Battery question

New_Zealand

New_Zealand

New member
Do you recharge your batteries after a shoot when you get ready to store them until the next shoot or do you just leave them like they are?
 
I used to like throwing them on the charger right away after getting home and starting to unload and reorganize gear and import footage.

Any theoretical input on if it's good to do it one way over another doesn't matter much in real life as most people will sell the cameras and batteries before ever using them to the end of their cycles.

So I think it's just easier to get them all charged ASAP so you don't forget and/or you're ready in case a last minute shoot comes up.
 
It depends on what kind of battery it is. Lead acid batteries want to be kept charged and will have a shorter life if they are left in a discharged state. Meanwhile, li-ion battery life will decline most rapidly if kept charged at 100%. Read up on ideal charging practices for the type of battery you are using.
 
And it depends on the charger, too. Most 'big boy' chargers for bricks are designed to keep the batteries on "indefinitely" and have special charging algorithms/routines for different chemistries. Also, a lot(most?) newer bricks will go into a sleep/suspend state if not used or moved for a few days so that they won't self-discharge as rapidly(and some will let you manually put them into that state).



NorBro said:
I used to like throwing them on the charger right away after getting home and starting to unload and reorganize gear and import footage.

Any theoretical input on if it's good to do it one way over another doesn't matter much in real life as most people will sell the cameras and batteries before ever using them to the end of their cycles.

So I think it's just easier to get them all charged ASAP so you don't forget and/or you're ready in case a last minute shoot comes up.
Click to expand...

You may need to qualify that with the type/level of cameras and batteries you're referring to. A mirrorless or 'couple thousand dollar' camcorder, possibly. Big boy cams and bricks, not so much. The cameras may be in service for the better part of a decade or longer(one of my P2 Vari's just hit 10 years a month or so ago) and the batteries for their full useful service life(until they are no longer reliable- used to be ~three years for HyTrons[nickel metal hydride], but I'm getting WAY longer out of my Li-ions, at least 2x-3x longer in a lot of cases).
 
Those big gold/v mount batteries are the only ones that shouldn't be stored at 100%. Like others have said any other normal camera battery will most likely out last the camera. The standard practice is to full recharge them after every job to avoid forgetting to do so and showing up to a job...
 
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