Hi Jack,
I had exactly the same problem,when I tried to take a shot the thing would shut down, or when I tried to select a function eg macro it would shut down.
I found the answer by luck really, you need to set the battery type in the setup menu to match the type you are using, there are 2 choices, Alkaline and NiMH, I think the default is Nimh, I was trying to use old sets of alkaline batteries I'd got and blaming them, I even bought a new set but I was still suspicious of them, I decided to charge up a set of NiMH I had and after that all was well.
Goto the SETUP menu, scroll down to BATTERY TYPE, navigate right and select as required,then exit the menu, hope this works for you.
Brian, June 2008