Battery level quickly empty

It takes 4 x AA batteries. Are the battery contacts on the compartment door, and the battery contacts in the base of the compartment clean and shiny. Usually when batteries leak, they cause oxidization on the metal.

The camera does have very specific requirements.

Batteries are required to operate the digital camera. At
first, load the batteries in the camera.
Compatible batteries
AA-size alkaline batteries (4) or AA-size Ni-MH
rechargeable batteries (4) (sold separately)
CAUTION
• Never use the following types of
batteries, as they could cause
serious problems such as battery
fluid leakage or overheating:
1. Batteries with split or peeling
outer casings
2. Combinations of different
types of batteries or new and used batteries together
• Do not use manganese, Ni-Cd or lithium batteries.
• Use the same brand and grade AA-size alkaline
batteries as those supplied with the camera.

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/54755/Fujifilm-Finepix-S8000fd.html?page=16#manual

And on the next page it shows the polarity two up, and two down. If those weren't correct, you would be on reduced power.

..

How long is it charging until the light goes from flashing red (no charge) to yellow to finally green (full charge) ? If it's not at least 2 hours, sorry I don't have my Roomba papers available, so I'm guesstimating here, it's not getting a full charge. If you can put a voltmeter on the " fully charged" battery pack, that might tell you if the charger is the problem. Clean off the metal contacts where Roomba meets the two metal contacts on the charger. Also just because a battery pack or set is new doesn't mean it's functional. I had a new Apple battery for my laptop that didn't work when I replaced an older one.

The energy for the very short, very high brightness flash is held in the flash capacitor of the photo flash lamp. This capacitor degrades if is not charged for long (years), and needs formatting, which is a slow charging and 2-3 consecutive shots. Sometime the first charging takes significantly longer than normal time, even minutes. If however the ready lamp does not come up even after some minutes, the flash lamp may have developed an internal fault, which can only fixed by a trained repairman. Another common culprit is wrong contact in the battery compartment. Batteries left in the flash for long often leak, and corrode the contact springs and leaves. These can be cleaned with soaked with vinegar cotton tabs (ear cleaning buds), followed by mechanical cleaning with pencil eraser.

It's likely not worth getting repaired, no. In the world of digital cameras, 3 years is unfortunately pretty old. If you have tried two different batteries, that rules out the battery as the culprit. It's likely that there is a circuit inside that is fried and is interrupting the flow of power both from and to the battery. My only suggestion would be to take the battery out for a couple of hours then put it back in and see if that does anything. It probably won't but it's worth a shot. It's probably time for a trip to your local electronics store for a new camera...

1. Make sure you will install a new or fully charged battery/batteries into your camera. Please use lithium batteries Ni-Mh or rechargeable Batteries (2000 M.Amp or higher). 2. Clean the battery contacts. a. Remove the battery/batteries and the memory card from your camera, then wipe the battery contacts with a soft, clean cloth. b. Reinstall the battery/batteries into your camera 3. Turn on your camera without the memory card. (If it works then it?s your memory card that is faulty)

Here are the steps for the no power problem: 1. Make sure you will install a new or fully charged battery/batteries into your camera. Please use lithium batteries Ni-Mh or rechargeable Batteries (2000 M.Amp or higher). 2. Clean the battery contacts. a. Remove the battery/batteries and the memory card from your camera, then wipe the battery contacts with a soft, clean cloth. b. Reinstall the battery/batteries into your camera 3. Turn on your camera without the memory card. (If it works then it?s your memory card that is faulty)

Here are the steps:
1. Make sure you will install a new or fully charged battery/batteries into your camera. Please use lithium batteries Ni-Mh or rechargeable Batteries (2000 M.Amp or higher).
2. Clean the battery contacts.
a. Remove the battery/batteries and the memory card from your camera, then wipe the battery contacts with a soft, clean cloth.
b. Reinstall the battery/batteries into your camera
3. Turn on your camera without the memory card.

In order to organise your repair or Trade up please Contact KODAK:
http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=14563&pq-locale=en_US&_requestid=3490

I have the same problem too. It's just started happening. The camera is about 3 years old. I've cleaned the battery contact points with an eraser and ensured there's contact. All seems fine. I only get about 5 shots out of brand new AA batteries, then a black screen with message 'change the batteries'. Can anyone help?

cudgegong said in another forum:

To resolve the annoying "change the batteries" problem. Goto menu, choose yellow menu, select
file No. reset to ON. Turn camera off and back on.

Voila fixed.

There are two conditions under which a blinking "H" will appear in the
LCD panel: (1) when the film has been loaded incorrectly or (2) when the
camera's self-test process detects an internal malfunction. If a
blinking "H" indication appears, perform the following operations in
attempt to resolve the situation:

1. Rewind and remove the film using the rewind button, then remove the
battery to clear the memory.

2. Clean the contacts at the base of the battery compartment with a
clean pencil eraser to ensure proper contact between the camera and
battery.

3. Replace the battery, power the camera back up and operate it as if
it had film loaded, pressing the shutter release.