rechargable batteries dilemma

Dew · Dec 25, 2003

last monday, the hubby and i photographed our first wedding .. why on god's earth someone would want us to photograph their wedding is beyond me :lol:

.. but anywho .. i was a nervous wreck :bounce: ... packing my bag the night before, making sure i had everything, flash, memory cards, fresh rechargable batteries and such.

it was a lovely young couple from the UK, they had a small wedding at the city town hall, but they wanted it to be special

... we followed them around the streets of NYC for about 4 hrs.

about 30 mins into my shoot, my batteries died :shock: .. ok, no problem, i have a fresh batch in my bag ... put those in, i took about 5 pictures and those died too :shock: ... this was unbelievable!!!! ... i've never had that happen to me before, i was so embarrased .. i felt so umprofessional :? ... i've photographed on one set of batteries for at least 2 different photo sessions...

i'm trying to figure out what happen with my batteries, the hubby said it was cold outside, but the weather was nice enough for me to remove my coat and wear my sweater ...

then i got to thinking .. could it be the X-ray machine we had to pass to get inside the builing? ... do u think its possible for an x-ray machine to drain batteries? :scratch: .. im stumped as to why this happened

i did use an external flash attachment, but it has its own set of batteries

mrsid99 · Dec 26, 2003

Hi Dew!
I trust you had a happy Xmas and Santa was good to you?
In regards to your battery question, I'm assuming you were using rechargeable batteries so remember that it's a question of how much are you taking out and how much have you put in.
If you were running all the toys such as the LCD etc. then you're taking out a lot and if the batteries were cold then they won't deliver the amount of charge they would in your nice warm studio.
There is also a phenomena called "self discharge" in that batteries will leak their charge away over a period of time (maybe a few weeks in some cases) so that when you come to use them there's a lot less available than you thought. This also applies to non-rechargeable cells although the period is much longer.
Here's my guess for what it's worth: You'd charged the batteries a while back and probably further back than you thought, the batteries were in a bag outside and were colder than usual, you were running the LCD at max. brightness because you were outside and because you were engrossed in your work the time went by a lot quicker than you thought.
Net result, those darn batteries went down quick!
Happy New Year!

MuffinJuice · Jan 3, 2004

where'd u get the batteries. if they're the batteries which originally came with the camera, you should throw them out ASAP. most electronic devices you buy equipped with rechargable batteries will put a non reputable brand of battery, a no name brand that sells its batteries for a few cents/bucks.

otherwise try contacting the company if it gets to you that much.

cold will kill the batteries.
remember if you're nervous, heartrate increase=heat. you could get hot in the cold. although cold preserves life in the long run, cold will kill the batteries for the time which it is cold.

craig · Jan 3, 2004

@#$% batteries!!! I was perplexed by the nicad of my D1. They failed me so often I almost gave up hope. The beta that I have figured out: My rechargeables have to be "refreshed" every 10 charges; meaning after a while they will not hold their charge. If you can get a pack that uses normal batteries get it. For the short term they are much more reliable. When I'm out in the field in the winter, I keep mine on the defrost of my car. If you don't have a car, the breast pocket of you shirt works best for storage. Strange as it may sound I have great success rubbing them on my leg to heat them.

bogleric · Jan 5, 2004

Sounds like some battey hell to me. ANyways one thing to remember is that NICAD is the worst type of rechargable battery. If you charge them before they are fully drained you only get to use that delta of charge before they are "dead" the next time. This is referred to as battery memory.

Lithium Ion is great because it has no memory and can be charged at anytime.

There is also a new type called Nickel Metal Hydride or NimHi, I am not sure about those.

GerryDavid · Jan 5, 2004

Hello Dew, what brand were your rechargables?

A friend has fuji rechargables and they have lasted her a long time. I use duracell rechargeables *cuz I didnt see any fuji's before I got them* and these things last forever. One night I coudlnt sleep, and I heard that they last for a 100 or so pictures, from other camera's. So I was in the pitch black, lcd screen turned on, full brightness, flash on, and after about 45 minutes or something, and 450 pictures taken, and playing with the menu system to erase the card, the batteries still had life in them. I was tired so I just stoped the exercise figuring 450 is good enough, hehe. Of course my camera uses 4 X AA, so thats twice more than most cameras, which may make a difference. But these things keep a good charge.

Also rechargables dont usually charge as much each time you charge them, and some need to be fully drained before you charge them or they only charge 3/4's of the way or something like that.

ksmattfish · Jan 5, 2004

I hate batteries and weird electronic malfunctions. That is what has driven me into the batteryless, mechanical past, and turned me into a crusty, old curmudgeon!

mrsid99 · Jan 8, 2004

ksmattfish said:
I hate batteries and weird electronic malfunctions. That is what has driven me into the batteryless, mechanical past, and turned me into a crusty, old curmudgeon!

Oh sure...blame it on the batteries!

GerryDavid · Jan 10, 2004

A 2nd thought to this would be a battery back. Most digital cameras have an ac/dc input and you can buy different battery packs that attach to your belt or somethiing, that plugs into this input. I should try to buy an old gameboy battery pack on ebay, its 6V, same as my camera. :0).

Dew · Jan 10, 2004

after a few more shoots, i realized the external flash was drain batteries from the camera instead of its own batteries ... the flash is not really built for the cam ... that sucks :?

pucci · Jan 10, 2004

up at the ski hill, i listen to my mini deisc player when i am hiking in the backcountry. when my batteries die half way through, i just have to squeeze them in my hand and breathe on them for a little while to warm them up and they are good again. even to brand new batteries this will happen, so if you need to get some extra juice out of your batteries, warm them up!!