Battery question

[Dmitri]

Do I need to let my battery drain before recharging it? I usually do but I sometimes get annoyed if I am going out, and a battery is half drained.

Will recharging without waiting for it to completely drain hurt the battery up-time?

Thanks.

 

[valshon]

in general, with rechargeable batteries, they have a limited number of charges. if you charge it for 1 minute or 1 day it still counts as 1 charge against the total life of charges available. modern lithium-ion batteries are not supposed to have a memory so it shouldn't hurt your 'up-time' in that sense at least.

 

[Dmitri]

ok great, thanks!

 

[scorpion_tyr]

When it comes to batteries this is generally the best way to extend the life of the battery as long as possible. As soon as you get it make sure it is DEAD. Some come with a half charge, 10% charge, etc. Put it in your camera and drain it until you get nothing. And then charge it without interruption until it is fully charged. After that get the battery as low as you can before you charge it again. I try to drain my batteries completely before charging them. If you go for a while without shooting or you have batteries in storage you should exercise them at least once a month. This will keep the output of your battery more stable and it will shoot for longer without need of charging.

This is just one of many reasons I have a grip on all my cameras. The grips not only double your battery life, but if you get one with a AA battery tray and keep some AA batteries handy you don't really have to worry about ending a shoot early because your batteries are dead.

 

[fokker]

A camera with a grip can take a LOT of shots before the batteries run dead. I seldom go through more than a bar per shoot with the grip on my 5D.

OP; to answer your question, no. You do not have to drain the batteries before charging them, unless you're using a Canon 1D mk1 or 2 with the original Ni-MH batteries, but their charger has a function that drains them before charging.

 

[480sparky]

Li-Ion, Ni-Cad and Ni-Mh, all have different discharge & charging parameters. Look at what type you have (it should be on the battery itself) and use Google to find the best discharge/charge method. FWIW, batteries will eventually die.... it's a simple fact. No matter what you do, you will eventually end up with a useless battery. They do not last forever.

 

[KmH]

For my Nikon Li-Ion camera batteries, and the NiMH batteries I use in my speedlights, I don't wait until they are near dead to recharge them. I recharge them so they are fully charged on the morning of the day I plan to use them for a client shoot.

Of course my high mA-h, NiMH batteries don't hold a charge for more than a few days and I slow charge them to maximize their life.