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"The Use And Care Of Camcorder Batteries Or What you didn't know about Camcorder Batteries"

There are 2 types of camcorder batteries - (1)  nickel cadmium (Ni-Cad) batteries and (2)  lead acid.

While both are batteries, they are electrochemically different.

How does this difference affect the care and performance of the battery?

For starters, the two types lose voltage at different rates. The voltage of a lead acid battery falls off gradually as it is being used, until it finally reaches the cut-off where the camcorder shuts down. That gives the user plenty of time - sometimes as much as 20 minutes - between the low-battery warning's first appearance and the camcorders quitting for good.

Ni-Cad batteries, on the other hand, deliver a very steady voltage right up to the point at which they are totally discharged. Then they fall off a cliff - meaning the users of Ni-Cad batteries had better wrap up their taping in a hurry (sometimes as little as 2 minutes!) once the low battery indicator lights up.

But it's in recharging where the differences between the two types becomes critical.

Lead acid batteries are most effective when they're immediately recharged after every use. In fact, it's best to store them in a totally charged state. A lead acid battery that's too deeply discharged may never perform to its potential again.

Ni-Cad batteries require almost the exact opposite treatment. Worked too gently and charged too often, they can develop a "memory" of their soft treatment and refuse to rise to the occasion when a long bout of taping is called for. If you typically use your camcorder for about 10 minutes and then recharge it before putting it away, and you repeat this cycle a few times, the battery will eventually refuse to work for more than 15 minutes - no matter how much you charge it. That's why it's best to make sure a Ni-Cad battery is totally discharged before charging it again. In fact, near total discharge is the best way to increase the life of a Ni-Cad.  

A Quick Guide for Each Battery Type

Ni-Cad Batteries

  • Should be almost completely discharged before being charged again

  • Can be recharged about 1,000 times

  • Can lose about 10% of their power per year

Lead Acid Batteries

  • Should be recharged after every use

  • Can be recharged about 500 times

  • Can lose as much as 20% of their power per year