Trouble with battery capacity

[cjn]

I'm having to change the batteries every 50 pictures. Tried cleaning out battery canal with 3M cleaner to no avail.

 

[nukemaster]

Some cameras are just very hard on batteries(it almost seemed like my old Kodak back in the day got worse, but I think by rechargeable batteries had been used for too long).

You may try turning off the screen if you have a view finder as this can extend battery life.

Lithium batteries may be another option for you.

 

[Pinhedd]

I'm having to change the batteries every 50 pictures. Tried cleaning out battery canal with 3M cleaner to no avail.

Flashes are extremely hard on batteries, so they will naturally drain them quite quickly. Alkaline and Nickel-Cadmium batteries aren't the best suited batteries for this job, and rechargeable variants will lose their capacity quite quickly compared to lithium based batteries.

There are AA/AAA batteries designed specifically for digital cameras, get your hands on those.