Why do cameras use proprietary batteries?

Question

Looking at the battery for my Fuji x100s: $35 for an 1800 mAhr battery. Two AA (Eneloop, or any equivalent) rechargeable batteries would cost a total of about $5, have more capacity, wouldn't make the camera any bigger, and would provide a lot more options while traveling. They'd run at 3V instead of 3.6V, but that's probably more of a coincidence than an impossible technical hurdle - there have been cameras that run on AAs in the past.

So what's the argument in favor of these proprietary batteries?

Edit:

Many answers and comments are casually saying that lithium batteries recycle the flash faster, and so on. Please substantiate your claims. Here are two references demonstrating that Nickel Metal Hydride (Eneloops, etc.) recycle the flash the fastest by far, the total opposite of what you are claiming:

http://www.slrlounge.com/the-best-aa-battery-for-flash-the-ultimate-practical-review-of-aa-batteries-for-photography

http://www.scantips.com/lights/flashbasics1e.html

Edit 2:

Seems like form factor is the leading legitimate reason (though for cameras aren't tiny, I don't see how this is a big deal), but the two things mentioned the most are Profit and Lithium-Is-Just-Better. I think this question can only be answered with another question, which is, if those two things are true, Why do Flashes not use Proprietary Batteries?

Answer 1

Although only the manufacturers themselves know for sure and there could be different reasons from one manufacturer to the next there are two obvious possibilities that receive most of the attention from the users of cameras and their proprietary batteries.

Profit. Limiting the amount of competition in the marketplace by not using standard, off the shelf batteries means the camera manufacturers can charge more for the proprietary batteries that fit their cameras. Even though third party batteries are usually available, the market tends to look down on them more than they would if something with the name Energizer or Ray-O-Vac was printed on the side. In some cases third party batteries are superior to the OEM batteries, but the lack of brand name recognition scares many buyers away.

Increased capability. Many cameras can communicate with the proprietary batteries. This allows them to identify each unique battery and tell the camera such things as how many shots since the battery was at 100%, the power level of each battery in your collection when it was last inside the camera, the current charge state of each battery in the camera, and the recharge performance of each battery. Beyond communicating with the camera, different chemistry allows different batteries to discharge at different rates and with varying amounts of endurance. A proprietary design can be designed to meet the optimal needs of the camera design in a way than a standardized off the shelf battery may not.

In reality the reason manufacturers use proprietary batteries is probably some of both of the above.

Answer 2

Partially functionality and partially profit. With my Canon 5D Mark iii, I use a battery grip. The battery grip provides two power options. One, I can use 2 of the typical Canon proprietary battery packs in parallel or I can use 6 AA batteries that take up roughly the same amount of space.

When I use the AA batteries, the camera performance suffers significantly as power is less readily available due to the difference in the type of power provided by the batteries. This results in lower drive speeds for continuous shooting. Additionally, advanced functionality, such as tracking shutter counts on the battery and power level since the battery was last in the camera are not possible since the batteries themselves do not report their identity to the camera.

Now, as to why the batteries cost so much, third parties are able to produce batteries that are compatible for far cheaper, so clearly their is a significant mark up on the batteries, so profitability is also a factor, but performance is also. (Note that the cheapest third party batteries often aren't as good quality as the name brand, but there are still quality third party batteries that are comparable for less than the name brand cost generally.)

Answer 3

The battery being 3.6 gives it away. It is a lithium battery. Lithium batteries are dangerous, they can explode if not charged correctly or protected from physical damage properly. You don't commonly get AA sized lithium rechargeable cells either, they tend to be a little larger to accommodate protection circuits.

In order to allow the use of high capacity lithium cells, and to shop said cells with the product, they can't just allow you to throw in anything you like. The regulations are pretty strict, unfortunately. I suppose they could use NiMH cells instead, but in a camera where high currents are required to re-charge the flash they are less suitable.

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As for the NiMH vs. lithium, lithium cell can provide far more current. Sanyo don't give a maximum discharge rate for Eneloops, rather a maximum temperature, but their datasheet gives 4000mAh (2C) as the upper limit of testing. A cheap lithium cell can provide 14C or more: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?384874-Test-Review-of-Efest-IMR18650-2500mAh-(Purple)-2014

You are looking at over 100W from a single cell. Especially for an efficient LED flash you don't even need a big capacitor and virtually zero cycle time. This extremely high discharge rate is also one of the things that makes lithium so dangerous.

Answer 4

They are not more expensive just because they are proprietary. They use a different technology which performs better with the flash's large bursts. Lithium-Ion as opposed to Ni-Cad or Ni-MH. You can get non-proprietary Li-Ion batteries specifically for cameras.

Answer 5

It's the same reasons why someone would take over a small country: control and power :)

Control:

• A manufacturer can achieve their own custom compromise between size and capacity.
• They can tailor the size and shape of the battery to the camera casing.
• They can achieve an extremely high reliability rate and consistent capacity.

This last point is crucial. AA batteries have earned a bad reputation lately because their performance can vary greatly between brands. Lots of people skimped and bought AA batteries which were too poor and found their camera's battery-life much shorter than advertised. There were a huge number of complaints regarding this, particularly that in some locations, good quality cells are hard to come by.

In interesting case study is to look at the evolution of Pentax DSLRs. The K-x was the last DSLR by any manufacturer to use AA batteries exclusively. it managed 1100 shots-per-charge officially. Most people got much less. Pentax then followed with the K-r which took either 4 AAs or 1 Lithium-Ion. They shipped it with AAs which gave good battery-life but once they were replaced, users got less consistent results. A year later, Pentax introduced the K-30 which also took both type of batteries. This time, they shipped it with a Lithium-Ion battery. It costs them more to do so because when a proprietary battery is included, the manufacturer also includes a charger. With AAs, chargers are almost never included.

Power:

Lithium-Ion batteries can output higher voltage which lets them run processors and image-sensors at a higher performance.

They can charge however much they want for additional batteries. Same for the charger. Customers are most-likely to return to the original manufacturer for additional batteries.

Answer 6

If you're talking about manufacturer-specific batteries (excluding third-party ones), then I can think of at least one exception: Ricoh is using the same battery in their GR/GRD/GXR series as Sigma's DP Merrills.

If you're talking about the different-than-AA physical sizes, then I think it really boils down to:

• Form factor (those slimmer-than-AA point-and-shoot cameras)
• Capacity
• 'Smarter' batteries that can better interface with the camera to report battery usage

Here's an example for the first two points: Ricoh's GRD series supports the use of 2x AAA batteries as a 'back-up' source (think < 30 shots), somewhat amazingly they have chosen a battery the height of AAA batteries to enable this neat trick. When the GR with its APS-C-sized sensor came out, this feature was dropped most likely due to the extra power draw that a pair of AAAs can't provide.

Also, there are still some contemporary cameras that supports the use of AA batteries, the Pentax K-500 and multiple battery holders for DSLRs' vertical grips come to mind.

Answer 7

Most of these answers here so far have avoided answering the question. One person alluded to the answer, greed! There is no reason whatsoever why the camera manufacturers couldn't come up with a standardized specification for a smart battery listing all their specific requirements, including a general size, and then put the specification out there for implementation. Yes, yes I realize that there are different sized cameras but what I'm talking about are batteries developed for each different size range of camera, especially with the SLR's that within each range the cameras are all of a similar shape and size.

Providing a hardware/software API the manufacturers could get their battery time remaining, charge time remaining, charging statistics or whatever and we the public could get the generic battery that would perform the same as that delivered with the camera at a price that wasn't exploitive. No other reason that it isn't done except for the greed. Same thing would apply to the required charger. Just like most of the phone manufacturers have gone to a standardized micro USB charging connection.

Answer 8

NiCd and NiMH batteries suffer from a serious issue called memory effect. This renders battery capacity much more worse after recharging than Li-Ion batteries. To prevent this, you have to exhaust the battery before recharging, which is not expected in most situations except in some professional environments.

For example when you're going on a trip and you don't use all the battery capacity in a day, would you recharge the battery right that night to prepare for the next day's shots, or wait until tomorrow when it loses all its energy during shooting and don't have any shops around or time to recharge or buy replacement batteries? Normal users don't like to waste money for another pair of rechargeable batteries because they usually don't take so many photos as professional photographers.

Answer 9

I think the Profit reason is without merit - See Why do Flashes not use Proprietary Batteries?. We also have no scientific reference explaining why proprietary lithiums would outperform AA lithiums or AA NiMh in any way, but we do have anecdotal evidence that they provide for a snappier/more responsive camera.

Also, for small cameras especially, the form factor can be improved with proprietary batteries.

So mainly, it's because manufacturers place a greater weight of importance on form factor and perhaps on some sort of voltage control/performance factor that we suspect might be present but don't fully understand. While I'd prefer a slightly larger camera using cost-effective and ubiquitous AAs, manufacturers simply disagree with me for the most part.

Answer 10

Additionally, custom batteries can allow the manufacturer to create a battery in a custom shape and/or size that may not be available using commodity cells (AA, AAA, etc.)

Lithium batteries typically have a higher change density than NiMH and NiCad. All other things being equal, that means a Lithium battery can be smaller than an equivalent NiMH/NiCad.

Edit:
Other things to consider:

• Convenience - Some customers prefer the convenience of swapping a single battery over multiple commodity cells. Fewer items to chase around the bottom of one's purse, floorboard, etc.

• Performance - Cell performance does vary, even among the same type. If one cell is slightly weaker than the others, it will affect the performance of entire battery. Manufacturers may use "balanced" cells in a custom pack to ensure higher performance.

• Customer experience - Camera manufacturers are keenly aware that not all of their customers are battery gurus. When selling 10,000+ cameras, you're gonna get a non-zero number of people putting in a random mix of batteries (brands, chemistries, charge levels) and being disappointed when the camera fails. This results in customer-support calls (read: more costs) as well as possible bad customer reviews.

Answer 11

If it is important to actually maintain a 3.6 voltage, and I have no idea if it is or not, then using AA batteries can be problematic.

Alkaline AA batteries are 1.5V when they leave the factory, but they quickly drop after use.

Rechargable NiMH AA batteries, such as the Sanyo Eneloop, operate at only 1.2V, and thus 3 batteries would be required. These, however, maintain their voltage even after heavy use*.

So allowing the consumer to use any type AA battery, makes very little guarantees about what kind voltage the camera can operate under. By using proprietary battery types, the camera manufacturer can get better assurance that the battery meets the required needs.

* One reason why NiMH batteries are better for speedlites than alkaline batteries.