good on you gus. A friend of mine does camera repairs and has done that with flash units that go on top of bodies (small flashes like Nikon SB or whatever). I do know that I would never mess around with a studio power pack too much, Ive been very very careful when Ive had cases off in the past, as there is a lot more juice in those units. Long ago I was taught to always discharge fully studio packs before unplugging heads, for the same reason-- newer packs arent the same, but the old habits stay...

as for smaller flashes (on camera ones) it is rather impressive how long a charge can be held in the capacitor or whatever it is, months and months-so you have to be wary even if something hasnt been used for a long long time.

I have a Canon PowerShot A630 that I loved. A little large, but it took 4 AA batteries. I use rechargeable ones and that worked fine. Then the dreaded "shutter won't trip" bug hit it. I took a roll of the dice and sent it to Canon for repair. $90 later, they fixed the shutter, but now the required battery power level before it shuts itself down is so high, that it's virtually useless away from home. I loved this camera especially because the batteries lasted so long. The other feature I loved was the ease of adjusting the flash output (I use just a little fill flash for many shots) and the extremely flexible settings for second curtain flash, etc.

My wife has a Nikon and I don't care nearly as much for the user interface. It's not nearly as adjustable. So I'm on the hunt for a new camera too.

Yep, silly me, I figured..."Hey, remove batteries...all is good". Lots a juice was still stored...surprised me for sure! So I did discharge the flash before putting it all back together. It was remarkably easy to get shocked with the thing disassembled!

Gus, ps-I meant Good on you that you repaired it yourself. Congrats.
glad it wasnt too big a shock.
cheers

Thanks for the response DW99 and Zeppinger. Canon is doing itself a disservice by selling the camera with sub-par AAs causing negative reviews and losing potential buyers like myself. I really liked the camera otherwise especially the bulky feel to it. I also used to own a ton of SLRs so can appreciate a solid camera.

That's a great idea: one charger and only one type of battery for all of your touring appliances!

I imagine there will be a lot of good deals next week after Christmas.
The Olympus TG-310 is the one I am leaning towards. I can let my son use the old one to capture his own memories of the trip.

BicycleCrazy, that TG 310 looks good for a cross country trip . I especially like the freeze-proof feature, alhough I wonder how the LCD screen and batteries would hold up under freezing conditions . Good luck with your trip, and be sure to share your photos .

Amazon has a set of reviews,

http://www.amazon.com/Olympus-TG-310...owViewpoints=1

Good link. Interesting that virtually all of the complaints come from people using this camera for water activities. snorkeling, etc.
Despite the manufactures claims, I would be hesitant to rely on a $170 camera for any underwater photography!
This camera is a touring godsend because I don't have to worry about dropping it or getting it wet. I have taken pictures in the rain. Previous cameras on tour took an immense amount of care and worry. It seems the slightest moisture will fry a standard digital camera. I dropped my old canon from a sitting position (fell about 2-3 feet) and it was finished.

It always seems like the waterproof/weatherproof cameras were a little better all the way around for durability. I still have a Pentax Optio 33 that runs like new.

Personally I find I prefer to go with proprietary battery cameras over AA models. The little lithium batteries are typically a fraction of the weight of a set of AA batteries. I find that I can carry multiple spare proprietary batteries of the type my cameras uses and an after market charger for the same weight as a spare set of AA batteries. If you buy the proprietary batteries from a third party vendor they are usually available pretty cheap. The original batteries may run $25-60, ut I have this far found suitable substitutes for $6-12. Also there are very light and inexpensive aftermarket chargers that work well and weigh much less than most of the chargers that usually come with the camera.

In the US I have not found it difficult to find a place to plug in often enough with one spare battery even in the more remote parts of my Trans America or my Sierras tour. If in doubt carry more than one spare.

I really like my Olympus pen e-pl1 a lot, but if I was buying an new camera for a coast to coast tour the Nikon Coolpix P7000 would be high on my list. On the other hand some of the much smaller and lighter Nikon Coolpix models are pretty amazing.

Even Rechargeable NIMH AA's? I find them pretty hardy