have Nikon pool equipment.

I would prefer Canon cameras above water, but don't have that choice so I will give their P&S's a try.

 

[Jamdiver]

Thanks for the replys, I will look into a A620.

Those were some nice photos in the galleries Jam Diver.

What brand strobes work with the A620? Are they Canon or a third party strobe?

Above water I use Nikon cameras, D100, D200 and D1H. I am stuck with Nikon since I work for a newspaper and we have Nikon pool equipment.

I would prefer Canon cameras above water, but don't have that choice so I will give their P&S's a try.

DougK, have a look at this website's strobe finder utility.
Basically most strobes will work with Canon's compact/P&s Camera..
Canon doesn't make strobes for underwater use to the best of my knowledge...

http://www.digitaldiver.net/strobes.php

I know that the Ikelite DS-50,DS-51's or DS-125's all work with the canons as do most of the Inon Cameras...

If you need more detailed advice i'd head over to this guy's website http://www.reefphoto.com/ and shoot him (Ryan) an email i've found him to be very helpful.
Won't sell you what you don't need or want...

 

[CompuDude]

You can definitely access all controls and turn the camera on and off with both the A540 and the A6xx series cameras. Pretty much all of the A series, for that matter, in the OEM housings.

They'll run for MANY dives (at least 4 if not more) on one set of lithium AAs, but rechargables (NiMh, not NiCad) are better for many reasons. Not quite as long life, IIRC, but still quite good. Next to impossible to kill a fresh set of either on one diver, unless you are on a rebreather or diving doubled HP130s in 15' of water with a great SAC. ;-)

Most P&S cameras lack TTL capability, so you'll have to use a strobe in slave mode, with either a fiber optic cable or other means of blocking the internal flash and triggering the external strobe. If you're a pro photog it won't take you long to figure things out... it's not that complicated. Reef Photo, recommended above, can definitely get you headed in the right direction.

 

[nerobanchee]

JamDiver,
Did you take all your pics with a strobe? If yes, what brand/etc? Your pics are excellent! I love the one of the christmas tree worms on the coral

 

[Diver Dennis]

I know Jam does not use a strobe at the moment, so anyone that thinks you can only get great pictures with a DSLR with 2 strobes only need check out his pictures.