Keeping tabs on batteries

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Having several camera batteries, I was wondering if anyone has any tips and techniques for keeping track of which ones are charged or not? At the moment I put one of my daughters hair bobbles around the flat batteries.
 
When out I just put the flat batteries in a different part of my camera bag.
When back home I've got into the habit of charging straight away ready for the next trip.
 
I also recharge my batteries as soon as possible after a shoot.

One other thing I do is I use a permanent marker to put a "dot" on each battery as I get them - so 1 dot on first - 2 dots on next etc. and this allows me to make sure that I cycle the useage across all the batteries with the benefit of keeping them fresh and not risking "wearing out" any one or two which could cause problems later on.

JIm
 
When out I just put the flat batteries in a different part of my camera bag.

Good tip, but my bag only has one main pocket and one front pocket where I keep batteries.

When back home I've got into the habit of charging straight away ready for the next trip.

I also recharge my batteries as soon as possible after a shoot.

One other thing I do is I use a permanent marker to put a "dot" on each battery as I get them - so 1 dot on first - 2 dots on next etc. and this allows me to make sure that I cycle the useage across all the batteries with the benefit of keeping them fresh and not risking "wearing out" any one or two which could cause problems later on.

JIm

I like the marker pen idea. Yeh, basically the root cause of this problem is that I have a habit of forgetting to charge batteries when I get home.
 
Batteries shouldn't be left in a flat state, Charging them as soon as possible after use is the best policy, although they will naturally slowly discharge over an extended period. My Tamrac camera bag has special compartments with red flags that can be folded inside when the battery is discharged.
 
As the Mrs uses my camera fairly often and a) isnt the best at process and b) doesnt always remember to tell me things then I attempt 2 approaches - firstly I put the contact cover on the fully charged batteries and put the dead batteries in the bag without their covers. Secondly I've a seperate compartment where the dead batteries go.

Unfortunately she's not so good at remembering which compartment is which but to date is yet to put the cover on a dead battery so that one works best for me.
 
It's a problem that Mfrs care not to address... so it seems.

I apply a small sticker to each battery marked 1, 2, 3 etc. so in theory when I take out a battery, I replace it with the "next" in the sequence.
For cameras with smaller batteries apply nail-varnish ( with nifty brush = available as "Old" colours, about £1.) to ID, either by dots or numbers, letters, etc.

The same applies to Memory-Cards - by applying Paint you can ID both the Sequential ID and the Capacity, etc . . . so it will be SAVED on yr PC in the correct folder. ( Use different colours as desired ).
I don't paint Numbers on SD cards anymore . . just the Letter, since the number will be easily ID on the PC.... it's the last one in the list with the same Letter-code.

The reason for storing the letter-code is to know which card(s) are reliable . . . after a few months they are Formatted in the Camera and placed in the Kit-Bag . . . when changing cards I can verify the card is empty.... although I sometimes waste one frame to show the Date, so there can be no doubt it does work.

If a battery shows signs of not holding Charge, you can put an X on the label...and address the problem when back home.
If yr Misses won't look after kit-sundries.... sooner of later there will be tears . . . Kit always "fails" when it's least convenient, in my experience.

(( The kit-bag with red-markers is a great idea . . . perhaps folks can sew-in red ribbon to serve similar purpose? )).

Good Luck.
 
I've numbered my batteries now. Would be nice to have terminal covers as also, even though they're recessed, I sometimes wonder about the terminals shorting.
I think there's could be an opening for a product that solves this problem.
 
Well you can buy plastic battery protective cases on the Bay for various models.... though quite expensive (IMO) for what they are....


...cling film or plastic Ziploc bags are much cheaper...
 
My camera bag has two wings with zipped pockets, I just put fresh batteries in one side once they're done I put them in the other side.
 

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LOL - though not exactly how my mind was working Dan... ;)
 
...and it's not Red Bull either :D
 
Canon batteries come with yellow covers to protect the contacts so I keep the covers on fully charged batteries and leave them off used ones. As far as possible I try to fully cycle them.
 
Canon batteries come with yellow covers to protect the contacts so I keep the covers on fully charged batteries and leave them off used ones. As far as possible I try to fully cycle them.

You may want to look into that, I read it may be better to keep them topped up not discharge and full charge .
 
Possibly Depends on the type of battery I think Dan....
 
Yeah most modern camera batteries are Li-on - I was referring to rechargeables in general which covers a variety of battery tech :)
 
@Dancook thanks for mentioning it - reading up looks like keeping topped-up is the better way to go.
 
Having several camera batteries, I was wondering if anyone has any tips and techniques for keeping track of which ones are charged or not? At the moment I put one of my daughters hair bobbles around the flat batteries.
Hair bands work well!
 
Quite simple for me, I ensure I charge up my camera batteries after every outing or before I'm due to go out (batteries charging at the moment). Plus I will look at the camera battery info menu on my 70D to see what charge each battery has and go from there.
 

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