Rechargeable Camera Battery

[Jathrodean]

I'd imagine that this is a very simple question but here goes!
Can you overcharge the rechargeable batteries that come in a lot of todays digital cameras?
It's just that I intend to have mine fully charged every morning when we are on holiday but remember that rechargeable batteries used to have to be fully discharged before you should charge them again.

 

[Yandros]

Certainly the ones in our household cameras (3 Nikons...no comments please Senu!!! ) are designed to be topped up, and don't suffer from being part recharged. On holiday I always top up all batteries at night to full.

 

[senu]

The Lithium Ion batteries and Ni MH apparently do not suffer the memory effect and cannot really be overcharged ( in my experience) , Unlike the older NiCD

Just think of them as the batteries in a cordless phone which is always on its base

As for the 3 Ni.... Shhh!!!!

 

[jonnypb]

I might be wrong but i'm sure I read in the canon manual that the batteries shouldn't be left on charge overnight for more than 12 hours as that can have an adverse effect on them

 

[senu]

I might be wrong but i'm sure I read in the canon manual that the batteries shouldn't be left on charge overnight for more than 12 hours as that can have an adverse effect on them

I think it depends on which . The 350D ( and 400D) batteries state 24 consecutive hrs and the 30Ds don't state any max charge time at all.
In both cases topping up is Ok if you want to do a lot of shooting.Paradoxically , Keeping batteries regularly fully charged out of the camera is not adviced

Since the Batteries go from empty to full charge in 90 mins I imagine charging them for 24 hrs should never really be required

 

[Yandros]

The manuals do warn about not overcharging (I don't leave mine for more than a few mins). I'd certainly not leave them charging overnight - seen too many videos of laptop batteries catching fire for a start!

Oh and Senu - my other half INSISTED on a 3rd Nikon, even though I thought the little Canon Ixus we had on her shortlist was nicer!

 

[senu]

The manuals do warn about not overcharging (I don't leave mine for more than a few mins). I'd certainly not leave them charging overnight - seen too many videos of laptop batteries catching fire for a start!

That is certainly a danger and as i said they don't take longer than 90 min for full charge. You would have to take several hundred shots to run low. I find that camcorder batteries are more likely to go so even with them, the longer ( 5-6hrs) are holiday essentials
I would certainly get a spare battery for a digital camera if going on Holiday rather than "overcharge" even though that is unlikely as it would take up to 24hrs ( In the case of Canon 350/400) to affect the batteries longevity

Oh and Senu - my other half INSISTED on a 3rd Nikon, even though I though the little Canon Ixus we had on her shortlist was nicer!

I guess the NAS vaccine is yet to make it to your house!! ( A Canon Ixus would feel very unloved there... I think)