Canon PowerShot G9

[Al]

I would go with the Canon Battery.  I bought a generic for my G6 and it did not perform nearly as well as the factory battery, it failed prematurely and I threw it away.  The factory battery for the G9 has good life and I haven't had the need to buy a 2nd battery . . . yet.

Al

[jeffblaylock]

I took three Canon batteries to Yosemite and an Xtrapower SLR battery re-charger, which was good for five additional charges of the batteries. I ended up using the equivalent of 6 battery charges during 16 days of hiking and exploring Yosemite and the Bay Area. Took 1,500 photos and 10 movies.

I agree with Al. I wouldn't skimp on the batteries just to save a few bucks.

[sleepy]

where'd you power up the charger?  has anyone had luck with a solar charger?

[dkerr24]

I received my generic batteries for the G9 from BlueNook.com today.  The plain white boxes say "Wasabi Power" along with the now-common gold 'Made in China' oval label.  The batteries inside are stamped 1700mAh... I'll be a bit skeptical if they provide over twice the battery life as the OEM battery.  Dropped them into the G9 to see if they had any charge (and to make sure they fit properly), amazingly all 3 show a full charge on the battery meter.

Purchased 3 of them for $53 with shipping.

[jeffblaylock]

where'd you power up the charger?  has anyone had luck with a solar charger?

Powered it up at home, then again at the Yosemite Lodge 2 weeks later. The solar chargers are getting better, lighter, and cheaper. I'm going to wait for the technology to advance a couple more generations before I take the plunge.

[dkerr24]

And the ante just got upped...  Canon recently introduced the G10...

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0809/08091702canon_g10.asp

[01ACRViper]

i have had only great experiences with generic batteries for my 300d. i bought 2 OEM batteries when i got the camera, they didn't hold a charge a year later. i now have 3 pairs of generics (dual battery slots) and they last forever. not bad for $4 a pop.

[Al]

The new G10 crams in a few more megapixels but what's to like is the wider angle lens on the low end of the zoom.  But since I have a G9, it doesn't meet my technology upgrade requirement of twice as much bang as what I already have for the same price or less.  My next camera purchase will probably be a SLR with the G9 used when I'm traveling, need a relatively compact camera and don't want to lug the SLR.

Al

[dkerr24]

I agree with you, Al.  I haven't even broken in my G9 with a trip to the Grand Canyon or Big Bend yet.  I'm heading out to the Grand Canyon on Nov 14th for a weeklong backpacking trip to Phantom Ranch and Clear Creek.  Hope the clear, dry weather holds out so I can get some great shots with the G9. 

I'll be bringing 3 spare battery packs, two 8gb SD cards, one 4gb SD card.  That should cover about any amount of shooting I plan to do.  I'll probably shoot in RAW mode until I start running low on card space, then switch to JPG.