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For about three months I worried that whether my digicam had got damaged, if so where should I get it repaired and the cost associated with the service. It is surely going to cost lot of bucks and at the end you are not sure of the parts if changed.The problem started with the day I bought a new compact flash card. Even though Fujifilm offers a slot for CompactFlash card, it supports the XD Card as premium medium.
It is not widely used format so it is costlier than CompactFlash card. I bought it, loaded it and started using it. Within hours my camera started draining batteries like anything. I blamed on the battery quality, then checked with the manuals that said batteries drain fast with cold climate. The temperature in UAE was about 10-12 deg C at that time. So I thought due to the winter, the batteries are discharging soon.

Also I felt some foreign particles like minute sand dust had entered because the day before I went for CompactFlash card, we went to desert safari. My lens is giving some "krrk" sound while retracting. I thought I must give for service.

Now the summer had picked up here, still the battery problem continued. I was really scared because I have to use it while I am in India this May. It shouldn't cause problem when it was needed the most. I thought of approaching the Fujifilm website for technical assistance and registered with the product serial number too.

Accidentally I visited the FAQ page, where the introduction question was about Flash Cards. It said that Flash cards will keep consuming power even if the camera is switched off. As a test I removed my CF card and to much of my happiness, my camera is not battery hungry.

I feel this incident will be a lesson to all the digital camera aspirants and users, that always go for the same brand accessories. There is XD Card in Fujifilm, but no CFcard. This means that CFcard is not recommended by Fujifilm. Had I noticed it and paid extra cost towards XD card, I wouldn't have had all these problems.

I am not saying that CFcard is not good, but choose it when your camera manufacturer specifically recommends CFcard medium. I can use CFcard now but I have to remove it between the shots while the camera is switched off. Anyway a new XDcard purchasing is a must.