Feiertag
Well-known member
Good day. I was wondering when you know it's time to calibrate your camera battery.
Calibrating The Camera Battery
- Thread starter Feiertag
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Feiertag
Well-known member
Hey Bill, on my Nikon battery charger, there is a calibration button/option.
What does it do?
Feiertag
Well-known member
Guess what? It calibrates the battery!
What does that mean though?
Normally calibration is used when you see signs of a problem - poor battery life or rapid draining. You could run it once a year if you want, but it's not normally needed. Calibration fully drains the battery, recharges it, and resets the chip used to measure battery condition.
Now I've got FOMO! My stinkin' Canon charger just sits there blinking until It's green. I want some buttons!
Feiertag
Well-known member
Thanks, Eric. I'm noticing that my battery depletes when not using my camera for weeks.
Feiertag
Well-known member
Fear not. Switch to Nikon. LOL
In theory it would shorten battery life. Li-Ion batteries have a certain number of charge/discharge cycles in them. Fully discharging/recharging every time would use up some of that life. Whether it is an actual practical consideration depends on usage. Every day? Yeah that would be bad. Once a month? Probably not a real issue.
The main thing accomplished by the calibration is calibrate the chip to the actual battery performance so the camera is accurately reading battery condition.
So it doesn't extend the life of the battery, just gives an accurate readout in the camera?
Kind of. It doesn't increase the physical life of the battery but does increase the effective life of it. The camera will shut down when the chip in the battery says there's not enough power left. So if the chip isn't reading accurately it can cause the camera to shut down when there are still clicks left in the battery.
Normally there is no problem with memory for Li-ion batteries. But if the chip is not reading correctly, it can cause the battery to not fully charge or to prematurely indicate a low charge - and these can affect performance. A full discharge, recharge, and chip reset largely eliminates those issues. There is nothing else that is practical to do that will extend battery life. If you have an old battery it probably won't help much, but if you have premature aging, it might make a difference.
It can't hurt if the battery is excessively draining while turned off. It might reset something in the battery. But more likely is there is a setting in the camera that needs to be changed. For example, "Send While Off" requires waking the camera periodically even if it is turned off.
It can't hurt if the battery is excessively draining while turned off. It might reset something in the battery. But more likely is there is a setting in the camera that needs to be changed. For example, "Send While Off" requires waking the camera periodically even if it is turned off.
So the Canon probably has some software/hardware way to sense this?
I have no idea. Nikon has been doing this way for a few years now. Some theorize simply to force purchase of their own batteries vs third party. Most electronics simply have internal circuitry to sense battery condition. The idea of the chip/calibration is to more accurately predict how much useful power(and therefore frames) is left in the battery rather than just have it do dead in the middle of a shoot. Maybe value added for some people but unnecessary complication for the rest of us.
Is this only on later battery chargers, or only for the EN EL-18? I've never had this on my chargers for my EN EL-15 batteries.
the several batteries sectors become fragmented, not all fully charging.
If the charger suggests calibration do it or not, the battery will charge. Sometimes the use level will drop (O to 1 or whatever)
If the charger suggests calibration do it or not, the battery will charge. Sometimes the use level will drop (O to 1 or whatever)
Not on the EL15 up to the D850 at least. And I don't recall the calibration function on the original EL18 charger that came with my D4. I'm shamed to admit I don't remember on the D5 but in my own defense I only had it briefly when the Z9 came out and I sold the D5 to fund it.
So it blinks or something to tell you you should calibrate?
Feiertag
Well-known member
The D5 charger does have a calibration mode.
Yes, blinks. And takes a while to finish, best to start it with a dead battery as it will first drain the charge then start the cal.
But this is on the D series 1 thru 6 and Z9. Not on the smaller battery cameras (D800, 500, 750 and so on).
So I guess the answer to the OP is to do it when it blinks to tell you to do it. Or if you have a model that doesn't tell you when to do it then do it on a schedule, like on the 31st day of every month that has 31 days or some easy to remember schedule, or to do it when the behavior of the battery in action makes you think something is wrong.
Now I'm glad I shoot Canon. Simpler.
Feiertag
Well-known member
Why would you think shooting Canon is simpler? Maybe you are missing out on an important procedure.