Quote Originally Posted by zoom-zoom View Post
Have you ever considered AA lithium? I LOATHE rechargeable batteries. They all suck. None of them have a good life expectancy unless you fully charge them frequently and don't let them fully discharge. And good luck replacing a proprietary thing like that or even finding spares/backups. I won't even buy a point-n-shoot that can't take standard batteries (I love my Canon PowerShot SX110 IS). Lithiums aren't cheap, but they last for forever and I can always buy alkalines in an emergency, since the battery size is standard. My hubby (mechanical engineer scientist geek) said lithiums are better in cold than anything else, as well.

As far as individual cameras go, I have no specific recommendations.
As far as rechargeable AA batteries go, try the newer precharged NiMH type rechargeable batteries like the Sanyo Eneloop and the Rayovac Pre-charged. They have a very low self-discharge rate and they can maintain ~50% of their charge for up to a year. Also, they don't suffer from the "memory effect" - you can let them fully discharge without harming them or reducing their capacity. {Note: To get the best performance from this type battery, you need to "condition" it. See http://www.ehow.com/how_4968516_cond...batteries.html }