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    Lithium Ion Batteries

    In all the years I have been using DSLRs, I have never found the need to carry a spare battery.

    Even when out for a full days wildlife shooting with an image stablised lens, and burst shooting.

    I should add, that this has only been with the original Canon battery.

    However, I have always topped the battery up to full charge status before going out.

    From what I have read, it appears this is not considered good practice as it will shorten the life of the battery.

    It is recommended that the battery should be allowed to discharge to the level at which recharging is necessary.

    With that in mind, it would mean going out with a partially charged battery, which without a spare, would not be a sensible move.

    So, I have, for the first time ever, bought a spare LP-E6N Canon battery, which of course fits both my 5D3 and 7D2.

    As I have never had a fully charged Canon battery let me down, and only need a single spare, I "paid through the nose" and bought a Canon original, as opposed to one of the third party options.
    Dave

    Website:- https://davesimaging.wixsite.com/mysite

    #2
    Re: Lithium Ion Batteries

    Hmmm right and wrong dave ,the old Nicad type batteries developed a memory so a full discharge was deemed necessary ,however li-on do not developed a memory at all so your first usage assumption was correct ,just top up as needed ,I find that battery life on the 80D is outstanding and they seem to go on forever ,and even my old 1D3 would keep going virtually all week ,some days out for me involve several hundred pics so you have to trust your batteries .
    The only thing that will drain them down faster is cold weather and/or using the review screen a lot or live view

    P.s I worked on the development team of Remington rand many years ago on the first generation of rechargeable batteries ,and rest assured its a wonder they ever became available to the general public after some of the initial mis.haps
    Last edited by the black fox; 31-12-2016, 14:20.

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      #3
      Re: Lithium Ion Batteries

      That's how I always understood Lithium batteries to be Jeff.

      We are well aware of the 'memory effect', that plagued NiCad batteries, and current technical thinking is not suggesting that Li-ion batteries exhibit a memory effect, but that continual partial discharge, and recharge shortens their working life.

      Apparently they need a deep discharge/recharge cycle to keep them healthy, and constant topping up is not good for their longevity.
      Dave

      Website:- https://davesimaging.wixsite.com/mysite

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        #4
        Re: Lithium Ion Batteries

        I was led to believe to avoid full discharges and charge the battery more often between uses. Some info here
        https://www.flickr.com/photos/philip...h/29882985703/

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          #5
          Re: Lithium Ion Batteries

          I used to follow the regular top-up method but these days I work between several batteries and allow the one in use to pretty much run to flat and then fully recharge it once I get home. I only use Canon batteries.

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            #6
            Re: Lithium Ion Batteries

            I can still remember when I worked for Remington ,we had sent out a few thousand razors for people to test f.o.c on the provision that they were sent back with a comments sheet every 3 months so we could check over there performance ,these obviously had a step down charger unit as we still do with our camera chargers ,the only difference being in those days was that the battery stayed in the unit and you plugged a fly lead in ,some bright spark decided to by pass the charger unit and joined the mains lead directly to the fly lead ,the electric razor and battery managed to go into melt down mode and eat its way through a wooden sideboard unit and was nearly touching the floorboards before the wires shorted out .it did cause a few chuckles in the workshop though

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              #7
              Re: Lithium Ion Batteries

              A bit more research came up with this:

              Allowing a Li-ion battery to fully discharge, will damage it, probably permanently. However, cameras, and smart-phones etc, will not allow the battery to fully discharge, but will shut down when the battery power drops to a safe level.

              All rechargable batteries have a defined by number of complete charge/discharge cycles, before their working life comes to an end.

              If you allow the battery to discharge by 25%, then recharge, doing this four times will count as one complete cycle, as will allowing the battery to discharge to camera shut down level, before recharging.

              As Li-ion batteries are intelligent devices, they can tell the camera the level of remaing charge, so that the camera is informed when to shut down, while the battery is at a safe level.

              As the battery ages, it needs recalibrating at intervals, to ensure that the information fed to the camera remains accurate.

              Therefore, it is recommended that every 20 topup charges, the battery is allowed to reach the level of discharge, where the camera shuts down.

              So, it appears that topup charging is ok, providing it isn't done continuously, never letting the battery drop to the level at which the camera shuts down.
              Last edited by Dave_S; 01-01-2017, 12:43. Reason: Typo
              Dave

              Website:- https://davesimaging.wixsite.com/mysite

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                #8
                Re: Lithium Ion Batteries

                this is also probably old advice dave ,you can't take the internet as the truth the whole truth etc ,canon 1D chargers had/have a built in recycling facility not sure if the 1DX AND MK2 chargers still have that though ,things advance so quickly these days that yesterdays advice is out of date before you read it

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                  #9
                  Re: Lithium Ion Batteries

                  1DX mk1 has.
                  Canon 1DX, 50D, EF500 F4.0 L, EF100-400 f/4.5-5.6L I , EF100-400 f/4.5-5.6L II, EF70-200 f/2.8L II, EF180 f3.5L Macro, EF 24-105 f/4L, EF17-40 f/4L, EF2.0X III, EF1.4X III, 430EX II, MR-14EX...

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                    #10
                    Re: Lithium Ion Batteries

                    Just a comment on Li-Ion batteries, or rather my observations.

                    Both mine and my wife's cameras take the same batteries so I have a few spares. When I buy them, I mark them with the date purchased.

                    The original Canon batteries are still going strong.
                    The very cheap (eBay) batteries are useless after about two years - most all of them have been consigned to the recycling facility.
                    The slightly more "expensive" ones (from Picstop) are OK, but after two years, they don't hold the same charge the Canon ones do.

                    All batteries are normally run in the camera until the "change battery" warning appears and all (usually) are charged in an intelligent charger.

                    I think the conclusion is obvious - you get what you pay for!
                    Canon EOS 6D Mk II, 700D, Canon 24-105mm L, 100-400mm, 100mm f2.8 L Macro.

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                      #11
                      Re: Lithium Ion Batteries

                      I must also mention that I do not use cheap Ebay batteries as I am never sure of their life span. I now go for the genuine Canon batteries & the charge lasts a very long time. Just for insurance sake, I carry a fully charged battery with me when I go out taking pictures. I agree with Jock above- you get what you pay for.
                      Canon 6D; Canon 760D;Canon G15;Canon 40mm f2.8(Pancake);Canon 50mm f1.8(ii); Canon 17mm-40mm f4L;Canon EF-S 10-18mm f4.5-5.6 IS STM;Canon EF-S 55-250mm f4-5.6 STM lens;Canon 24mm-105mmf4L IS;Canon 70-300mm f4-f5.6 L IS USM;Kenko 1.4x HD TC;Canon 430EX ii flash;Giottos tripod;Manfretto monopod;Cokin P filters + bits and pieces!

                      www.flickr.com/photos/nathaniel3390

                      North Wales where music and the sea give a great concert!

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                        #12
                        Re: Lithium Ion Batteries

                        I tend to take the opposite view and buy non-Canon batteries from Amazon. They don't give quite as many shots as the Canon original, but I could buy 7 for the price of one Canon. As others have noticed in reviews on Amazon, capacity seems to improve considerably after a couple of discharge/charge cycles and really there's then not a lot of difference compared to the Canon. Maybe they'll die quicker, but at the price who cares? Actually, I have 7 LP-E6 batteries, 3 Canon and 4 others, all the others show 3 stars for recharge performance, but two of the Canon originals have gone down to 2 stars.
                        EOS 6D, 6D Mk II, 80D, 70D, 100D, 200D, M50, M100. Canon 10-18, 18 - 55, 55 - 250 IS STM lenses, Canon 16 - 35 mm F4L, 35 mm EF-S macro, 50 mm F1.8 STM, 60 mm EF-S macro, MPE-65 macro, 85 mm F1.8, 200 mm F2.8 L II, M 15 - 45 mm, M 22mm F2, M 32mm F1.4. Sigma 24 - 35 F2 Art, 135 mm F1.8 Art, 17 - 50 F2.8 DC, 105 mm OS macro, 100 - 400 C, 150 - 600 C.

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                          #13
                          Re: Lithium Ion Batteries

                          Horses for courses, I buy the Canon ones for my 1DX, mind you i can fill a 32MB card and the battery is still going strong. So one is in the Camera and the spare on charge, the main reason I use the Canon one for the 1DX is it has facilities the copies do not have, such as the ability to tell me through the viewfinder how many shots it has left in it before it needs recharging.
                          Canon 1DX, 50D, EF500 F4.0 L, EF100-400 f/4.5-5.6L I , EF100-400 f/4.5-5.6L II, EF70-200 f/2.8L II, EF180 f3.5L Macro, EF 24-105 f/4L, EF17-40 f/4L, EF2.0X III, EF1.4X III, 430EX II, MR-14EX...

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