rechargeable batteries
I have the same problem with my Canon A40 digital and have done a little investigation on the battery problem.
A brand new AA alkaline battery is charged to about 1.6V and the camera shows them as dead at about 1.3V. Now a typical Ni-Cad only charges to 1.3V at full charge so wont do at all in the camera.
The removed batteries are perfectly usable for other applications such as remote controls or other light use applications and items which dont have voltage monitoring circuits (torches).
On the recharging of alkalines, see the link below for some advice/warning first but I am experimenting currently with a solar-panel recharger available from Maplin in Dublin (near the Jervis centre) which does revive the batteries somewhat over a few days (especially with the sunny weather we have had recently) and all at no cost to the environment. They have 2 versions of this panel (€30 and €50 approx), one which can also be used on 12V batteries, e.g. the car. The reason that this works on the alkalines (I reckon) is that the charge process is slow and on/off (day and night) so gives any harmfull gasses i.e. hydrogen, time to escape without building up. There used to be a mains recharger available previously that did something similar, i.e switching on and off the charge, which was aimed at this type of battery but I cannot find info on it now.
I still havent tried this long enough to know what kind of extra life this will give me on 1 set of batteries but will keep you informed.
Pierce.
[broken link removed]