Do Li-Ion batteries hold a charge while sitting?

[Mr Yuck]

I like to keep a spare battery with me, with my compact digitals, I could simply put some regular AAs in my bag, since NIMH batteries lose their charge if they sit.

But now I have an XTi, and you cant just buy disposable NiCD batteries at Rite Aid for it.

I read somewhere that you shouldnt leave an Li-Ion battery on a charger, but havent read anything about having the charged battery just sit in the camera bag. My question is, will it hold the charge while it sits in my camera bag and be ready when I need it?

[SmartWombat]

LiIon will keep charge longer than NiCd and NiMH and doesn't suffer from memory effect like NiCd but I still wouldn't keep a battery permanently on charge - that costs money

If you leave a spare battery in your bag for over a month, then it won't be fully charged, but it'll still be a useful backup. I would just charge it every few weeks.

To keep the batteries roughly the same state, I'd swap them from active/backup every few months so that I didn't end up with one worn out and one good battery.

[Mr Yuck]

LiIon will keep charge longer than NiCd and NiMH and doesn't suffer from memory effect like NiCd but I still wouldn't keep a battery permanently on charge - that costs money

If you leave a spare battery in your bag for over a month, then it won't be fully charged, but it'll still be a useful backup. I would just charge it every few weeks.

To keep the batteries roughly the same state, I'd swap them from active/backup every few months so that I didn't end up with one worn out and one good battery.

I swap them as soon as one is dead. (I've just had the camera a week so I havent had the chance to notice any difference)

Thanks

[freygr]

Well the LiIon batteries for my D-70, just stay charged very long. But this last weekend I did something unthinkable. Each day, one on Saturday and one on Sunday, I literally ran a battery deader than a door nail. Over that weekend 3,373 photos. I will be posting some photos from the event

[mn shutterbug]

Over that weekend 3,373 photos. I will be posting some photos from the event

Holy buckets, I can't imagine taking that many shots in 1 weekend. Did you use burst mode? Were you at a wet t-shirt competition?

[Mr Yuck]

Yesterday I filled up a 4gb card, and had 1 bar left on my battery with my XTi.

That was about 450 RAW files, lots of long exposures and a little bit of flash, 3373 is quite a nice haul.

[freygr]

Holy buckets, I can't imagine taking that many shots in 1 weekend. Did you use burst mode? Were you at a wet t-shirt competition?

I'm still working on getting the photo's on the web site! Getting it all to fit in about 80 megs of space. I started out shooting in RAW + JPG, after about hour I down sized to JPG only Fine, after another hour I had to down size again to JPG normal. I just made it through the day with one 512 meg card free. I had one dead battery with the spare the spare 45 minutes away! Other wise there would of been even more photos.

The event was the Region III Championship's, American Vaults Association. In a indoor arena (very poor light) and the horses do move fast requiring fast shutter speeds. To make matters worse I had no idea it was going to take that many photos, my first AVA event. Sunday I only had a memory card that decided it wasn't going to work, but other wise not a problem, about 100 contestants in many classes. Allot more work than the Hunter Jumper or Eventing ( Dressage, Stadium jumping, and Cross country jumping ).

[livin4lax09]

i had a battery that I took 3 photos with it and it was dead. It was pretty awesome. fully charged in the beginning too, just took it off the charger. 2 burst, 1 more, dead.

[Glasstream15]

I got 2 batteries when I bought my XT. So far, I have not actually run one down, but the most pics I have taken in one day was about 350. So at the end of the day, I download to my laptop and change batteries and recharge the one I just used.

I got the BG3 battery grip and I really like it. It will take 2 of the Li-ions or 6 AA NiMH or 6 AA Alkaline. Canon says only about 300 shots on the Alkalines, but at least it is useable if your rechargeables die on you.

1X4 gig, 3X2gig, and 1X1 gig at Fine gives about 2800 shots.

[Grandpaw]

My Li-Ion batteries last a long time. I would recommend getting the high capacity batteries they are well worth the extra couple of dollars they cost, Jeff

[rovowen]

I own a Canon 20D and bought a second battery when I purchased the camera. I have only used one battery in any given day.
The first week, I owned the camera, In a two day period I took over 1400 pictures. If I am not mistaken, I took near 1,000 jpegs before I changed the battery the second day.
I have not noticed any loss while my second battery is in storage. But I usually change them every other time I use the camera.