battery question

[John Camp]

Battery question:

The handbook says the battery must be discharged three times before it reaches max capacity for later recharges. Does this mean, discharged all the way to the point where the cmaera no longer works? Or just pretty much discharged, where the battery indicator is in the lower 1/3?

 

[johnbuckley]

John - the instructions also say that you should fully discharge the batteries, via use in the camera, every 25 times. I interpret this to mean, yes, use the camera to keep shooting til the battery dies, then recharge.

Now, I am not trying to start a new thread on the M8's deficiencies, because honestly, I love mine. But I did have a battery problem yesterday.

Fully charged, I was going to walk from my home to the voting booth a few blocks aways, and halfway there, it just died.

Came back and charged it up and all seems fine. But that's a scary problem to have. I am hoping that it relates to the issue of how many times you need to charge the battery before it is optimal.

 

[John Camp]

My biggest problem right now is the lack of backup batteries. I've ordered one, but who knows when they'll come in. That means for these first few times, every time you run the battery down to nothing, you have to wait three hours to use it again, if you happen to be at home. If you're out...then it's even longer, and *you're all done* shooting.

JC

 

[gurtch]

My biggest problem right now is the lack of backup batteries. I've ordered one, but who knows when they'll come in. That means for these first few times, every time you run the battery down to nothing, you have to wait three hours to use it again, if you happen to be at home. If you're out...then it's even longer, and *you're all done* shooting.

JC

I like Canon's battery charger for the 1DSII. It has a "Refresh" feature, i.e. the charger slowly discharges the battery completely, then fully charges it. If I have an important shoot, I do this the night before, and am insured of a long lasting battery. This is much more efficient than running the battery down completely in camera, especially if you have no back up. I assume Leica could do something like this. (The Canon charger is a "monster"--huge and difficult to store and transport when travelling).
I'm waiting for my M8, and will live with the battery charger.
Dave

 

[Grober]

The DC power from your automobile (via the cable supplied with the M8) m-a-y charge the battery faster than 120V AC. Just a hunch...

My M8 arrives tomorrow.

-g