charging camera batterys

[jillR]

hi peeps

just a couple of questions.....

when do you recharge a camera battery, when its flat?

or is it best not to let them go flat before recharging.

im thinking of buying a spare battery for my canon 1000d, will a cheeper non canon battery do as good

a job or is it best to buy the proper canon one?

jill

[Antares_9]

I know bugger all about cameras Jill but I do know a little about battery technology and the answer to your question will be dependant on the type of battery, NiCads for instance are better charged from their almost discharged state whereas Li Ion ones will be OK to charge whatever state of charge they are already in so have a look and see which they are.

Cannon do not make batteries so a good make of aftermarket one will be as good as the origonal.

[Guest]

Jill,

David is correct about 'Canon' not making batteries, but they certainly charge for having their name on them.

I use the original 'Canon' batteries that came with the camera, along with a pair of 'Generic's' and have found there to be no difference - except of course for the price.

Mine were off Ebay, from China, as is the usual for cheapie stuff and have never had a problem with them in 3 years of use.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Clive.

[mbird]

Hi Jill

I echo all the foregoing, and would also confirm that your battery will be a Lithium Ion type. These do not suffer from the "memory" as David says and so you can charge them at any state. You also do not have to wait for them to be fully charged before you take them off the charger, although that will obviously reduce the amount of shots you can take.

[jillR]

thanks peeps

that info is really helpful

jill

[goodall_m1]

Jill

You may find www.7dayshop.com a good source for "generic" batteries

(I havent checked for your particular battery)

I have used them for most of my rechargables and chargers, and also for memory cards and readers.

They ship from Jersey and hence no vat if price of a unit is < £18.

If your order comes to > £18 they just split it into several packages.

Martin

[goodall_m1]

Jill

Did a little more research and I think that this one is what you are after (£4.99 inc postage or less if you buy more than 1)

(they only mention the Canon EOS 450D but Amazon show the LP-E5 as the battery for the 1000d as well)

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product ... _id=104226

I did note in their reviews that it has a lower power rating than the "offical" Canon one...

Two reviews:

"It works perfectly as a backup to the original cannon battery and gives 75% of the power for 1/8th of the price of a canon made one. im going camping for a week and im going to stock up on these before i go. "

"For £5+ this is excellent value. I have the Canon 450D and it works without any problem. There is a difference in the mAh though, this replacement is only rated at 800 mAh where the Canon battery supplied with the camera is 1030mAh. Other than that the batteries are identical."

[jillR]

thanks martin

that sounds well good

jill

[mjt]

Jill,

Your Canon 1000D will have a Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) battery. In answer to your query regarding charging and whether to fully discharge it you might like to have a look at this entry from Wikipedia:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_ion_battery#Guidelines_for_prolonging_Li-ion_battery_life

[jillR]

hi mark

interesting stuff

so keep it cool and at half charge for long periods of storage

jill

[mbird]

Flippin eck Martin, that's a good link

I've just bought 2 batteries from there for my EOS 50D, total price including postage £12.78. Proper Canon price £50 each!

The odd thing is, the genuine Canon ones are 1390mAh, whereas these generic ones are 1500mAh so should last even longer! It'll be interesting to see just how good they are

[Guest]

Flippin eck Martin, that's a good link

You hadn't heard of 7dayshop?

All my memory and batteries have come from there and have done for years - 4 spares for my compact! It's not just that either; negative holders, films (in the olden days), memory card readers and holders, lens cleaning stuff - you name it most of the peripheral photographic stuff I have bought for the last 8 years or so has come from there.

[mjt]

hi [mark ]

so keep it cool and at half charge for long periods of storage

Yes. I didn't realise that their capacity reduces quicker if stored fully charged until I read that entry. Up 'til now that's how I've tended to store them in my camera, camcorders and laptop but it looks like I'll have to change the habit of a lifetime now.

[jillR]

hi mike

hi mark

interesting stuff

so keep it cool and at half charge for long periods of storage

jill

sorry for calling you mark

jill

[goodall_m1]

Flippin eck Martin, that's a good link :

And Simon knew all about it and never let you into the secret!

One thing that I did pick up from 7dayshop could be useful for anyone who needs to charge batteries on the move but doesn't have an inverter on their boat, or wants to charge up when out in the car for the day.

They do a mini 75W 12--->240V inverter that will plug into a "cigarette lighter" socket,

and let you run a mains charger for £15.49 inc postage.

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product ... s_id=99827

Martin

(So now I can actually take my mains charger for the camcorder etc when I am expecting to be away from shorepower for some time. No more need to ask the pub or restaurant if they will plug my charger in, and no more waking up to the realisation that my charger is still in the restaurant because I forgot to ask for it back when I left...(and the restaurant in question was over a mile from the boat, I rushed back up there only to be told by the owner "Oh yes I found it this morning when I started cleaning and told my husband to take it down to the harbour for you!" )

[Guest]

And Simon knew all about it and never let you into the secret!

He never asked.