camcorder battery tips

People have always enjoyed taking photos. This first started with the ordinary camera. With the changing times, the camcorder is the most used for taking pictures that we cherish and keep. The digital camera or the camcorder as it is known, can take picture for hours without letting us miss any of the important events in a function. It can take still photos, audio and video images. All this needs enough power. This is provided by the powerful batteries that are used. A person can also carry these batteries which can be replaced if the first set of batteries runs out. This is possible because the batteries are light weight.

The advantages of these batteries are that it can take pictures for about eight to nine hours at a length. Today, the camcorder uses lithium batteries which are easily available. These lithium batteries increase the activeness of the camcorder.

The pictures taken nowadays are better than the earlier ones. This difference is due to the type of batteries used. The earlier models were heavy due to the size of the batteries and could not take pictures for a long time. This was because the batteries used were the Nickel Cadmium (NiCd) or the Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) Sony Digital Camera Battery such as sony NP-F550 battery, sony NP-FR1 battery, sony NP-FM50 battery, sony NP-FM51 battery, sony NP-F10 battery, sony NP-FE1 battery and sony DSC-T7 battery. With the advent of the Lithium ion (L-ion) batteries the camcorder has become more efficient.

The lithium ion batteries have made the camcorder lighter. The batteries are less bulky than the nickel Cadmium and Nickel Metal Hydride batteries. Their size is smaller and they also weigh less. Lithium batteries also give three times the voltage of the former two types of batteries. These batteries can be partially charged. They are not troubled by the 'memory effect'. This means that the batteries do not have to be continually completely discharged fully and then charged again, because of which the charging capacity used to be reduced. The lithium batteries do not require 'memory' and scheduled 'cycles' of charging to prolong their life. This advantage leads to low maintenance.

The camcorder is portable. The lithium ion batteries used in this are cobalt based. It consists of a cobalt oxide positive electrode (cathode) and a graphite carbon in the negative electrode (anode). This results in a long run time due to its high energy density. The lithium batteries have to be charged only according to the manufacturer's instructions. There is no other way to do it.

In the earlier models of batteries, some batteries may have a long run time but limited run cycles, another set of batteries may be durable but heavy, but the latest models are durable, having a high energy density, are lightweight, but are too expensive. The person in charge of selling the batteries will be able to give us the advantages of all these various types and give us the best for our camcorder.

The batteries for camcorders are manufactured by many companies. Some of them are: Sony, Panasonic, Canon, Duracell, Sharp, Hitachi etc. These batteries are of good quality, are durable and are very efficient. Now, online shopping has caught on with the customers. The choice of batteries, their features and their price can be immediately known and orders can be placed. Decide on which battery and which brand you want for your camcorder and continue to shoot pictures to keep your memories alive.

Battery Usage Tips

1. A new camcorder battery comes in a discharged condition and must be charged before use (refer to the devices manual for charging instructions). Upon initial use (or after a prolonged storage period) the digital camcorder battery may require three to four charge/discharge cycles before achieving maximum capacity.

2. When charging the camcorder battery for the first time the device may indicate that charging is complete after just 10 or 15 minutes. This is a normal phenomenon with rechargeable batteries. Remove the digital camcorder battery from the device, reinsert it and repeat the charging procedure.

3. It is important to condition (fully discharge and then fully charge) the camcorder battery every two to three weeks. Failure to do so may significantly shorten the battery's life (this does not apply to Li-Ion batteries, which do not require conditioning). To discharge, simply run the device under the digital camcorder battery's power until it shuts down or until you get a low battery warning. Then recharge the battery as instructed in the user's manual.

4. If the camcorder lithium ion batteries will not be in use for a month or longer, it is recommended that digital camcorder battery be removed from the device and stored in a cool, dry, clean place.

5. The milliamp-hour (mAh) rating of the Hi-CapacityT camcorder battery will often be higher than the one on the original battery. A higher mAh rating is indicative of a longer lasting (higher capacity) battery and will not cause any incompatibilities. A Hi-CapacityT digital camcorder battery will, in most cases, outperform the original by 30% to 50%.

6. New camcorder needs to be fully charged and discharged (cycled) a few times before it can condition to full capacity. Rechargeable batteries undergo self-discharging when left unused. Always store a digital camcorder in a fully charged staged for storage.

7. Don't short circuit terminal or store your digital camcorder with metal parts. Don't connect and disconnect the camcorder within a short interval to prevent irregular charging of the rechargeable battery.

8. It's okay to use different brands of digital camera batteries in the same device -- for example, Energizer, Duracell, and generic. Voltage is voltage, and the device neither knows nor cares that made the camera batteries you put in it. Remember, you can mix brands but not types

9. Camcorder Batteries self-discharge quicker when it's hot. They're fine at room temperature, but once it's over 90o or so, they'll start losing their charge faster. So don't leave digital camcorder in a hot car.

10. Don't overheat. Do not attempt to charge non-rechargeable batteries. This will overheat them and could cause a fire. Keep camcorder batteries out of hot places, like your car. Your car can be an oven, and baking your digital camcorder batteries shortens their life.

11. Store properly. Keep your camera batteries in a cool, dry place. The refrigerator is cool, but not dry. You could store your camera batteries in the refrigerator and maximize their life by using a silica gel to keep the batteries dry. This however, is an expensive and inconvenient option.

12. Don't short the connections. Keep your camcorder batteries organized. Don't let the ends touch the wrong thing or you'll short the digital camcorder battery.

13. Don't mix and match your camcorder. Use the same chemistry and brand. Never mix rechargeable and non-rechargeable batteries. That's very dangerous to you digital camcorder

14. Invest in a good charger for your camcorder. NiMH batteries should not be charged in a NiCad charger, unless the charger is specifically made for both chemistries. There are cheap chargers and there are expensive chargers. Make sure the charger you get has good reviews and is well made. Chargers with micro-controller chips are usually the best choice of your digital camcorder.

15. When charging your camcorder batteries occasionally discharge them fully before recharging them. This is especially helpful to NiCad batteries. Be careful not to discharge too deeply. (Less than 1v per cell for NiCad and NiMH. E.g., a 3.6v pack to no less than 3v.) Discharging to absolute zero will make your battery useless. It's best if you have a charger with a conditioner that will cycle the digital camera battery for you.

16. Be sure to store your camcorder batteries properly. Do not leave your batteries in a hot car, or in humid conditions. The best storage conditions are a cool, dry place. The refrigerator is fine if you stick in a packet of silica gel with your digital camera batteries in a sealed bag to keep them dry. It is a good idea to charge your NiCad or NiMH batteries fully before use if they have been in storage.

17. Many camcorder battery packs are made up of individual battery cells. When digital camcorder batteries are purchased to be made into a pack it is a good idea to equalize the charge on the batteries before building the pack.

18. Equalizing the camcorder batteries is nothing more than ensuring the voltage on each cell is within a very close range at the same state of charge (i.e. fully charged).If you do not equalize the batteries properly before building a pack, the charge and discharge cycles will be harder on some of the cells and will effectively shorten their life. Once a cell fails the entire digital camcorder pack will be weaker because of the one defunct cell.

19. The first way is to connect the set that will go in the camcorder pack in a parallel configuration. Leave them in this state for at least 24 hours. The cells that have a higher charge will charge the ones with a lower charge and digital camcorder will all equalize.

20. Camcorder Rechargeable batteries have been around for quite a while, and if you have been around for a while too you probably remember all the trouble with digital camcorder rechargeable batteries when the NiCad (Nickel Cadmium) rechargeable batteries first came out. There were major problems with memory effect and poor performance and most consumers gave up on using them before the technology had much of a chance to improve.