Kyocera - Finecam L3v and batteries

[cowboy]

Hello,
this seems like the right place to ask this.

Interested in an overall review of this camera.

Also, the original batteries (not sure what type/kind they would have been)
worked for a while, but when I priced new ones they were like $25 or something.
So I tried regular AA's but they wouldn't even get past the "low battery"
msg., they were a generic brand.

So I got rechargalble AA's and they work but even they are short lived.
And get shorter with every re-charge.

So I'm wondering if certain cameras are battery hogs, and if so, are there
certain batteries or types of, that work better.
Or, is there some adjustment I can make to the camera to conserve energy.