Why Are There No Digital Cameras That Recharge Over USB?

[Jason Dunn]

We were discussing this issue in our forums a while back: why aren't there any digital cameras that recharge their batteries over USB like we do with our phone and MP3 players? It's a hassle having to remember to bring one power adaptor for my Canon SD870, and a different one for my Nikon D300. I can charge almost every device I own other than my laptop via USB so why not my digital cameras? I emailed a contact I have at a PR agency that represents Nikon and asked them to pass my question along. My contact was careful to point out that this is not an official Nikon Canada statement, it's just a personal opinion from someone working there. Here's the response I got back:

"I believe the reason stems from the power requirement issue. What I am getting at is that the typical user wants to remove the batteries to recharge them in a "rapid" manner, which cannot be afforded by a USB type interface. A cellphone is typically required to be available for use all the time which a USB interface charging method offers conveniently. Further a cellphone does not require as much operating current at any given time than a camera requires when it is in use."

Would you be willing to not be able to use the camera when it was recharging via USB? I sure would. I wouldn't even care if it took 200% longer to recharge via USB - I usually recharge my devices over night. I'm sure there are reasons why no one has tackled this issue yet, but unless they're insurmountable, I think the camera manufacturers should be looking very seriously at this problem - it would certainly be a differentiating feature that would set apart whichever camera was able to offer it first.

[Jason Dunn]

We were discussing this issue in our forums a while back: why aren't there any digital cameras that recharge their batteries over USB like we do with our phone and MP3 players? It's a hassle having to remember to bring one power adaptor for my Canon SD870, and a different one for my Nikon D300. I can charge almost every device I own other than my laptop via USB so why not my digital cameras? I emailed a contact I have at a PR agency that represents Nikon and asked them to pass my question along. My contact was careful to point out that this is not an official Nikon Canada statement, it's just a personal opinion from someone working there. Here's the response I got back:

"I believe the reason stems from the power requirement issue. What I am getting at is that the typical user wants to remove the batteries to recharge them in a "rapid" manner, which cannot be afforded by a USB type interface. A cellphone is typically required to be available for use all the time which a USB interface charging method offers conveniently. Further a cellphone does not require as much operating current at any given time than a camera requires when it is in use."

Would you be willing to not be able to use the camera when it was recharging via USB? I sure would. I wouldn't even care if it took 200% longer to recharge via USB - I usually recharge my devices over night. I'm sure there are reasons why no one has tackled this issue yet, but unless they're insurmountable, I think the camera manufacturers should be looking very seriously at this problem - it would certainly be a differentiating feature that would set apart whichever camera was able to offer it first.

[Chris Gohlke]

Frankly, I don't like cameras that use proprietary rechargeable batteries. They can be expensive to replace and I'd want to have at least two. I really prefer cameras that use AA's and then I can recharge them on my own. Plus I never use the USB cable directly with my camera as I prefer to just pop the card into a reader, so I've never seen the need to recharge a camera via usb.

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by Chris Gohlke

I really prefer cameras that use AA's and then I can recharge them on my own.

Oh, you're one of THOSE people. I understand your reasons, but the number of cameras in the market that use AA batteries isn't a very big one - AA batteries just don't have the same size/performance ratio of dedicated lithium ion batteries. Besides which, modern P&S camera batteries last a really long time - I'm shocked at how infrequently I have to recharge my Canon P&S battery...but I'd still like to not have to carry a dedicated charger with me on vacation.

[Chris Gohlke]

But, if they go dead, you are pretty much SOL. AA's can be picked up anywhere and for the infrequently used camera, you don't have to worry about them discharging.

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by Chris Gohlke

But, if they go dead, you are pretty much SOL. AA's can be picked up anywhere and for the infrequently used camera, you don't have to worry about them discharging.

Yup, I understand that. I guess if I was on a 30 day safari and had no electricity, I'd appreciate that feature...but in all the years I've had digital cameras I've very rarely run out of power (maybe twice) - I'm usually quite proactive about keeping things charged. Do you regularly run out of power on your cameras? My brother's wife had a Nikon that ran on AA's, and it's flash recycle time was atrocious...I think that's another side effect of AA's.

[Chris Gohlke]

Both my cheapo digital that I carry all the time and my S2 IS use AA's so I never run out. The prior Canon I used had pretty crappy battery life and I had it die out on me many a time. That was when I vowed to only use AA's from then forward.

[ionen]

The iPod is an example I'd like to compare to your idea of a camera that charges over the USB - while I think there should be such thing, I cannot ignore my experience with Apple's mp3player

- it's a bummer when the battery is drained and the device becomes useless until you get to an usb port or plug.
- after a while the battery fails and it needs servicing - and this was kind of an unpleasant experience for me here in Europe

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by Chris Gohlke

The prior Canon I used had pretty crappy battery life and I had it die out on me many a time. That was when I vowed to only use AA's from then forward.

What model of Canon was it? One of the "A" series? I'm curious because I've only ever used the Powershot S series (S100, S400, SD850, SD870) or the G series (G4) and have always found them to have excellent battery life.

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by ionen

it's a bummer when the battery is drained and the device becomes useless until you get to an usb port or plug.
- after a while the battery fails and it needs servicing - and this was kind of an unpleasant experience for me here in Europe

True on both counts, but I guess for me, I have several ways of recharging USB-based devices:

1) Battery packs that will charge anything over USB
2) AC power wall units that have USB ports
3) My laptops that have USB ports
4) Some planes I fly on have USB ports for charging

And in the case of the camera, I've never seen a camera that hasn't have a removable battery, so you should never have the iPod experience with a digital camera.

Anyway, I'm not saying cameras with AA batteries are bad or anything, I'm just saying that I'd like my cameras to be able to recharge over USB like most of my other devices.

[Chris Gohlke]

Powershot S30, the battery was great for about a year, then it quit holding a charge for more than a few days and was erratic on how long it would last.

Now I do like charging over USB. In fact, I'm going to the store today to look for some of the Eneloop batteries we were discussing in the other threads and I'm going to order a USB battery charger.