How many Batteries do you have for your digital M?

cplkao · 01-06-2010

Hello All:
Just curious how many batteries do you have for your M8/9, and how many are the Geniune Leica and how many are the aftermarket? Do you found them to be enough?

I got a secondhand M8 comes with 2 Leica Batteries, one of them can give 2xx-3xx shots , and the other one only gives only 1xx-2xx shots, I blame the reason mainly to old age of the battery, the cold temperature of Edinburgh and I keep the camera exposed to the weather instead of putting it in a warmer place.

I just purchased 2 after market battery for M8 last week as the M8 ran out of battery when I was documenting the new year celebration event on the 1st/Jan, hopefully that will be suffice.

swoop · 01-06-2010

I have two original batteies and one aftermarket battery which sucks.

I've been reminding myself to buy two more for about three months. And I just checked B&H and they're out of stock. Not only that, the price went up from $109, to $129. I fail at life.

Keith · 01-06-2010

Three years down the track I have three batteries ... the original that came with the camera and two of the Chinese variety.

The Chinese examples cost me twenty dollars for the pair and have performed faultlessly ... but I do cycle them regularly!

bobdubois · 01-06-2010

Six, but that's between two bodies.
Bob

robklurfield · 01-06-2010

I do fine with an original and chinese cheapie as a backup.

DRabbit · 01-06-2010

Two, both originals Leicas (and one is from when I bought the camera a few years ago). I may pick up some of those chinese cheapies to have though.

martin s · 01-06-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keith

The Chinese examples cost me twenty dollars for the pair and have performed faultlessly ... but I do cycle them regularly!

How exactly do you do this?

martin

Keith · 01-06-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by martin s

How exactly do you do this?

martin

Every now and then make sure you fully discharge them until they are completely flat then fully recharge. My son has a high tech all purpose battery charger that he uses for the battery packs of his remote controlled cars ... it has the ability to do all this and gives you a read out on the condition of the battery.

Before he got the charger I used to do it in camera by leaving the LCD on but I was always worried that I'd shorten it's life ... this is better!

martin s · 01-06-2010

Thanks Keith, very interesting. I'll look for one of those chargers.

martin

RichC · 01-07-2010

Tip: you can extend the life of lithium batteries massively by storing them in the fridge - see my page on batteries for the Epson R-D1: http://www.richcutler.co.uk/r-d1/r-d1_07.htm

benmacphoto · 01-07-2010

I only have the one original battery for my M8. Never been in a situation where I needed another, but I may pick one up soon just to be safe.

jaapv · 01-07-2010

6 original and 4 OEM(which are worthless..

)

jaapv · 01-07-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keith

Every now and then make sure you fully discharge them until they are completely flat then fully recharge. My son has a high tech all purpose battery charger that he uses for the battery packs of his remote controlled cars ... it has the ability to do all this and gives you a read out on the condition of the battery.

Before he got the charger I used to do it in camera by leaving the LCD on but I was always worried that I'd shorten it's life ... this is better!

Sorry, that goes for Nicads. Li-Ion last longer if they are fully discharged as little as possible. You are actually shortening their life this way.

ampguy · 01-07-2010

Generally Lithium Ion batteries don't benefit from, or require cycling. Is there a reference from Leica on this?

I also have a Maha universal charger with temp sensor and digital readout, but haven't used with the M8 batteries, only old ham radio and RC project batteries that were NiCad and NiMH.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keith

Every now and then make sure you fully discharge them until they are completely flat then fully recharge. My son has a high tech all purpose battery charger that he uses for the battery packs of his remote controlled cars ... it has the ability to do all this and gives you a read out on the condition of the battery.

Before he got the charger I used to do it in camera by leaving the LCD on but I was always worried that I'd shorten it's life ... this is better!

s124am · 01-07-2010

I have two originals but have never needed the back up as of now. Thats in a M9 so no drainage problems to be had here.

phototektour · 01-07-2010

1x original, 1x oege
Both work fine, even outside these days.

LeicaMSeattle · 01-07-2010

I have three genuine batteries that I have labeled and are in rotation. I had a generic battery that didn't hold a charge for long and have since dumped it.

Keith · 01-07-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaapv

Sorry, that goes for Nicads. Li-Ion last longer if they are fully discharged as little as possible. You are actually shortening their life this way.

At least it keeps me happy in the belief that I'm doing the right thing and the good karma spreads to the batteries!

Freakscene · 01-07-2010

I have three Leica and ten third party batteries from an HK eBay seller. They all work well - I get maybe 10-20 shots fewer from the third party batteries. I got so many because I spent August and September last year in Africa and had quite a bit of time away from power sources.

I also have the Delkin Dual charger which charges two batteries at once. I try not to completely flatten the batteries before i recharge them. One of the Leica ones that was my only battery when I first got my M8 now only shows two bars when fully charged but I still get the same number of shots out of it.

Marty

kbg32 · 01-07-2010

I only use the Leica batteries, as 2 of the Chinese copies have failed me.

eleskin · 01-07-2010

I have 2 OEM Leica batteries, and 5 Chinese made batteries that I bought on ebay for $10 each (they all woke fine!)

cplkao · 01-07-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freakscene

I also have the Delkin Dual charger which charges two batteries at once. I try not to completely flatten the batteries before i recharge them.

Marty

Thanks for the sharing Marty, charing two at the same time sound just like something I will need!

Lucas Kao

RFNewbie · 01-08-2010

I also bought a Delkin Dual charger and used it a few times. After that, I had a few shutter going crazy problems (shutter keeps going even after turning off power). Only way to stop it was to remove battery. After putting battery back in, shutter went crazy again. Swapped with my other battery, which didn't help. Took out batteries for a few days praying that issue will go away. During that time, I recharged batteries in the original Leica charger and M8 functioned normal. A few months later, shutter went crazy again. I'm not sure if that was when I tried the Delkin charger again.

I use original Leica batteries. I don't recall there being a huge difference in temperature between the outside and inside so I don't think it was condensation or cold weather.

Since then, I have not used the Delkin charger and the camera has been functioning fine for 6 months. I'm not saying the Delkin charger was the culprit but I'm not going to take the chance. Who knows, it could have been a low battery issue. It's now winter in Boston and I still haven't had a repeat shutter issue.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freakscene

I have three Leica and ten third party batteries from an HK eBay seller. They all work well - I get maybe 10-20 shots fewer from the third party batteries. I got so many because I spent August and September last year in Africa and had quite a bit of time away from power sources.

I also have the Delkin Dual charger which charges two batteries at once. I try not to completely flatten the batteries before i recharge them. One of the Leica ones that was my only battery when I first got my M8 now only shows two bars when fully charged but I still get the same number of shots out of it.

Marty

greggebhardt · 01-08-2010

I have three but one is still new in the box and have not come close to needing it!

baycrest · 01-08-2010

2 Leica & 2 Chinese Batteries

They all perform flawlessly. Haven't experienced ANY problems with discharging them completely before recharging. I discharge them completely, before recharging. Usually keep 2 fully charged and 2 batteries in a fully discharged state. When I go thru one fully charged, then I charge up one of the stored fully discharged in rotation.

Been using them for 2 years or so, they all kick out the +250 snaps per cell.

Perhaps the batteries are hit and miss. I don't know but on eBay if you run a search, when I bot mine, there's a guy that has a 99.8% happy rate and all he sells are no-name batteries for all branded cameras.

Looks like the poor performing no-names were bot from other e-Bayers.

Buying on e-bay is require a bit of practice or luck.....

Best
Rob