Battery in or out?

[cerveza4lu]

First, thank you for this great forum. I'm new here but have already learned a lot.

My question is whether or not anyone leaves their batteries in their camera for extended periods of time? I was taught to never leave batteries in the camera or flash b/c of possible leakage, but is this still a concern w/the Li-ion batteries we now use in our digitals?

Just wondering what your opinions are.

[ddelallata]

I leave them on my camera, but not on my flash.

[Mitcon]

Mine stay in the camera but they get cycled around every couple of days as they are used alot :D. For really long term storage I would take them out I guess but I don't think my camera will ever get that much of a rest.

[pcasciola]

I leave the batteries in all the time, two because I leave the grip on all the time as well, and I find they rarely need to be charged. I probably charge them on average about once every six weeks, and I average about 1,000 shots a month.

[ssim]

The batteries always stay in my camera. There are those rare occasions where the camera goes unused for a week or so but this doesn't do any harm.

[elbirth]

The batteries always stay in my camera. There are those rare occasions where the camera goes unused for a week or so but this doesn't do any harm.

same here with me. I don't know if my camera has quite gone a week without usage, though... but sometimes it'll stay put up for a few days when I'm not getting out much. I should probably take the rechargables out of my flash though, because that gets used much much less. It honestly never really crossed my mind about them leaking in my equipment... that would be very bad

[lancea]

It usually takes years for a battery to break down to the degree that it oozes gunk. I've never seen a "recent technology" battery get to that state - so I'm not even sure if they do leak. But if you're leaving your camera gear unused for 6 months or longer then I'm sure it'd make sense to play safe, but otherwise you'll almost certainly be replacing the battery before it self detructs.

[cerveza4lu]

Cool, that'll make life much easier. It might go a week or two between uses, but definitely no longer than that. Unfortunately, I have seen firsthand what devastation leaking batteries can cause, but that was in an old SLR with non Li-ion batteries (about 20 years ago).

[elbirth]

It usually takes years for a battery to break down to the degree that it oozes gunk. I've never seen a "recent technology" battery get to that state - so I'm not even sure if they do leak. But if you're leaving your camera gear unused for 6 months or longer then I'm sure it'd make sense to play safe, but otherwise you'll almost certainly be replacing the battery before it self detructs.

oddly enough, I actually had some energizer rechargables leak on me within the past year or so, but it was in their charger. I had charged them up and when fully charged, unplugged them. I let them sit in that until I needed them, and a couple days later when I went to get them, 2 of the 4 had leaked everywhere. I threw the whole thing away because it was way too much to deal with trying to clean, and it probably didn't work anymore anyway.

[AjP]

I keep my in all the time, since I'm shooting alot especially now (weddng season) I change my flash and camera battery almost every event

[BobL]

It usually takes years for a battery to break down to the degree that it oozes gunk. I've never seen a "recent technology" battery get to that state - so I'm not even sure if they do leak. But if you're leaving your camera gear unused for 6 months or longer then I'm sure it'd make sense to play safe, but otherwise you'll almost certainly be replacing the battery before it self detructs.

Of the couple of hundred NiMH batteries we have been through at work since 1998? I have seen 3 leak. One was a AA kodak that was dropped down some concrete stairs, the other 2 were AAA panansonics in a PDA that was also dropped. I also experienced first hand how much energy they contain even though they are supposedly flat. I once got a rather warm backside when I slipped 4 flat batteries into a trouser back pocket which also contained a bunch of keys. When I sat down the keys managed to short out a battery and in about 30 seconds generated enough heat to make me jump! BTW, that battery was obviously discharged so badly and probably damaged internally that it would not hold a charge after that experience.