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Running multiple batteries


ptarmigan

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My D2x has a more sophisticated battery management package and a reconditioning facility so I never worried running multiple batteries.

 

With the M8 though, as I have none of the above, should I mark each battery so I know which is which and is there anything I should do to ensure they both get similar/alternate use? Or does no one bother with anything like this. I currently have two.

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I have 3 which I have labelled 1, 2 & 3 (other sequences also work :D) and I replace then in a cyclic fashion. The main reason being that they then get equal use and moreover they probably self-discharge to some extent. With two batteries this is superfluous as they get alternate use anyway.

 

If for whatever reason you want to store them for an extended period (i.e. not using your M8 which is a criminal offence) then apparently 50% charge is the best.

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I have 3 which I have labelled 1, 2 & 3 (other sequences also work :D) and I replace then in a cyclic fashion. The main reason being that they then get equal use and moreover they probably self-discharge to some extent. With two batteries this is superfluous as they get alternate use anyway.

 

If for whatever reason you want to store them for an extended period (i.e. not using your M8 which is a criminal offence) then apparently 50% charge is the best.

 

I have the same workflow and it seems to work fine

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They should be labeled, as an extra battery has diagnostic value. Some here believe camera lockups, card issues, etc. can be caused by the battery.

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I use 2 batteries with all of my camera's.

 

Because I always have spare, and never exhaust a fully charged battery in a day, I can safely allow my 'in use' battery to get to about 10% charge before recharging. This optimizes battery life since rechargeable batterie life is generally more dependent on charge cycles than any other factor. (deep discharge is always a bad idea).

 

I label my batteries with sequence or date of purchase.

 

Regards ... Harold

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In the film days, professional camera's used AA batteries, while proprietary batteries were limited to 'enthusiast' models.

 

With the advent of long life AA NIMH (eg: sanyo 'eneloop'), as a user of multiple camera systems I think returning to this protocol would be a great step forward, (or backward or sideways) depending on how you view the world.

 

Regards ... Harold

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I have 4 batteries and also marked them with dots for cycling. I rotate them as detailed above.

 

The nice thing about having them marked is that when a problem arises, you can note which of the damn things caused the problem.

 

I didn't use the camera for a while during the summer (while I was endlessly renovating the bride's office in the house), so all my batteries were about 2 months from a charge. This turns out NOT to be a good thing, because the M8 is so sensitive to low voltage.

 

Fortunately, I had 4 of these things at my next shoot so that when the camera locked up I could change to another battery to take me to the next lockup.

 

In the future, I will make sure to top up all the batteries at least once a month.

 

In any case, it can be useful to be able to tell the batteries apart.

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