Battery Health

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ccirelli

ccirelli

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I was watching an iPhone tech-tips video today, and the presenter went over a feature that caps the battery charge when it reaches a certain level. He suggested setting this to 90 or 95% for normal daily charging, to keep the iPhone's Li-ion battery at optimum health over time. And only charge to 100% if you're going to be using the device heavier than normal that day, or as needed when normal charging isn't available.

This got me thinking about the Li-ion batteries for our cameras, as most (all?) modern cameras now use Li-ion. I have 5 EN-EL15c's, between two bodies, and there are times where they may sit idle (I do always rotate them to make sure they get equal use). I found this in the Z8 Reference Guide:

"Batteries in long-term storage should be charged to about 50% at least once a year. Do not charge the battery to 100% before returning it to storage. A fully-exhausted battery will charge to around 50% in about half the time needed to charge it to 100%."

My main questions are: What do we consider "long-term"? Do you only charge up your batteries just prior to using? What are your best practices / tips for keep batteries healthy over time?

Or does anyone even think about this? 😆

Thanks! 🪫🙂🔋
 
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General concept to get maximum battery life for phones and laptops is to charge to 80% and not let them discharge below 20%, both my laptop and phone have a charging cap option for this. No such option availble on my cameras, but to be honest I think I would always want to charge to 100% before using anyway. Would be a useful feature to have a camera battery charge cap if you are going to not use it for a long time.
 
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Maybe I'm too lazy, but I definitely don't follow those best practice recommendations, however I haven't noticed any issues with the strategy that I employ for managing my camera batteries.

I use a rotation scheme for my camera batteries, so they go in the charger after a shooting outing, and I grab the next battery up and put it in my camera. Once the battery is charged, it goes into storage as the last in the rotation. I am managing this scheme with two different battery types, since I have a Z7ii, Z8 and Z9, so the amount of time that it takes for any given battery to make it through the rotation varies. But like I said, I haven't run into any issues with battery health or degraded charging performance when using this strategy, and I've been following this routine for years now.

I do take a look at the battery charge state before I head out with my camera, and will top off the charge if it is showing less than the max number of bars.

BTW, my iPhone has an optimized charging setting of 80%, which I believe is what Apple recommends to help extend the battery life, so I do use that setting on my phone. Too bad we don't have an easy equivalent to this for charging camera batteries. :cool:
 
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I have my laptop set to charge to 80% max and to initiate recharging when it drops to 20%. It would be a hassle to replace its battery, so I want it to last for a long time.

I don't have a similar setup on my Android phone but probably should. I will look into it. Replacing its battery will probably be impossible and instead I will have to buy a new phone. Phones are expensive. (I always buy mine outright.)

As for my cameras, I charge the batteries to max every time. They will work satisfactorily for a few years that way and that is OK. Replacing them is easy compared to those other devices. The expense of buying a new camera battery every few years is worth it for me to enable going out with a 100% charge.
 
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I try not to overthink the issues. I immediately charge my batteries after use - starting when I get home or back to wherever I'm staying. Another battery immediately goes into the camera. I normally swap out batteries when a battery has 20% left - I don't fully drain it. I keep my batteries fully charged at all times because I don't want to pick up a battery and have it needing to be charged - or even worse - fully drained. I rotate my batteries so they are all being used once a month or so. That avoids the issue with long term storage. I think of long term storage as being for 5-6 months or longer - and if that were to be an issue, I'd try to store a half charged battery but that does not come up in practice.

I use similar routine for rechargeables that are used in my flashes and headlamps. I have Eneloop batteries and they hold a charge well - easily covering a year in storage. I fully charge them after use, and rotate them so all batteries get used.
 
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Sony batteries will show “dead” when they get to 22% capacity left. Lithium ion batteries can “go to sleep” if discharged to to low of a level. This will likely brick the battery.
I personally charge all my batteries after use. They will self discharge sitting there and the camera itself will have some draw even if off. I don’t bother topping them off before use unless I’m going to need the extra capacity. I have 11 batteries to support 3 cameras which take two each. I can’t remember the last time I’ve had to tap into my spares. I get around 6-8 hours of shooting which for a wildlife photographer isn’t likely if you are shooting in good light.
 
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EricBowles said:
I try not to overthink the issues. I immediately charge my batteries after use - starting when I get home or back to wherever I'm staying. Another battery immediately goes into the camera. I normally swap out batteries when a battery has 20% left - I don't fully drain it. I keep my batteries fully charged at all times because I don't want to pick up a battery and have it needing to be charged - or even worse - fully drained. I rotate my batteries so they are all being used once a month or so. That avoids the issue with long term storage. I think of long term storage as being for 5-6 months or longer - and if that were to be an issue, I'd try to store a half charged battery but that does not come up in practice.

I use similar routine for rechargeables that are used in my flashes and headlamps. I have Eneloop batteries and they hold a charge well - easily covering a year in storage. I fully charge them after use, and rotate them so all batteries get used.
Click to expand...

Same here. I am a sparky by trade but I equally not overthink on batteries. My (Makita) cordless drills, screwdrivers, jigsaw, ... always have fully charged batteries. Also have my 18650 batteries always fully charged, so are my Nikon and Godox batteries or my Eneloop AAA and AA batteries :)
 
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I am with the majority - that is too much trouble to bother with. Also, Nikon chargers don't show a percentage when charging. They just blink while charging and then stop blinking when full. Are we really expected to pop them in the camera every ten or fifteen minutes during charge and go into the menu to see what percentage they are at? Waste of time IMO. Though my Z cameras are relatively new, I used my Nikon DSLRs for about five years and my Canon DSLRs for even longer and never - not once - had a battery become exhausted and unuseable.
 
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That's so cute that Nikon engineers specify battery charging to 50% for storage (in the Z8 manual) despite no user's ability to do so. Thom Hogan regularly complains about those same engineers clearly never using their own products in the field (specifically, on telephoto lens button user configuration). They seemingly also use lab charging stations to optimize battery performance, and forget that nobody outside Nikon's building can follow their recommendations. Duh!

Perhaps Nikon might offer a capable, 2024-era battery charger that allows users to charge to a specified level?
 
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I charge my batteries in camera via the USB-C port most of the time. Only use my external chargers if I am charging more than 2. I wouldn't mind an option to limit the charge of my batteries via the camera menu for when charging in camera via USB-C. I'm not sure if I'd use it as the battery life on these cameras sucks and I think I'd probably just still charge to 100% and deal with buying a new battery eventually.
Now on the other hand, my car sits at 50-60% all the time and shows single digit degradation after 2yrs so for that it is worthwhile as most work days I only use 5% of its battery capacity to go to and from work. So it sure makes sense to charge less than 100% if you don't need the capacity for the day but with cameras I sort of do need the capacity or else need to accept having to swap batteries more often which isn't a huge deal but sometimes annoying.
 
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Carmel Nikon said:
That's so cute that Nikon engineers specify battery charging to 50% for storage (in the Z8 manual) despite no user's ability to do so. Thom Hogan regularly complains about those same engineers clearly never using their own products in the field (specifically, on telephoto lens button user configuration). They seemingly also use lab charging stations to optimize battery performance, and forget that nobody outside Nikon's building can follow their recommendations. Duh!

Perhaps Nikon might offer a capable, 2024-era battery charger that allows users to charge to a specified level?
Click to expand...
In defence of Nikon, not that they need any, do I know no charger for loose batteries like NiMH, Li-Ion used in tools, cameras, flashlights, ....
I have plenty of chargers at home from Panasonic, Nitecore, Fenix, Xtar, Maha, Ansmann, Makita, Bosch, Nikon, Sony, Fuji, ... and none have the capabilities to charge to a certain set level.
For me, I want a fully charged battery when going out shooting and my cameras are used, not sit on a shelf waiting to be used with 80% charged batteries :)
 
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Vincent, I totally agree with you - 100% charge it is before a photo shoot!

My comment was focused on the OP's observation that 50% charge is recommended by Nikon for "long term" storage, whatever that is. Would be cool to be able to do that for cameras set aside for a period of time. Some folks own multiple cameras, and don't use them every day.
 
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My guess is the specific language in the manual for batteries is coming from Samsung - the company that actually makes the batteries. Only the manufacturer would supply such technical details. The camera has a battery charge remaining indicator, so if you really wanted a partial charge it's easy enough. I don't expect there are many people who are storing batteries for long periods of time.
 
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Good point, Eric. I've not charged my Z8 battery inside the camera while monitoring state of charge (SOC) - but you're right, it can be manually done by watching the charging process. Samsung may well be the source of the recommendation.

Guess I'm looking at it from a consumer perspective, where the main training we have in battery care and SOC is with phones and smart watches, where one can set SOC and not have to manually watch something charge until a battery reaches a target. Most systems powered by rechargeables don't ask users to worry about SOC, and by coincidence, those same devices don't give users the ability to manage it. Nikon seems an outlier in that they do recommend it for one use case, but don't make it easy to do. Perhaps I've spent too many years in consumer goods focused on making user experience a seamless thing - guess I wish Nikon shared my passion for it! Carry on...
 
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Like most of the other folks, I normally remove batteries from the camera and charge them when they get to 20% or below. As soon as I take a battery from a camera it's replaced with another fully charged battery. I have three identical bodies and nine batteries so the batteries are on a regular rotation. The only batteries I've ever had that were problems were two really cheap, swollen, third-party batteries that came with a used camera I purchased and one brand new third-party I purchased that gave a "problem" signal in the charger from day one. That's the only issue I've ever had with my favorite brand of third-party batteries (I've been using that brand since 2004 in both Canon and Olympus cameras). Given the cost of new batteries, I've never been concerned with "proper" charging.
 
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