Batteries and battery care - Video camera courses
Summary sheetHow do they work?
The popular Info Li-ion batteries contain a small computer circuitry, which watches the state of the battery and communicates it to the camera, which displays the remaining battery power in minutes.
Original or generic batteries?
This can be critical for an accurate ò€˜battery remaining time" display. It is not so much the capacity of the battery as it is the display.Ò What I mean is, a generic battery displays i.e. 5min remaining power or is flashing battery and the camera runs for another 30min?!
In the worst case scenario the camera doesn"t recognise the battery at all.
How to take care of batteries
Run batteries fully flat before recharge. Have two or more batteries and rotate them regularly. If batteries behave odd or won"t last very long, repeat a discharge and charge procedure multiple times. Even though modern batteries supposedly don"t develop a memory, I did resurrect some batteries with this procedure.
Tips for prolonging your battery power
1. Use Your Viewfinder Instead of the LCD Screen. Through the flip-out, LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) screen, you do get the best visual representation of what your video will actually look like, but if you want more battery power, keep the LCD shut you will have an energy savings between 10% -20% depending on the type of camera and screen.
2. Buy Large and Extra Batteries. When you buy your camera it usually comes with a "starter" battery pack, that will last about an hour. You can use these "starter" packs for as long as you own the camera, however it is a good investment to upgrade to a larger battery as soon as you can.
Even though they can be expensive, you will thank me the next time you shoot your ultimate video and do not run out of battery power. You can keep the "starter" battery pack as a reserve, knowing you can tape for another hour.
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