One thing that nags the back of my mind is battery power, though.
Currently, digital cameras are not cheap enough that people will happily
replace their camera in 7 years when you can't get the proprietary LION
battery that it came with, and I can't see the companies having any reason
to sell batteries for older cameras instead of selling newer cameras.
You can get batteries for most older film cameras (they only took a
couple of kinds), even the oddballs like the spotmatic, and of course most real
cameras don't need batteries anyway.
AFAIK, none of the digital P&S cameras we sell at Wally World require a proprietary battery. Most use AA's with the exception of Samsung, who offers a rechargeable CR-V3 as an option
Personally, I've made sure I have a way to power all my DSLRs when I can't get batteries for them any more. Kudos to Pentax for the use of a AA-size battery compartment in the *istD, although I'd love to see a proprietary high-capacity LION battery that fits where the batteries go.
I use the Ray-O-Vac 15 minute rechargeble 2000mah AA's in my istD and have been very pleased with the results.
Bill
