zuzanne Loc: Crawfordville, FL

First please don't attack me for using off brand batteries. I have used off brand as well as the Canon batteries that camera with the cameras. Last week I charged up all my batteries both Canon and off brands. When I put them in the camera, camera showed full charge, 2 shots later the batteries are dead, all I have is a black screen. I switched out the battery for another fully charged one, same thing couple of shots and battery is dead. This has not happened with the Canon battery yet. But when I was using my Canon SX50 2 weeks ago same thing only this time it also happened with the Canon battery as well.

I have not done any firmware updates on any of the 3 cameras. Since I have never had this happen before I need to find out why they are doing this. Both the T3i and SX50 are about 4 to 5 years old and so are the batteries for them, they do not use same size batteries. The T5i is about a year old as is its batteries.

I understand that batteries wear out over time with use, could this be the problem that I am having? I keep all of my gear stored in bedroom closet and its not used an awful lot. Does anyone have any ideas on what is wrong?

Thanks,
zuzanne

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

I've had that problem with some batteries, in my case they were gone.
Does the charger blink fast? That's another indicator that I get.
Do they seem to charge faster than normal, yet another indicator.

LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

Could be your batteries, but it seems like a long shot that all would act up at the same time. Still, it can happen, especially if you let them sit for extended periods. Are you sure your chargers are working OK? Either way, several of your batteries are getting old. I would order a new one and see if that solves the problem. If it does then I would replace the rest. I wouldn't worry about after market batteries, so long as they are of good quality. I've used Watson, in addition to Canon, for years with no problems. Canon doesn't make batteries anyway. They buy them from suppliers. For all I know, Watson could make them. Let us know how you make out.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Many rechargeable batteries (according to an electronic engineer I talked with about batteries even the ones that aren't supposed to) He said to never let them die sitting on their own and never leave them on the charger after they are fully charged unless it is one of those high end (expensive) chargers with a monitoring circuit that turns off the charging when they are full. He also suggested that you never recharge until they are down below 40% but best if still not fully drained. It causes the battery sensor to indicate fully charged when it isn't.

On many batteries that develop a memory it is possible to "refresh" them to a fair % or their old performance. As specified in a booklet that came with a Hewlett Packard laptop back in the 90s. Turn off all the power saver features of the device so it will not shut itself down when the battery indicates it is low and leave it turned on as much as 24-48 hours after it goes off. Then charge it up and repeat. I did this with a computer battery was down to only 15-20 minutes of working life and got it back up to 90% of its new operation time.
A friend who is a policemen said they ran into the same problem with their rechargeable flashlights in the patrol cars when they first got them. The flashlight rack on the dash was the charger. They had to start: a. not keep the lights in those charger/racks until they needed a charge b. they started using extra flash lights (often their old battery ones) when they had to refresh the rechargeable ones. They would turn them on and leave them alone for 2 or 3 days then charge them up. And they learned not to let them discharge and stay that way for long periods of time (like sitting on a shelf, take the batteries out and store them with about a 40% charge, then use them a while and when put back in storage, again with about a 40% charge. new batteries are charged about that much when they leave the factory. The ones that run down to 0 and stay there a long time will often be completely dead after a few months.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

You clearly have a problem that needs to be addressed, and it doesn't seem to be anything to do with the brand of the batteries. Certainly some brands are better than others, but that doesn't look like the issue. The batteries you have for the T3i / T5i are Canon LP-E8 or compatible Lithium-ion batteries. Mine are a similar age to yours and neither the Canon brand nor the generic ones are causing me any problem. Lithium-ion batteries do not normally suffer from a 'memory problem' with recharging which some older technologies did. You may have another problem, possibly your charger. It is possible that some of your batteries have died of old age, but there could be other problems. Do you have more than one charger? If so can you see what happens if you try different chargers?

You may need to experiment a little to see what kind of pattern becomes apparent. Good luck!

Bultaco Loc: Aiken, SC

I purchased a SX50 several years ago & 2 canon batteries. Six months ago my wife would take 20 shots and batteries would die, 2 new ones fixed the issue.

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

Regarding ALL batteries-- they will fail. whether used all the time or never they will fail. Ever rurned on a flashlight after it sat in a drawer for 2 or 3 years? Nothing. because batteries fail. Your batteries are 4-5 years old, they may have reached "end of life". Try a new battery, with the old charger as a test. If the new battery holds a charge problem solved. If not- charge the new battery in a new charger. If it works then you know it's the old charger. If it still doesn't work then you have a camera problem of some kind. Hope this helps

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

I have used very cheap no-name batteries for both my T3i and SX50, and have a couple that are 3 - 4 years old. The biggest difference from what you mention is that I use mine a whole lot!

If I were you, I'd start with a couple of new (any brand) and new chargers, then research carefully the best way to store and re-charge after long periods of no use.

Also, if you do purchase new ones, leave on the charger overnight before first use.

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

I would suggest you check the firmware updates on all your cameras and see if battery effectiveness is included. Nikon had battery problems with some Coolpix cameras in the past. Firmware updates corrected it.

GENorkus Loc: Washington Twp, Michigan

Exactly what happened on my Pentax a couple months back!

After much research, I found the fancy dual battery charger I picked up last year was only charging to partial charge and showing it fully charged on charger and in camera.

The camera did show full charge but when a high iso was used, the battery screwed with the camera. Depending on the iso value used it wouldn't operate the shutter at all after 15 min or so. Higher iso, faster dead battery.

What I did was put batteries on my older slow factory charger, charge for a couple hours each battery. (got four with my grip.)

Haven't had a problem since!

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

I don't think it's the age of your batteries, most of mine are about 7-8 years old and they work just like as if they were new. I don't know why that is happening, another possibility is a faulty charger maybe.

zuzanne Loc: Crawfordville, FL

Thank you all for all your help. I never thought about the issue may be the charger. I will try different charger and see if that fixes the problem. If not I will buy some new batteries and a different charger to see if that fixes issue. Will let you know what happens. Going to Grand Canyon over July 4th weekend and don't want to deal with dead batteries and missed shots.

You guys are the best.

zuzanne

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

You say that your equipment isn't used a lot and that might be the problem.

I've have batteries that sat for a long time and drained really completely act just like you described initially... taking only a minimal charge that was quickly drained.

However, after several drain/recharge cycles they seemed to take a more complete charge and recover completely... worked fine.

This occurred with both OEM and 3rd party batteries (the OEM were also Canon, which I use too).

Otherwise, rechargeable batteries don't seem to be effected by age all that much (I have some that are 12+ years old and still work fine)... OTOH, they DO seem to only have so many recharge cycles in them. After a lot of use, I've seen them start to drop off in the number of shots possible. I think typical rechargeables are good for about 400 recharges, though. I do make a point of using them fairly fully... not just "topping them up" after a few shots and light usage.

For an important shooting opportunity, you might want to get one or two new batteries regardless. It's always good to have spares. With older Nicads I carries two spare/backup batteries for every one in-camera. With more modern Lithium I always carry at least one spare/backup per in-camera battery. I shot an event yesterday with two cameras, both fitted with battery grips that hold dual batteries. Shooting about 5500 images, I ended up switching batteries in both cameras once and still have power to spare.

I agree, too, that it would be a good idea to try a different charger to see if that helps. In effect, use process of elimination to figure out where the weak link it.... what needs to be replaced, if necessary.

Things you can do to conserve battery power:

- Don't use the built-in flash. Use a separate one that has it's own power supply instead (which are better anyway, for a lot of other reasons).
- Turn off auto playback of every image. Using the camera's LCD monitor is another big drain on batteries. Minimize using it any more than necessary. I just spot check images, every so often.
- Set the camera to go into sleep mode after the shortest time possible. With most cameras the last ten years this isn't a problem because they wake up almost instantly.
- Turn off features such as GPS or WiFi, that tend to use power continuously.

Video also consumes a lot of power. Really long exposure shots and extensive use of Live View do, too, since the shutter requires continuous power to hold it open.

Still photos at more common shutter speeds (without Live View), autofocus and image stabilization don't use very much power.

Self-cleaning sensors also don't use much battery power... but propping the shutter open for some minutes to do a manual sensor cleaning does use a lot of juice.

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

I've had bad luck with 3rd party batteries and don't use them... but, I don't "attack" those who do. 4-5 years old says quite a bit about your batteries - not the cameras, just the batteries. I'd say they're all shot. In my experience what you have happening is common to batteries that a are done. Showing a full charge? Yes they'll do that when they have only a minimum charge in them.

Try buying one new Canon battery for your t3i and see if it works. If it does what I expect, you'll have your answer.

Best of luck.

zuzanne Loc: Crawfordville, FL

Update on battery issues. I charged the Canon battery for the SX 50 with no issues. The other 2 off brand batteries for it did not charge even though charger said they were charged. When I put them in the camera it would not even turn on. I threw them away. I don't have a 2nd charger for the SX50 but feel that if it charged the Canon battery with no issues it must have been the 2 off brand batteries not the charger.

I used a different charger for the T3i and T5i batteries as I have 3 chargers for them. All seemed to be holding charge except one, I threw it away because it was old battery that I got as a backup for the T3i in 2011. I am going to purchase new batteries and charger for these cameras as I have a trip coming up to the Grand Canyon and I don't want to worry about not having fully charged batteries.

Thank you all for your help and advice, I really appreciate it.

zuzanne