Hi,

I have a question regarding battery chargers for for the nickel batteries used in digital cameras.

I have a Canon PowerShot S410 that I plan on bringing with me to Paris. I am in a quandry as to whether I should bring my battery charger and adaptor for the plug OR just bring 1-2 extra fully charged batteries.

I say this because a friend of mine went to Paris last June and used her battery charger with the adaptor at her hotel. Her charger ended up getting fried and her battery was useless....therefore she wasn't able to take pictures for the remainder of hre trip.

Has anyone else encountered problems with battery chargers?

Thanks so much in advance for any feedback!

Kelbert

Your friend may have plugged a 110V appliance into a source of 220V.

If your charger says "120-240V 50-60Hz" then you're okay.

If it DOESN'T, then go for Plan B.

Hi Robespierre--

Thanks for the info. I double (and triple) checked with my friend and her charger was rated 120-240V 50-60Hz AND she used an adaptor for the plug and it still fried. More than likely it was a fluke happening...maybe due to hotel wiring, etc. Who knows!! I think...just to be safe...I will bring my charger AND an extra battery.

Thank goodness the chargers are small enough nowadays to do that.

Some that say 120 and 240V have a small switch to change over. My charger(Fuji) doesn't and it worked fine.
Our travel iron had a switch and after I dropped the iron the switch moved back to 120volts and that was the end of that iron.

Just look at the print on your charger. If it's "120-240V 50-60Hz" or something similar, you'll be just fine with only an adapter plug.

Note that OEM accessories tend to work just fine, as opposed to cheap aftermarket accessories, particularly with regard to batteries.

If you want to be completely safe, take along a 220Volt - 110Volt converter, with an adaptor plug. You can buy them in any luggage store, also Best Buy, Radioi Shack, etc.. This way your charger will be plugged into a 110Volt outlet. Besides,the converter comes handy for other things, such as having a night light in your bathroom, etc.

Take both. You can recharge the battery while you sleep, but if it exhausts while you are out on the town, you don't want to have to go back to your lodgings and spend time recharging, when you can just plop in a new battery.

We have the same camera. We just charged every night as needed. Be sure to get the proper charger. As long as you shut off the camera the battery should last a couple of days.

I have the same camera and used the Canon charger (adapter plug only, no converter) last year in France with no problem. I just looked at the back of the charger and it is clearly marked for dual voltage, as are most chargers, no switch involved.

Thanks all for easing my mind! Much appreciated.

I spoke with my friend this morning...her charger was dual voltage...but it is about 5-6 years old. It was probably on it's last leg anyway and would have fried here at home.

I'm bringing the charger and one extra battery.

Kelbert