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Photo Forum / Digital Photography / Point & Shoot Cameras / November 2004Battery life.
I cross posted this to the 4 digital groups as it pertains to all. It's been about 2 1/2 years since I went digital, first with the Oly E20-N and now the Nikon D-70. I started out with two sets of AA NiMH batteries and added a third. One set consisted of 8 2000 MAh batteries, one set of 4 1800 MAh, batteries and one set of 4 1850 MAh batteries. One of the early 2000 MAh batteries failed early on. Not too long ago a second failed. In the last week I had one fail in each of the other two batches. They were heavily used at first, but since the D-70 have received only occasional use. They have been conditioned twice in the last year. I didn't name any brands as the failures seem to be pretty well distributed between on and off brands. Considering the cost of NiMH batteries, I think I ended up with reasonable life out of them. Likewise the rechargeable Lithiums are rated with both a cycle life and calendar life. The proprietary battery with the D-70 seems to have tremendous capacity, or longevity, but it's life is still rated in the neighborhood of two years. Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member) (N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair) www.rogerhalstead.com . > I cross posted this to the 4 digital groups as it pertains to all. > [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > www.rogerhalstead.com > . Interesting. I've yet to find a digicam that draws much less than ½ amp with the display on. Even my tiny Dimage-X pulls 400+ mA, but only about 6 mA with the display off, so the current delivering ability of a battery of whatever type is all important. I've found the big battery killer is overcharging. The practice of "topping up" a full battery before a shooting session can be B A D ! Most chargers doing this won't sense an overcharge before some electrolyte is destroyed, leading to a battery with apparent full capacity, but reduced current ability. Of course charging from flat allows the better chargers to predict the end point and stop in time. I agree that the cost of NiMH cells is low enough that the life is acceptable, provided you have a spare set for when the inevitable happens and a fully charged set fails in camera. The Lithium ion type can have exactly the same vulnerabilities, and they are expensive > I cross posted this to the 4 digital groups as it pertains to all. > [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > I didn't name any brands as the failures seem to be pretty well > distributed between on and off brands. About two years with moderate to high use has been my experience with Li-ion batteries for Canon's D60 and 10D. Bob Shomler www.shomler.com > Considering the cost of NiMH batteries, I think I ended up with > reasonable life out of them. [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > www.rogerhalstead.com > . >I cross posted this to the 4 digital groups as it pertains to all. > [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > have tremendous capacity, or longevity, but it's life is still rated > in the neighborhood of two years. ---- The great 'dedicated' battery rip-off is why I'm seriously considering the new Pentax *ist DS - uses AA's. Proprietary batteries are a curse - whether they are for laptops, video cameras, or still cameras. Full marks to Pentax for building a camera that uses an inexpensive future-proof power source. Hi all As a point of interest the guy in Jessops (Canterbury) also said that topping up was a bad idea until the batteries had been conditioned. Ths entails fully chaging then fully discahrging them 4 times. Discharge them by normal use and dont force the issue by up loading vast amounts of data to your PC - no topping up charges in this time . This is supposed to considerably extend the useful life of batteries . Keith M >I cross posted this to the 4 digital groups as it pertains to all. > [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > www.rogerhalstead.com > . Hi All: Some points about Lithium cells. Lithium cells are very different from NiCad or NiMH cells. 1- Lithium batteries have a shelf life, they will go bad wither they are used or not. How long the shelf life is depends on the manufacture and the design of the batteries. This is a good reason not to buy used or old lithium batteries. 2- Lithium batteries have a limit on of the number of times they can be completely discharged and re-charged. This is about 500 to 1000 times depending on the manufacture and the design of the cell. Un-necessarily completely discharging a Lithium battery wastes life of the battery. 3- Lithium do not have any memory effect. In fact the best way to extend the life of the cell to the maximum the self life will allow is to keep them fully charged. It is best to keep them in the charger and fully charged. Lithium batteries in the proper charger can not be over charged. 4- Charging a lithium battery in a charger not designed for that battery risks a fire. Without proper charging lithium batteries can explode or burn up.  SignatureJohn Passaneau, W3JXP State College, PA w3jxp@adelphia.net > Hi all > [quoted text clipped - 39 lines] >> www.rogerhalstead.com >> . > I cross posted this to the 4 digital groups as it pertains to all. > [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > www.rogerhalstead.com > . (Almost) everything about batteries that you want or need to know you may found on: http://www.buchmann.ca/ My 2 & 1/2 year old Lithium Ion batteries..original Canon G2 batteries, are on their last legs.... I can coax about 100 shots on a full charge..vs 300 shots when they were new. A bit irritating considering their price... Another good website about batteries is ..... http://www.batteryuniversity.com/index.htm cheers....MTB > I cross posted this to the 4 digital groups as it pertains to all. > [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > www.rogerhalstead.com > . > My 2 & 1/2 year old Lithium Ion batteries..original Canon G2 batteries, are > on their last legs.... I can coax about 100 shots on a full charge..vs 300 > shots when they were new. A bit irritating considering their price... Generally Li-on batteries last about 2 years after manufacture before they start degrading, so it sounds about normal. Unfortunately if the manufacturer of your camera didn't use a standard battery type, it may be expensive to replace the battery after the model is no longer sold. SignatureMichael Meissner email: mrmnews@the-meissners.org http://www.the-meissners.org I got lucky here... the battery used in the G6 will work in my G2, so I'll probably get one soon...a battery that is...not sure if I'll get the G6. MTB > > My 2 & 1/2 year old Lithium Ion batteries..original Canon G2 batteries, are > > on their last legs.... I can coax about 100 shots on a full charge..vs 300 [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > of your camera didn't use a standard battery type, it may be expensive to > replace the battery after the model is no longer sold. > I got lucky here... the battery used in the G6 will work in my G2, so I'll > probably get one soon...a battery that is...not sure if I'll get the G6. Canon generally tries to reuse the same battery across generations, but not every company does so. SignatureMichael Meissner email: mrmnews@the-meissners.org http://www.the-meissners.org As this thread is of general interest, it might be better being in just rec.photo.digital, rather than in the four new group. Please consider trimming the cross-posting accordingly. > As this thread is of general interest, it might be better being in just > rec.photo.digital, rather than in the four new group. Please consider > trimming the cross-posting accordingly. Wholeheartedly and enthusiastically concur and encourage others to heed David's advice. Signature-- r.p.e.35mm user resource: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm -- r.p.d.slr-systems: http://www.aliasimages.com/rpdslrsysur.htm -- [SI] gallery: http://www.pbase.com/shootin -- [SI] rulz: http://www.aliasimages.com/si/rulz.html -- e-meil: there's no such thing as a FreeLunch. |
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