Digital photography has been a fantastic development, particularly for the amateur photographer. One of the biggest benefits of many digital cameras is that rather than using a special battery, typically only available from photography suppliers at great cost, your camera now comes with a rechargeable battery pack.



However, whilst it's easy enough to get your camera up and running again, there are ways to ensure your rechargeable camera battery not only keeps going for longer between charges, but also has a long life span.

Right from the start it is wisest to follow the instructions given. When you first charge up the battery, it is most important that you leave it on charge for the time specified. It's hard to be patient when you have a new gadget that you're longing to use. But sit tight and let it charge for the correct amount of time. This initial charge can act as a catalyst in switching on the battery's power - leave it for less and you could end up with a shorter battery life.

However, don't worry about the old 'battery memory' chestnut. It wasn't a myth, but it only applied to the old rechargeable Nickel-Cadmium (or Ni-Cad) batteries which suffered from crystal formation during charging and use. The crystals eventually block the battery from charging or discharging, but this is not an issue with the Lithium batteries that come as standard in cameras these days.

The old advice was to fully discharge your battery before charging, but that doesn't apply to the Lithium battery. In fact, charging little and often is a good idea. Unless you use your camera every day, you might not need to charge it that often, but it would be crazy to let it die mid-shot before you remember. Not only will you probably lose the shot you just took, but you'll also be stuck without a useable camera until you've given it a good 8 hours of charge at home.

Remember that shooting video uses up more power (and memory) than still photography, so if you're about to film a special event ensure your power is topped up and your memory is high.

If you find your camera frequently runs out of juice, you might want to tweak the settings. A simple change such as using power-save mode can be a big energy saver. Your LCD display uses a lot of power, so having a short shot-preview cuts power use, as does minimising the time you spend scrolling through shots or replaying videos. The settings to make these changes should be easy to find in your camera's menu, and if not, dig out the manual.

If you've got a duff battery - and it happens even with the best of brands - replacements can be bought online or in photography shops. There's no need to discard a good camera simply because the battery is not offering you maximum use. Many reputable photography suppliers can even offer you reliable compatible camera batteries at a fraction of the cost of the original item. These can be great use as a back up, although many people report getting longer use out of the compatibles than they did from the real thing!

Who knows what camera manufacturers are up to with that one - maybe they hope you'll upgrade your camera when the battery dies. Maybe they pour all their research money into the cameras themselves and neglect the power pack.

Whatever the case, there's no need to ditch your favourite camera just because you neglected to care for the battery, or the battery is letting you down. Just make sure you look after your new battery to get good value for your money.