I remember when the first consumer digital cameras were becoming popular around 1997. They used AA batteries, and you got maybe 30 - 40 images for a alkaline 4 battery set. You could get twice that with lithium batteries, but they were 10X the cost.
After a year or so, battery life in new models increased by a factor of two, and by 2000, it was no longer a issue. I much prefer AA batteries for point and shoot cameras, but for DSLR's, I get along ok with li-on. DSLR's just consume too much power to make AA's practical. I still have my Nikon CP-990, it uses AA's, which makes it practical to keep, since buying new li-on batteries every few years would be a issue, and eventually, they would no longer be made.