123A batteries dead, camera won't work?

[geckophoto]

I had my new S2 for 3 weeks now and went to use it yesterday and it would not turn on...thought it was the AA nicads, put new AA batteries in, no go..put on the A/C adapter, no go, called the camera store, Cameta Camera and they said to send it back for a new camera to them! Wow, good service, then while still looking at the problem, it took out the 123A's and it started to work! Put in new batteries and it's fine!

If the 123A's are DEAD, and IN the camera, it does not work no matter what, take them out, it turns on fine, put in new 123A's and it's fine.

Is this normal or should I send it back for a new one???? Used the flash for about 30 images is all with the original batteries that came with it. How long do they normally last? Just wondering! I got total 350 frames shot so far on it...

[Swampy]

This is normal for the camera. If either or both sets of batteries die, the camera will not turn on. You can find more about the batteries posted around here.

The camera will work with just the AA's with the exception of the flash, as long as the 123's are out of the camera. The camera will not work at all without the AA's though. The 123's handle everything except photo processing normally, but when removed, the AA's will handle everything except the flash.

The 123's lifespan will vary greatly depending on what you're doing with the camera. I set my S2 up once on a tripod with the camera shooting software to remote control it with the flash on and the batteries only lasted about 3 hours, but the camera was on straight through taking about 40 pictures. On the other hand, the set of 123's I have in my camera now have been in there for a week and have about 150 pictures on them so far, but none of them were taken with the flash and it was almost all turn on, aim, shoot, turn off with the exception of a 40 minute stint where I had the camera on for that time period snapping about 20 pictures. The auto focus works from the 123's normally as well, so if you're doing a lot of aiming and auto focusing, this will discharge them quickly as well.

Bryan