So you got yourself a digital camera, but you didn’t have the funds to purchase an extra battery. Ideally, having an extra battery pack is always the best route to take, especially if you tend to go on trips where an electric outlet is not always an option. If you do not have that extra power source, however, do not fret. There are some ways by which you can extend the life of your digital camera’s battery and, hopefully, make it last till you get to the next place where you can get some juice.

Turn off the LCD screen. I know, it sounds almost sacrilegious. After all, how are you going to view the picture as soon as you get a shot? How will you be able to determine if the shot is worth keeping or not? Well, that would just have to wait till you have more power. The LCD screen is very convenient but it does eat up power like nothing else. If you’re really short on power, suck it up for a while and shove your eye into the viewfinder. It will still work!

Lessen the picture preview setting to the lowest possible period of time. If you absolutely cannot live without the LCD screen on, then you can tweak the settings of your digital camera so that you do not have to use it more than you should. Set the picture preview to the shortest time; this is usually a second. This will help extend your digital camera’s battery somehow.

Turn down the brightness of the LCD screen. Here’s another tip for people who cannot do without the LCD screen. If you must use it, then save the digital camera’s battery by making the display dimmer. This will also help your camera use up less power.

Don’t zoom in or out if you can. When you zoom in or out, the lens of your digital camera are moved physically by a motor. This also drains the digital camera’s battery, so as much as possible, stick to the standard view.

Use the autoflash feature. Another big digital camera drainer is the flash. That is why digital camera manufacturers have come up with the autoflash feature. After all, you do not really always need a flash. If there is ample lighting, this feature should stop the flash from going off, thereby saving you more battery power. You can take things one step further by totally turning the flash off if you will be spending most of your time in broad daylight anyway. This will take care of potential glitches wherein the flash still goes off despite the ample amount of light.

Don’t be (delete) trigger happy. Hate that shot? Delete. Oh I look fat in this. Delete. The ability to instantaneously delete undesirable photos is one convenience that comes with digital cameras, but did you know that deleting photos puts a lot of unnecessary strain on your digital camera’s battery? Why not put off the deleting till you get to your computer instead?

There you are – focus on taking pictures and forget the non-essentials. Your digital camera battery will last longer for it.