what is best for the life of the batteries ?

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JoPoV

JoPoV

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Hi,

I have 2 batteries for my camera.

I always use battery 1 until it is empty then recharge it when using battery 2. Then use battery 2 until it is empty, then recharge it when using battery 1 and so on.

Is this the best way to guarantee the longest battery life, or is it better to use battery 1 and recharge it even if it is not empty and use it again, and only use battery 2 if battery one is empty during the work session ?

So to resume, is it better to recharge batteries only when they are empty, or as soon as it is possible, so after each work session ?
 
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Lithium batteries don't like being 100% empty or getting charged while 100% full. They (like all batteries) also don't like heat (such as when charging fast). Cold will temporarily reduce capacity, but won't really affect the long-term health of the battery.

The only battery care I'd recommend is not running them completely empty, and be careful not to subject them to lots of heat (ie: don't leave one in direct sunlight). Do that and your battery will probably outlast your camera.
 
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JoPoV said:
Hi,

I have 2 batteries for my camera.

I always use battery 1 until it is empty then recharge it when using battery 2. Then use battery 2 until it is empty, then recharge it when using battery 1 and so on.

Is this the best way to guarantee the longest battery life, or is it better to use battery 1 and recharge it even if it is not empty and use it again, and only use battery 2 if battery one is empty during the work session ?

So to resume, is it better to recharge batteries only when they are empty, or as soon as it is possible, so after each work session ?
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What you are describing was the recommended practice for NiCad batteries. For modern lithium batteries recharging them at any state of discharge is OK. As the previous post suggested it is preferable NOT to run them down to zero. My own process is to rotate the batteries after every shoot. So every time I return from a shoot the battery in the camera comes out and the fresh one out of the charger goes into the camera. I do this regardless of state of discharge. It's easy and is neither here nor there for the life of the batteries.
 
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Thanx !
I will change my way of doing this.

One good thing :
Nikon chargers stop charging as soon as the battery is full.
I never had a hot battery at the end of the charge. (Unlike cell phones, which also have soldered batteries that cannot be replaced now).
 
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Krümelkraft said:
Lithium rechargeable batteries are best kept between 30% - 70% of their capacity (some say 30 to 80 or 20 to 80...).
Discharging them completely will ruin them over time.
I only charge my batteries to 100% when I know I will use them soon.
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☝️This is ideal and my approach too, but often end up with having batteries sit at full charge because I charged them and didn’t use them.
 
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JoelKlein said:
Why does the Z9 battery need calibration while the Z6/7/8 does not?
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I believe the reason is the Z9 battery (18 series) has 3 cells while the Z6/7/8 battery (15 series) has only 2 cells. The Battery Monitoring System (BMS) determines the health of the battery and current charge capacity. I’m not an EE, but my understanding is with 3 cells it’s easier to get an imbalance between the cells which could cause an excessive discharge on a cell. When the BMS sees this imbalance it recommends a calibration. This results in a complete discharge and then recharge, thus equalizing all 3 cells. Nikon must feel it’s not necessary on the 2 cell batteries.

Again I haven’t seen a lot in detail on this from Nikon, but it’s the opinion I got from smarter people than me!
 
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