Home Video Hints: Camcorder Battery Care (page 2)

Nickel-Metal Hydride batteries, usually shortened to NiMH, were developed in direct response to the environmentally unfriendly aspects of NiCds. More specifically, manufacturers wanted to develop a NiCd without the poisonous cadmium, and Nickel-Metal Hydride batteries were the result. As a bonus, fully charged NiMH batteries offer 10-25% greater capacity than NiCds. Unfortunately, they are also prone to the same memory effect that NiCds suffer from. You’ll find NiMHs in tons of consumer electronics products now days and you can even find rechargeable NiMHs in standard sizes such as AA and AAA for just about any device that needs batteries.
Like NiCds, NiMH batteries should not be charged immediately after every use. It’s better to allow them to fully discharge instead of constantly topping them off after brief usage. Keep them cool, dry and safe from shock, and even though they don’t contain cadmium, it’s still a good idea to recycle them.

Lithium-Ion batteries (sometimes rendered Li-Ion) are the pinnacle of camcorder battery technology. They offer quick charge times, long life, steady discharge characteristics, low weight and small size. A Lithium-Ion battery offers about 40% more charge capacity than a NiCd battery of similar size and weight and can be fully charged in less than half the time. Lithium-Ion batteries do not suffer from the memory effect. As you might have guessed, Lithium-Ion batteries are also the most expensive type of camcorder battery available on the market today.
Unlike the other technologies we have been talking about, you can (and should) keep your Lithium-Ions fully charged: go ahead and top off a battery that is 90% charged back up to 100%. Otherwise, care and handling is the same as with the other batteries (say it with me): Keep Lithium-Ions cool, dry and safe from shock. Be sure to recycle them when they’re ready to be discarded.

• Mind the weather. Very hot or cold conditions can affect a battery’s performance and in some cases can even cause permanent damage. If you have an outdoor shoot in the Mojave desert in August or in Minnesota in February, be sure to keep the batteries climate-controlled as long as possible. Keep them in the car with the heater or cooler running, for example, until you need them, and return them to these conditions as quickly as possible when you’re done shooting.
• Bag ‘em. Many professionals store their charged batteries in plastic baggies. This keeps them dry and clean and also provides a way to tell which batteries are charged and which are not.
• Mark charged batteries. So now you’ve got four identical spare batteries for your camcorder; how can you tell which one is charged when you grab the camera for a shoot? Having some method, such as a piece of colored tape, to tell which ones are charged and which are not could prove very useful.
• Don’t overcharge your batteries. Especially with older technologies, follow the instructions and avoid overcharging your batteries. Leaving NiCds on the charger for a week is not a great idea from a safety standpoint, but can also affect battery performance.

Thermodynamic Laws

Eventually, all batteries reach the end of their lifespan and, alas, new batteries must take their place. However, if you take good care of them, you can prolong the life span of your batteries by a year or more. And given the sometimes high cost of replacement batteries, that’s good news, indeed.

Joe McCleskey is an instructional media specialist.

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