XSi battery wonky behaviour

Well, I've had this issue with my XSi (purchased in AD 2009) in which I turn it on and it doesn't. Apparently the battery drains very quickly. Camera worked great for ~3 years before this started happening. I replaced the battery in AD 2012 and the problem went away, but now it's back. Battery won't hold charge for more than 3-4 days it seems. Is this a normal lifetime for batteries? Or is it something with the camera?

I'm wondering if I should buy a new battery or just think of replacing the camera. I don't really use it much, but it's useful as backup.

Sounds like a bad battery; that's definitely not normal. My T1i will hold a charge for several weeks even with some use.

Did you buy a real Canon-branded battery, or a 3rd-party clone?

Canon. I don't like 3rd party stuff.

Are you removing the battery from the camera or leaving it in when not in use?

Dave3222 wrote in post #16904424
Are you removing the battery from the camera or leaving it in when not in use?

I leave it in, since I'm not leaving the camera unused for long periods of time (i.e. weeks, like the manual says). It's not uncommon that I use it every day or every other day.

third party batteries, some don't hold up as well as others - get a new one.

may also want to check/replace the date battery, getting up there in age too.

OK. A battery is cheaper than a camera, LOL.

This battery says '201112'. So, I guess it's quite old. Interesting how you never seem to get batteries of the current year; I just purchased a 'new' battery for my 5D2 and it says '201205'.

Alveric wrote in post #16904422
Canon. I don't like 3rd party stuff.

I bought a 3rd party battery from Deal Extreme for the XSi/450D and it lasted four (4) years, probably still going strong but I no longer use the XSi