How long for a new battery to charge??

I just received my brand new 50D today. I've had the battery charging since about noon today but it's still showing the amber light on the charger. When I first plugged it in, the charge light was flashing for a while before it became solid amber. It's been about 7 hrs but the charge light is still amber. Does it take this long for a brand new battery to charge??? I'm dying to use my new 50d but I want to make sure the battery is fully charged the first time!

Don't know about the 50D, but the ones for the XS only take a couple of hours. It should tell you in the manual, probably in the getting started section at the beginning.

If it's anything like the charger for my 30D, flashing indicates stages of charging; solid light indicates complete. Check your manual.

Hehehe, it's done charging. I think these batteries usually takes around 90 minutes to fully charge, then you should leave it plugged in for another hour or so. For the charger, the scale is, if I remember correctly:

3 quick flashes = low charge

2 flashes = 50% charge

1 slow flash = 75% charge

no flash, light is on constant = 100% charge

Per the 50D manual:
It takes about 100 min. to fully recharge a completely exhausted battery.

Recharge Level Charge Lamp
0-50% Blinks once per second
50-75% Blinks twice per second
75-90% Blinks three times per second
90% or Higher Lights on

Man...I knew I should've read that manual! LOL! Here I am waiting for the amber light to turn green. That's what I'm use to with my chargers for my canon video camera! Thanks for the help! I've been lurking for a few months and just joined the forum recently! You guys have alot to share and I have alot to learn!

I hope to post a picture of a duck real soon!

normally put mine on for 24 hours to be certain whenever i have a new one.

5 minutes. I can never wait longer then that.

If you have time, let it charge for 1 hour after light turns solid. I read that somewhere, possibly in Canon literature.