good battery strategy?

[brickftl]

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I've got 4 batteries. On each I taped a number from 1 to 4. Right now they're all charged and I have battery 1 in the cam. When I get back from a shoot, the battery is probably at 50%. I'll put it in the charger (let it charge to 100%, then take it out), and put battery 2 in the cam. I'll keep doing the same thing - always having the next consecutive numbered battery in the cam while the previous numbered battery goes in the charger.

Is it okay that basically I'm charging a battery when it's at 50% charge or even higher charge?

[jdlaing]

58 minutes ago, brickftl said:

I've got 4 batteries. On each I taped a number from 1 to 4. Right now they're all charged and I have battery 1 in the cam. When I get back from a shoot, the battery is probably at 50%. I'll put it in the charger (let it charge to 100%, then take it out), and put battery 2 in the cam. I'll keep doing the same thing - always having the next consecutive numbered battery in the cam while the previous numbered battery goes in the charger.

Is it okay that basically I'm charging a battery when it's at 50% charge or even higher charge?

You have two too many.

Run the batteries down further on occasion.

Edited June 24 by jdlaing

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[brickftl]

Just now, jdlaing said:

You have two too many.

well, I've already got them and I'm not going to pitch 2 of them, so . . . .

[patrickcolpron]

3 hours ago, brickftl said:

well, I've already got them and I'm not going to pitch 2 of them, so . . . .

Keep 'em, I have 14 batteries (I have 5 Leica M10 cameras and even I'll admit that's a bit much) I do a rotation of them usually using 3 to 4 at a time in rotation and alternating them with another batch of batteries every few months. 

The only thing I recommend is to use 'em up fully every so often before charging them. 

Edited June 24 by patrickcolpron

[LocalHero1953]

I'm not so systematic as you with my 5 SL (and Q2) batteries. But I do keep three in the bag, so I can run one down in camera and still have two spare. If the battery in the camera has only a small charge, I may need the other two batteries to cover a full session - two spare are enough for this but, often enough, not one. The battery in the camera at the end of the session stays there until the next one.

Edited June 24 by LocalHero1953

[dpitt]

You should definitely rotate them, but I think it hurts more to charge them each time to 100% than to start charging them at 50%.
Lithium batteries have the best effeciency between 20% and 80%, so keeping them within that range and charging them to 80% would in theory keep them in the best condition. Draining them fully once every 6 months or so should be enough.

This is all theory. In practice, I think there is enough production variance so that any tests done at a small set of batteries will be inconclusive. My experience with very old batteries seems to confirm this. Some seem to keep working for ever (15+ years), others  become useless after using them the same way for only 5 years. 

[Siriusone59]

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There is nothing wrong with your strategy, it sounds like a good idea.  There is nothing set in stone that I've ever seen, only speculation from others which means very little.  Battery chemistry today is much superior to that of the past.  Sounds as if you are keeping track of which ones are being used and recharged, that's all that really matters...you're not continuously using only one or two which is good.  They should last you  a long time.  Sounds like you've got this covered.🙂

[Bobonli]

I use a similar strategy for my GoPro, for which I have at least 4 batteries. Each is numbered. When the one in the camera is exhausted (or nearly so), it comes out and I put in the next one. And so on. I'm not terribly obsessive about charging as soon as I return home. I do them in batches when there's only one "fresh" one left.

You can go down a rabbit hole reading about whether to charge all the way to 100%, whether to discharge them completely etc. I've read arguments on both sides. I tend not to take a battery (any battery) down to 0% on a regular basis, but it happens sometimes and I haven't seen any negative consequences. I had a Nikon battery that was still working long after the camera was obsolete! AFAICT I've never damaged a battery with my practices. 

[dugby]

12 hours ago, brickftl said:

I've got 4 batteries. On each I taped a number from 1 to 4. Right now they're all charged and I have battery 1 in the cam. When I get back from a shoot, the battery is probably at 50%. I'll put it in the charger (let it charge to 100%, then take it out), and put battery 2 in the cam. I'll keep doing the same thing - always having the next consecutive numbered battery in the cam while the previous numbered battery goes in the charger.

Is it okay that basically I'm charging a battery when it's at 50% charge or even higher charge?

I bought three off the bay for less than the price of one new one.  Two of which are holding charges just like my original new battery that came with the camera, and only one slightly lags behind the good three batteries.

 

Mine are also labelled and I rotate their usage just like yourself.

 

i have found when I travel and am out for 10+ hours, I need to start the day with two fully charged batteries, one in-camera and the second in my pouch, whichj I eventually get to mid to late afternoon.  The third battery is sitting in the hotel in preparation for either night time shooting or ready to be the primary battery for the next day. Thereby I only have one plus batteries to charge overnight.

[AceVentura1986]

I’ve got two batteries. When one runs below 50% I’ll swap it out for the other. Rinse and repeat.  

[kivis]

I try to run my M10 battery down to 20% then put in the next battery. But then I use my M10 like a digital M6. I am a slow and deliberate photog. So one battery stays in the slot sometimes for weeks.

[simplicity]

Yeah - it is best to keep modern batteries between 20% and 80%. So I change batteries around 20% and swap them. 

For long time no usage i would charge them to 80%.