cameras

["Bill Urmenyi" <bill@zzzzzzzzzzzzz>]

I would not buy a solar powered camera because the solar panels would have
to be very large and therefore far more inconvenient than carrying a spare
set of charged cells. If you want to have an alternative solution, how about
the clockwork digital camera? This would have the advantages of being more
compact than solar cells and would work in the dark. Clockwork torches have
been available for about seventy years and you can get clockwork radios so
why not clockwork cameras?

The reason why digital cameras with digital display viewfinders (and these
are the only ones worth having unless you only want holiday snaps) use so
much current is that they not only have to power the display but also the
imaging chip and the greater the number of pixels, the more current is
required.

If you use Nickel Metal-Hydride cells, they will last about twice as long as
the standard NiCd but you need to ensure that the camera and the charger
will accept them.

Bill Urmenyi