It is an unfortunate fact of life that some of the most attractive features of digital cameras are also the heaviest users of battery power. In my experience nothing runs down the batteries quicker than shooting a movie. That doesn't mean that you should never shoot a movie with a digital camera, but be selective about when you do.
Using the LCD screen is another big power user. To be honest there isn't a simple solution to this one. Most digital cameras allow you to turn off the LCD screen and use a viewfinder for picture composition, so if you are comfortable using the viewfinder you will get more mileage from the batteries.
Heavy use of the built in flash eats into battery life. Again there is little you can do to avoid this. It is worth remembering that the range of the internal flash is limited. This doesn't mean that you can't use your digital camera to take night shots or indoor shots without the flash as there is often natural light that you can use to your advantage. Make sure the flash is turned off in these instances so that you avoid unnecessary use.
Using a motorized zoom lens runs down the batteries too, but if you need to zoom in there is nothing you can do about it.
All of the digital cameras that I have seen have a Power Saving mode. By default this is normally switched on. It causes you digital camera to shut down, although not switch off, if you haven't used it for a period of time. Make sure Power Saving is always switched on. The obvious one is to also make sure you turn off your camera when it is not in use.
[via cameras.co.uk]
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