BATTERY QUESTIONS

I'm curious if anyone knows how long a fully charged Sony NP-FZ100 battery will last unused outside of the camera before it starts losing its charge? How long will it last inside the camera with the camera off, and unused? Where does the charge go?

As a general rule, in my experience with my other brand cameras, about 1/3 of what the manufacturer claims.

I'm curious if anyone knows how long a fully charged Sony NP-FZ100 battery will last unused outside of the camera before it starts losing its charge?

It appears that I charged my Sony NP-FZ100 batteries last in mid-January (judging by the latest images I took on Jan-18). The battery in the camera currently shows a 80% charge; the two spare ones indicate 87% charge each. The discharge process starts the instant you take the battery off the charger.

How long will it last inside the camera with the camera off, and unused?

The longest period I recall that the camera sat unused was some 5-6 months by which time the battery was down to 20%. One culprit that depletes the in-camera battery is the internal camera clock which keeps drawing current even with the camera turned off.

Where does the charge go?

No matter whether inside or outside the camera, the Li-ion battery continuously depletes because of chemical reactions and physical processes inside of it. Some reversible upon charging, some irreversible (leading eventually to the battery's demise).

 

From what I've read it appears to be best to not store a Li-ion battery with a full charge but charge only to 80-85%. Not aware of any charger that allows to be set to stop at that charge level.

 

In some 18 years of using Nikon batteries and some ten years of using Sony ones, I have not had a single battery degrade to the level that it could no longer be used or charged. I lost one third-party battery (for a Sony camera) when it started to expand.

Edited March 17, 2022 by Dieter Schaefer

Interesting. I think I've noted that if you leave the battery unused inside the camera for a period of time, an lets say its down to 80% it seems to lose charge quite rapidly once you do start using it relative to being fully charged. I've just charged a new battery to 100% and put it in a drawer which I plan to check in a month to see where it is. What got me wondering about all this is that I believe I put a nearly fully charged battery in a camera for a couple of months unused and it was nearly drained after two months. Maybe down to 10% or something like that.

I use several Sony cameras for video with a large video battery and dummy battery adapter. I keep a Sony battery in the camera to maintain the clock and memory, and other spare batteries on the side in reserve. I'm not always attentive to their maintenance.

 

I haven't keep clinical notes on the subject, but roughly a battery will lose about 50% of its change after 3 months, unused, in the camera, and about 20% of its charge outside the camera in a year. That said, a lot depends on the camera, the battery, and how the "charge" is measured.

 

A battery on the last bar in the camera (<25%) will usually register 50% in my Watson battery charger. The camera and battery (Sony) are "smart" whereas the charger ids comparatively dumb. My DJI drone batteries deliberately self-discharge to about 30%, starting 3 days after their last use. This is to preserve the longevity of the battery against crystallization and dendrite formation.

I use several Sony cameras for video with a large video battery and dummy battery adapter. I keep a Sony battery in the camera to maintain the clock and memory, and other spare batteries on the side in reserve. I'm not always attentive to their maintenance.

 

I haven't keep clinical notes on the subject, but roughly a battery will lose about 50% of its change after 3 months, unused, in the camera, and about 20% of its charge outside the camera in a year. That said, a lot depends on the camera, the battery, and how the "charge" is measured.

 

A battery on the last bar in the camera (<25%) will usually register 50% in my Watson battery charger. The camera and battery (Sony) are "smart" whereas the charger ids comparatively dumb. My DJI drone batteries deliberately self-discharge to about 30%, starting 3 days after their last use. This is to preserve the longevity of the battery against crystallization and dendrite formation.

 

So the cameras assessment of the amount of charge left is fairly accurate I guess. It kind of surprises me how much charge simply dissipates from a little clock in the camera. I would think there was little internal backup battery in the camera, because what happens if you store your camera without the battery in it, or it runs out completely. I worked in a place where we had walkie talkies radios that had to be taken once a week down to hq to be drained completely on some machine otherwise they wouldn't hold their charge for a full shift. Don't remember what kind of batteries they were, but they might have been similar.

In my experience some lithium batteries seem to hold a charge for a very long time.

 

I have consistently found that OEM batteries last longer, but they cost 2- 3X more than the ersatz and certainly don't continue to hold a charge or endure that much longer

I think "off" in the camera is more accurately described as "hibernation." Furthermore it is a variable state of hibernation. Notice that if you turn the camera on again within a few minutes, it starts up almost instantaneously, but takes much longer after several hours (e.g., overnight). Some functions appear to be kept "warmer" than others.

In my experience some lithium batteries seem to hold a charge for a very long time.

 

I have consistently found that OEM batteries last longer, but they cost 2- 3X more than the ersatz and certainly don't continue to hold a charge or endure that much longer

 

Off brand batteries for my Fuji cameras are no better or worse than their OEM equivalents. The only meaningful truth about all of them is: buy and charge lots.

 

I have found that some Fuji chargers have been surprisingly short-lived. Aftermarket replacements? Not so much.

Edited March 19, 2022 by c_watson|1