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M system spare battery?


_Michael

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With apologies for what is likely to be a question asked elsewhere, I'd like to hear thoughts on this. I did try to do a search and didn't really find a clear answer/leaning. 

I'm pretty new in the M world with my fairly recently acquired M262. I find the battery life to be outstanding, and I have never dipped below 75%. That said, I have also not had any real extended shooting sessions. What are your general thoughts about keeping a spare body. I don't have video or EVF of the 240 to worry about. I'm leaning towards getting one "just in case" but also don't see a point on buying something that won't be used. 

For those that carry an extra, do you find you actually use it?  For those (rare) times when I'd be on an extended trip with little access to power or something I'd obviously want/need extras. Do you ever need it in a long day of shooting with some chipping along the way? 

In the end this really is a silly question because only I can decide. I ask simply because of the lack of experience with this little battery. Other small mirrorless systems I've used I find extras (stressing multiple extras), here I'm just not sure. 

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Yes I always carry and extra battery. Nope I have never used it.
My position is the same as yours a long walk and shooting all day.
I try not to chimp I never shoot video....but an extra, fully charger battery seems like good insurance.
When I was shooting professionally I carried 5 extras and a charger.
 
The M240 has an amazing battery life.
Edited by ECohen
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In 4 years of owning an M 240 I have never needed to recharge the battery even after being way for nearly 2 weeks. When I have recharged the battery ( about every 3 months) it gets back to 80% so quickly that I have never felt the need for a spare battery. I am told that the M10 battery is slimmer. Having recently held an M10-P (a beautiful camera) while in Porto in northern Portugal (lovely shop, great people, fabulous city) I wondered about how the slimmer body might affect battery power. According to reports on the web and on the M10 section of this forum, the battery is not as resilient as the M240. 

In summary, unless you are planning to take massive numbers of shots using LV or and EVF then the 240 battery will be sufficient for any eventuality. Just take the charger as back up and charge up overnight if necessary. I hope this helps. 

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Michael,

Another battery can be a safe comfort to be handy when need one more.

But in regular use and without video or liveview on your M262, you may not need one more battery.

Better yet in this aspect of very long battery life, M-D (typ 262).

 

Side note,

Even M10 can be long lasting, like Patrick's use, in this thread...

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I have an M-D and a spare battery. After around 3 days shooting, usually around the equivalent of 2 to 4 rolls of 36 exposure film ;0) , I still have 50% to 60% charge.

I have yet to replace a battery in the field, but always carry one and the charger. I only turn the camera off when it goes in the bag, and the bag usually stays in the car.

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Great feedback. Thank you.  I will probably get one as insurance.  Like mentioned above, I always carried lots of extra batteries when shooting paid gigs. My Canon 1DX gets really good battery life and I rarely burn through one, but I always have 3 or  4 with me :)

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Keep in mind that a new battery does not come up to full specification until it has been fully charged and depleted, so use it.

From the instructions:

A new battery only reaches its full capacity after it has been fully
charged and – by using it in the camera – depleted 2 to 3 times.
This depletion process should be repeated roughly every 25
cycles.

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I always have a spare battery on me. When one is depleted I charge it and use the second one. I switch batteries on a regular base and have these two for 5 years now. The batteries of the M 240 are the same as those fro met M 262. 

In very harsh weather, my batteries drain somewhat faster. In cold weather under minus 10 degrees Celsius , the battery will not last the whole day ( but I either...) but suffice for two hours. When I change to the pare and put the first battery warm on my chest, I regain some of its capacity. So I can switch and maintain current the whole day. This only went wrong in a winter in Prague februari 2012, when it was minus 18-22 degrees. Only this was with the M9 camera. The camera completely went dead. I did not have this experience with the M 240 batteries. After 5 years, they stil last for a working day. 

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6 hours ago, pico said:

Keep in mind that a new battery does not come up to full specification until it has been fully charged and depleted, so use it.

From the instructions:

A new battery only reaches its full capacity after it has been fully
charged and – by using it in the camera – depleted 2 to 3 times.
This depletion process should be repeated roughly every 25
cycles.

Interesting you bring this up.  Considering the battery level depletion with use so far, getting to full depletion won’t be particularly easy:) ... time to turn on previews, crank up the brightness and chimp.  A lot. 

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I've never fully depleted my battery. @pico raises an interesting point. Maybe I should let mine run down completely?

However, I thought that modern Lithium Ion batteries had gone beyond that stage and could be kept charged to a reasonable level without having to deplete them.

Maybe I a wrong in that belief. I'd appreciate constructive comment.

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From the user manual:

 

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Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

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Michael, I have a spare battery for my M240 and i used it several times, in particular along those sessions in which I used the EVF that sucks on battery as a Ferrari.

I think it is quite useful when you perform long shooting sessions. Several times the spare battery has prevented me from having to stop shooting in crucial moments.

So, my suggestion is to buy one spare.

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I have three batteries. One in camera (M-P typ240). One in a ThinkTank battery case with an extra SD card. One on shelf (or in charger). When I go out I always carry the spare. Batteries are always run down to 20% or less before charging unless 1) photographing big event, or 2) going out of town. The battery is the life-force of the camera - always have a spare. Good luck with your photography. 

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Am 21.10.2018 um 00:03 schrieb Peter Kilmister:

I've never fully depleted my battery. @pico raises an interesting point. Maybe I should let mine run down completely?

However, I thought that modern Lithium Ion batteries had gone beyond that stage and could be kept charged to a reasonable level without having to deplete them.

Maybe I a wrong in that belief. I'd appreciate constructive comment.

As far as I konw, the first 2-3 times a brand new Lithium battery is used it should be used till finish to calibrate. After that it should not be a problem if it gets loaded after partial use. I do this with all my Lithium batteries (Canon, Leica, Nikon etc.) and they realy last long!

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 10/22/2018 at 1:31 PM, earthphoto said:

As far as I konw, the first 2-3 times a brand new Lithium battery is used it should be used till finish to calibrate. After that it should not be a problem if it gets loaded after partial use. I do this with all my Lithium batteries (Canon, Leica, Nikon etc.) and they realy last long!

Not really. Feel free to recharge Li-ion batteries at your convenience regardless of the level your camera or charger reports. Discharging to empty is not helpful at all. Recharging a new battery at any level a few times is good advice. Doing so with an exhausted battery is not necessary.

I don't understand what is meant by 'calibrating' the battery. Where is the smarts? In the battery, the charger or do they cooperate which seems unlikely given the experiences of after-market chargers.

Edited by pico
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Thank you, @pico, you have confirmed what I have always suspected. Lithium-Ion batteries do not have a brain. We are lucky to have a brain. Unhelpful advice from manufacturers regarding batteries makes no sense at all ... unless someone can scientifically prove the opposite. Batteries are lumps of chargeable material. Plants have more sense. Fish have more sense. Dogs have more sense. A Battery has no sense. It is just a rechargeable power pack. QED.

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