Hello TomD:
Thank you for your information on the use of NiMH R2 batteries. As all of us - yes we always have some batteries on the charger ready to go. But, it is great to hear that the claims by Panasonic about long time storability - 6 months with only 20% capacity loss - are actually correct.
We have 4 pretty active cameras in the family - 2 full-sized digitals and two small ones. My wife is the real photographer in the team - I am only capable of the "yes, I was there" pictures (I also take technical pictures on boats - Boat Electrics is my business). Unfortunately, in time even the very good standard NiMH batteries are found in the charger with greatly reduced capacity - take three to four pictures and the camera says: 'not enough for me, bye!'. So the R2s will solve that problem for us!
Again, thank you for your input.
dielan123