I have dug out my an old Sony WSC-W1 point and shoot that I have always used NiMH (Energizer) AA batteries (1.2v) in without an issue. They are fully charged and show 1.3v each.

I have tried some non rechargeable Duracell Plus Power (1.5v) batteries and it will now turn on, but after a few photo's the camera says the batteries are 'flat' so turns off, these batteries are still showing 3.8v.

Why is the camera not powering up or working when the batteries still have a fair amount of charge left in them?

Is there anything I can I do to rectify this? as I now have a very unhappy son who's 'new' camera is not working properly. (it's not worth getting serviced etc)

I think you'll find that alkaline batteries don't hold up to being used in digital cameras as well as NiMh. There may be a setting in the cameras menu ti change battery type, at least there is in my Samsung.

Is there a battery setting? I can recall a setting for rechargable or standard batteries on an old Nikon compact which would behave peculiarly if not set ight.

No, no battery setting.

Why would fully charged batteries (which has previously been used exclusively in the camera) not power it up though?

It's almost as if the camera now requires much more power than it used to? :wonder:

How old are the NiMH batteries and how long have they been sitting around? If they have sat for a while, they'll be knackered :(

Batteries have a sell by date of a few years, after that try don't hold charge very well or at all. If used often they may only last a year or two.

Try a deep discharge and recharge of battery. Else, simply try some new rechargables.

Side note: non rechargable batteries also have sell by date, if you buy the clearance stock ones don't expect them to perform anywhere near its newer counterpart.

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk

They are about 3 years old but regularly used and charged and work fine in everything else (wii remotes, a kids camera etc)

If they were not charging fully or holding a charge then that would of been my first port of call, but at the moment I am unsure if they are the cause, the Duracell batteries only took about 20 photo's before turning the camera off.

I didn't know rechargeable batteries had a sell by date (nothing on the batteries but there may of been something on the packets?)

The Duracell ones are new 2018 ones, so should be OK.

Looks like the cheapest avenue to try is some new rechargeable batteries and see if they make any difference.

not sure if it helps but I bought some rechargeable batteries for a BT phone from,,,,,,,,,,,Poundland, yes POUNDLAND and so far they have been perfect, holding their charge very well. Worth a try for a pound of anyones money IMHO before splashing out for more expensive branded batteries

Sorry I should've been a little clearer - rechargeables degrade over time even when not in use. It depends on quality/technology and may only last a 2-3 years.

As for a solution to your problem, cheapest way is to get another set of rechargeables and try it out. Google says something similar, nothing specific that can be done other than that :think:. Perhaps buy a new budget camera?

If you are going to get new rechargeable batteries try VAPEX.

My Fuji S7000 used ordinary batteries in no time, normal rechareables not much better. Tried Vapex after reviews on many forums.

In the Fuji ( only a spare now) I installed VAPEX 2900mAh NI-MH rechargeables, these revived the settings internal battery and have so far been tested by taking 4 completes 275 picture capacity cards of pictures two cards all with flash and all with auto focus.

On the Fuji S7000 the battery capacity symbol only starts to appear when the batteries are getting low, no sign of this yet.

Well the new Energizer (Extreme, 2300Mah) batteries arrived yesterday and were charged overnight.

So far all is good.

will see how long they last and update this thread.