Battery life issues on 20D

[FlyingPete]

OK, my 20D used to get excellent battery life, but recently in teh last few weeks things have changed, and changed on all batteries (i.e. it is the charger or the camera).

About five minutes after switching on it drops a 'bar' on the charge indicator, and I only get about two hours constant use out of it (around 200 shots) before needing to change battery. I dont have a BP.

Anyone else had this happen? I think it might be time to visit the Canon man, I just don't want to be without the 20D for the weeks it normally takes to look at these issues.

[tim]

Here's a wild guess: it's been cold here, could that have anything to do with the battery life? It's a long shot, but you never know.

I've noticed recently my batteries don't seem to be lasting as long as well. I did a theatre shoot on the weekend, my fully charged Canon BP-511A didn't last as long as I expected before showing low battery. I took it out of the camera, put it in my warm pocket for a few minutes, put it back in, and the battery showed good again.

[Todd Jacobsen]

Here's a wild guess: it's been cold here, could that have anything to do with the battery life? It's a long shot, but you never know.

I've noticed recently my batteries don't seem to be lasting as long as well. I did a theatre shoot on the weekend, my fully charged Canon BP-511A didn't last as long as I expected before showing low battery. I took it out of the camera, put it in my warm pocket for a few minutes, put it back in, and the battery showed good again.

Did you make any changes to your LCD view time from the menu? Increase your LCD use?

[tim]

Did you make any changes to your LCD view time from the menu? Increase your LCD use?

I used the LCD more, which would explain this weekend, but not the previous time the battery life seems to have gone down. Anyway, I didn't mean to steal the thread, Pete's problem sounds a lot more serious than mine.

[gasrocks]

I think your comment "...I don't want to be without my 20D...." tells me you could afford to get a Canon bty and try it out - that will tell us if it is the charger or not. You won't regret having another good bty anyway. Leave it in the charger overnight even. Most rechargeable bty are at about 85-90% when the charger light says they are done. And yes, changing the way you shoot - flash, amt of review, LCD use, truning the camera excessively on/off, etc. can shorten bty life.

[thomasrhee]

Other than looking at the obvious differences in your useage such as LCD useage and weather conditions, it's pertinent to know HOW you're using/charging your batteries.

With lithium ion batteries, it's important to keep it as fully charged as possible as frequently as possible. Unlike, NiMH batteries which have a "memory" effect, you want to recharge your battery after any useage. Just plug the batteries into your charger overnight. With NiMH, you should be using the batteries until they die out before recharging, opposite of what you should be doing with lithium ion's.

[tim]

I think your comment "...I don't want to be without my 20D...." tells me you could afford to get a Canon bty and try it out - that will tell us if it is the charger or not. You won't regret having another good bty anyway. Leave it in the charger overnight even. Most rechargeable bty are at about 85-90% when the charger light says they are done. And yes, changing the way you shoot - flash, amt of review, LCD use, truning the camera excessively on/off, etc. can shorten bty life.

Why are you assuming Pete doesn't have a Canon battery already? Most people will, as one comes with the camera.

I find the battery life of my generic batteries long than that of my Canon battery.

[FlyingPete]

Why are you assuming Pete doesn't have a Canon battery already? Most people will, as one comes with the camera.

I find the battery life of my generic batteries long than that of my Canon battery.

Right back from a client...

One Canon battery, and three non-Canons, all suffering.

Not sure about the cold thing though, I am running the camera in warm environments, it is rarely in the cold (never under 10degC) for any legth of time.

No extra LCD use, in fact I have the auto-preview turned off by default, and I never use the internal flash. Some use of an IS lens, but that fact has not changed.