How long did your battery last?

[steve_simons]

Well I think my battery is dieing. I first noticed it a while back,

it was a cold day but these batteries are supposed to last 4 hours

(what I heard, D30 battery), and I got the "low battery" sign about

one minute after turning on the camera (no shots fired, no LCD use),

even though the battery was fully charged. So, because of the cold

temperature I suspected it to last around an hour, because I had 4

NimH 2100 AAs in my old Powershot A70 and they last around 6 hours

at room temperature and would last about 3 hours in -35 degree

weather (I've been skiing in that).

 

So today I was in the backcountry skiing with my friends and I

wanted to get a shot of my friend in the fresh snow so I got ready

to shoot, was in the menu for about 5 seconds just double checking

my ISO and format. I look down and, even though I fully charged the

battery last night it was already at low, and it was probably only

around -10 celsius at the time. I shot about 6 raw frames before

the battery died and the camera shut off (battery sign showed

nothing and then top LCD went blank). I turned it off, turned it

back on and chimped a shot before turning it off again.

 

I'm going to take the assumption that my battery has bit the dust,

it is 4 years old after all. So my question is, how long did your

battery last? I'm going to have to buy a new one but I don't know

if I should buy 2 now in case they're extinct years later.

[akocurek]

The original battery that came with my 10D, which I've only had for 1.5 years, would show a full charge after a short time in the Canon charger. Once in the camera, it would show a low condition. Someone on this site mentioned about using a third party charger in cases such as this. That has taken care of my problem. The charger does not indicate a full charge until it is indeed fully charged.

As we say, "your mileage may vary".

[chrisjb]

Hi Steve, maybe kucky but I`m still using the original 511 that came with the D30, I bought a higher 1300mh of the unmentionable 12 mths ago non canon its fine to and out performs the canon.. Mine are heavily used in photo business.

 

Just a thought but you may be aware with the D30 if you change lenses without turning the camera on & off the camera runs at a low current rate which can drain batteries unknowingly.

 

These batteries have been used by canon a long time I dought if they`ll change soon as other companies are following canons lead

 

good luck chris

[lotsawa]

According to reports and also my own experience from laptop computers, lithium ion batteries die after 3-4 years even if they had not too many recharges. Don't know how much they suffer from cold. (They suffer from heat though, so in case of laptops that tend to become very hot it helps to take the battery out when you hooked to a mains.)

[paul -]

I always figured that any time estimates for cold weather battery life referred to how long it would hold a charge at low temps even if not in use. How long was the battery exposed to the cold (in backpack, camera bag, etc) before you turned on the camera?<P>When a battery "dies" in the cold, it often returns to a charged state when warmed back up. Did yours?

[glen peterson]

The Original battery that came with my D30, that used to last quite a while(never really checked it), now lasts for about 15-20 shots. I have two non-canon replacements, That are much newer and last for a much longer time before recharging. The old one is just old and tired, now it has been retired.

[paul -]

<i>"The original battery that came with my 10D... ...would show a full charge after a short time in the Canon charger. Once in the camera, it would show a low condition."</I><p>Page 22 of the 10D Instruction Manual states that the charger light stays on when the battery is "almost full", <i>not</i> fully charged.<p>It goes on to say: <b>After the battery charging is almost completed, the red lamp will stop blinking and remain lit. Recharging the battery for another hour will fully recharge the battery.</b> I always do this, and my 4 almost-2-year-old batteries all last quite long.

[steve_simons]

My camera was stored in a small pelican case inside a thick backpack. It wasn't very cold to the touch, and the battery was in the charger overnight. It was better when warmed up a bit but still, I don't think it should be doing things so drastic as shutting off while loading photos.