I've recently refreshed both of my 1DMkIIn batteries (genuine Canon), but after putting one in yesterday and taking just 5 shots, the meter dropped to the 1/2 point.

Has anyone else experienced this? Are the batteries both worn out or is there a possible issue with the logic behind the meter itself? I have less than 10,00 images on the original battery that came with the camera. I doubt the battery is dead now.

Any info out there?

EDIT: I have 24,000 images on the original battery. I guess I underestimated.

Edited by James Broome on Mar 28, 2008 at 10:56 AM GMT (Reason: added actual number of shutter actuations)

From new these batteries are only good for about a year. Some get as much as three years, but that depends on the storage interval prior to use.

It sounds like the batteries are simply dead.

Not familiar with the type of battery that model uses. Is it NiHM or Li-ion?

Li-ion batteries are affected by shorts and overcharging and have circuitry to prevent such damage. You may remember the recall of Sony laptop batteries which had a nasty habit of overheating and catching fire? That's what will happen when a Li-ion battery is shorted and why they have the protection circuitry. From your description and timing of events that it appears if the batteries are Li-ion you might have damaged the protection circuits of the batteries with your "refresh" procedure. How exactly did you refresh them?

Edited by cgardner on Mar 28, 2008 at 07:57 PM GMT

cgardner wrote:
From your description and timing of events it appears you might have damaged the protection circuits of the batteries with your "refresh" procedure. How exactly did you refresh them?

I used the 'refresh' button on my Canon charger.

I have the same issue with my IIN regardless of the bettery I am using. I have not spent any time trying to figure it out except to know that if I turn the camera off and then back on, the meter usually shows the correct measurement.

It does not seem to be related to the actual amount of charge in the battery.

same with me. usually i turn the camera on and off several times and then it will eventually show full. but i noticed that it goes from full to half quickly (unlike new batteries) and then goes from half to empty in a normal duration. so overall, it seems that the older battery life is not as good as a new one.

nathanlake wrote:
I have the same issue with my IIN regardless of the bettery I am using. I have not spent any time trying to figure it out except to know that if I turn the camera off and then back on, the meter usually shows the correct measurement.

It does not seem to be related to the actual amount of charge in the battery.

Well, with the battery showing 'half', I went into the back yard and have fired off (so far) 1,200 images. It's still going.

*shrug*

Something isn't right.

When I had my MkIIn I never encountered any problems with the batteries or the meter. I did however refresh the batteries every other charge and to be honest never noticed any decrease in performance even after two years.

The battery level sensing in the 1DmkII and 1DmkIIn is not considered to be very useful for knowing much about the state of the remaining charge. Small variations in the battery properties will always make simple voltage measurement a poor way to gage battery life. So do not worry too much about the indicator, and use frame count as a better way to judge how well your older batteries are holding up. And always have a spare with you.

The newer 1DmkIII has an advanced battery charge state monitoring system build into each battery. There is some sort of active system with memory built in, that communicates with the camera and the charger. And the charge state indicator in the camera is much better at showing charge state, with more levels of reporting. I am still far from wearing out a mkIII battery, so I do not know how well a weak battery will show up, but my guess is it will better show weak batteries with the accurate charge state display.

The new mkIII batteries are also Li-ion instead of the NiHM of the old 1D series batteries, with a larger number of shots per battery, plus lighter weight. The new battery system is to the point where you do not need a spare battery with you, unless it is a highly critical shoot, where you would have a spare camera also anyway.

I've had that happen a couple of times. Generally removing and reinstalling the battery fixes it for me.