Methinks you really wouldn't Want Canon to shrink-wrap a four-pack and charge you for its proprietary shape. Wouldja? The $ competition is now so fierce, they leave it up to owner to pick /pay-for whatever power density appeals. Throw-away primary cells only for someone who uses it 3x a year. (And for first time: the NiMH can supply more surge current than fresh Alkalines! Amazing to us old time battery wonks.)

Don't know what the latest A-A NiMH capacity is - but should be at about Three Ampere!-hours by now. That's 6x the 525 mAH of the Nicads - for all those years. Chargers with interesting capabilities + cells are surely everywhere on the Sceptered - as here. (And if you settle for last-week's model (10% less capacity?) you may be able to steal the cells.

Note that the NiMHs hold that charge quite longer than Nicad (lower internal leakage.) I have 2 ~ 2000 mAH ones in my (intentionally stark) A-510, also with a plethora of fiddly bits to massage: or Not, if in a hurry to catch that Fatherland Security squad with the cattle prods and big grins.

Hint: don't use the ultra-fast charge rate unless you rilly Need-to, as during some event - it will reduce #-total-cycles.

I wouldn't mind the image stabilisation, at all.. Unclear if the low-light noise problem is solved (or even soluble) with the huge arrays. Anyway - love the apparent-quality of my Canon, too. Inconceivable package/features , a mere 10 years ago -- soon to be featured in a front-tooth implant:

open mouth, think 'click' - there's your pic.
d/l via the wrist-installed cable connector. Or via your RF ID implant.