I've tried to search around on the forums, and couldn't find a good answer to this, so here goes.

I'm going to be doing some hiking/biking in Latin America and would like a camera that takes AA's so that I don't have to worry about needing to recharge a proprietary lithium battery in the middle of nowhere where hotels may not even have electricity (read: Bolivia). I used to have a Canon A590 which I was very happy with until it died in the southern UT desert. I'd like another, but they've since discontinued this and any equivalents aren't nearly as good.

What I'd love?: AAs, wide angle, 4xish zoom.

Thought I'd found the answer in the form of the Panasonic Lumix LZ10, but all reviews seem to say that the image quality is garbage. So sad.

Any help would be phenomenal.

I had a Nikon L15 for a while. They should still be out there although I think they might have updated to an L18 or something like that. It uses 2 AA batteries.

What was it about you A590 that you don't like in its successors? The Canon A2000 and the A1100 are pretty good cameras, and seem to meet your specifications with the exception of the wide angle lens.

Don't know if you're interested in an dSLR, but the Pentax K2000 will take AAs and it's very reasonably priced (for a dSLR). Bigger and heavier, but more flexibility in lenses and better photo quality. The kit 18mm-55mm lens would have a 3X zoom factor and zoom from decent wide angle to mild telephoto. Here's a review: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/pentaxk2000/
You can also check out their reviews of P&S cameras. Another good camera site would be cameralabs.com . Hope you find what you're looking for.

Canon makes several cameras that still use AAs.

The Canon PowerShot SX20-IS may be more camera than you are looking for, but it is a 12mp camera that uses 4xAAs, has a 28-560mm 20X zoom and weighs around 19oz.

Smaller Canon's that don't have the wide-angle lens, but that use 2xAAs, include the A1100-IS, A2000-IS, Powershot E1, and the new A480 (cheapest model).

The best place I know of to do some of your own research is Imaging Resource ( http://imaging-resource.com/ )

They have a "compare models" feature on the left side-nav that will allow you to do a pretty in-depth search, and the reviews there are the best of any site on the Web. They don't review every camera made, but they do the best job.

Edited by timalan on 11/05/2009 14:40:33 MST.

Pentax has a new DSLR model the K-x. It uses AA batteries.

Kodak has the Z1485IS a 14mp ,5x zoom (35-175mm) . It has a largish 1/1.72" sensor , so possibly decent in low light.(2xAA)
http://www.letsgodigital.org/en/20192/kodak-z1485is/
Franco

Tim Wrote:

> Imaging Resource .. have a "compare models" feature on the left side-nav

Allows you to really compare two cameras using the resolution targets too. Pretty pics of girls faces are one thing; sharp B&W edges and resolution tapers are far more revealing though. Very revealing.

Cheers

If you're into photograhy, check out the Canon SX110 IS.

10.5 oz. w/ batteries loaded and memory card.

-Allows shooting in full Manual, Av and Tv.
-Great screen
-Tripod mount
-Takes AAs.
-10x optical zoom 36mm - 360mm (35mm equiv.)
-f2.8 - f4.3
-Very low price
-Canon image quality (keep in mind this is still a small sensor camera, don't expect DSLR quality but great nonetheless)

I haven't done a bunch of research but this seems to be a very nice option for lightweight backpacking. Especially for a thru-hiker. You can buy AA alkalines anywhere or have LSD NiMHs drop shipped to you through your trip and completely eliminate the need, time and problem of finding a spot to recharge batteries.

If your a GPS user, backup batteries become dual purpose.