Battery maintenance
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There are five basic types of battery in use in Nikon cameras and other common equipment:
- Proprietary rechargeable, replaceable, batteries, generally Li-ion, which are the camera's main power source
- Internally fitted rechargeable batteries, which control the clock and other non-volatile data, which can only be replaced as part of a full service. They are charged from the main battery
- Consumer non-rechargeable batteries, such as the AA batteries in Speedlights, which can also be fitted into some cameras with a special housing as a replacement for the main batteries. Alkaline types are usually recommended, on account of the significant power-draw of both Speedlights and cameras
- Consumer rechargeable batteries, typically NiMH though sometimes Ni-Cad, which are generally preferred for the same applications as non-rechargeable batteries.
- Lead acid batteries are typically used in very high drain applications, such as portable power packs for studio strobes.
Nikon's proprietary batteries come with dedicated chargers capable of recalibrating the battery where necessary. Information about the battery's charge and its calibration status can be obtained from the menus in digital SLRs. Li-ion battery types do not suffer from a 'memory effect' (see below). This means that they can be used when not fully charged.
Internally fitted rechargeable batteries rarely fail, and are not user-serviceable. Leaving the camera without any power source for a long period, however, could cause them to discharge, with the potential loss of data.
Consumer non-rechargeable batteries are generally not recommended. However, in the case of the special housings Nikon provides with some cameras and some battery packs, purchasing a set of alkaline batteries is the main stop-gap for when a battery unexpectedly fails (a rarity) or, more likely, the supply of charged batteries is unavailable. The manuals for Speedlights state the recharge times for alkaline batteries as against NiMH batteries. Generally speaking, modern NiMH batteries provide more power for longer in intensive use. However, alkaline batteries can be retained as a stopgap for longer.
NiMH batteries are now recommended for regular use in Speedlights. They come with a range of ratings in mAh (milli-amp hours), and batteries with a rating of 2700mAH are now relatively cheap. From new, they can be expected last for 500 to 1000 charges. They should be fully charged before the first use, and it will take 3-5 full charge cycles before they reach their peak performance. At normal room temperatures, they lose about 1% of charge each day. When batteries are charged, they should be removed from the charger, otherwise they will discharge. NiMH rapid, conditioning chargers, are now available, which automate the fastest and most battery friendly charging regime. NiMHs should be recharged at least every sixty days, even if not used.
Ni-Cad batteries are sometimes still used. This is an older technology with less capacity than NiMH. They, crucially, suffer from the 'memory effect', which is that a battery which is recharged before it is fully discharged tends to retain less charge on subsequent usage. Batteries which have suffered in this way should be fully discharged, beyond the point at which there is no useful charge left, and then fully charged. Once this has been done 3-5 times, the battery will generally perform as before. This memory effect does not apply to most other types of rechargeable batteries. It most particularly does not apply to lead-acid batteries (car batteries), which suffer if they are fully discharged.
Lead acid batteries should never be fully discharged, and should be kept at full charge as much as possible.
