Hello,

My main concern is whether or not to keep the battery in the camcorder when it not in use. I was told that is it best to remove the battery.
What are your takes on this?

My camcorder: HF100 (Lithium Ion Battery)

That is the general recommendation.

My main concern is whether or not to keep the battery in the camcorder when it not in use. I was told that is it best to remove the battery.
What are your takes on this?


How long do you intend to put away the camcorder? There will be some battery drain when attached to the camcorder, so it would be a good idea to top up the battery if not in use for a while. Keep the battery off the camcorder will help to reduce battery discharge, but it will still happen anyways, just to a lesser extent.

On the other hand, while the battery is off the camcorder, you are actually draining the built-in rechargeable lithium button cell for maintaining camcorder settings. As with any lithium battery, it does not like total discharge. This may happen if the battery is off for over 3 months. And this built-in battery is not user changeable.

My recommendation is just to leave the battery on. And recharge it the day before you need it for an outing.

How long do you intend to put away the camcorder? There will be some battery drain when attached to the camcorder, so it would be a good idea to top up the battery if not in use for a while. Keep the battery off the camcorder will help to reduce battery discharge, but it will still happen anyways, just to a lesser extent.

On the other hand, while the battery is off the camcorder, you are actually draining the built-in rechargeable lithium button cell for maintaining camcorder settings. As with any lithium battery, it does not like total discharge. This may happen if the battery is off for over 3 months. And this built-in battery is not user changeable.

My recommendation is just to leave the battery on. And recharge it the day before you need it for an outing.

+1

Leaving the battery of will lead to the internal battery/ultracapacitor going flat, loosing your clock and other settings.

Thanks for the replies guys.

So in conclusion.
If storing it for a month or longer I should take the battery out? (*This is not what I am doing)

I use the camcorder on ocassion, so when I have a outing, I would guess 4 times a month? But not evenly spread apart. Any other comments on my specific situation? Based on you wrote, im guessing you are suggesting me to leave it in?

Thanks again!

Thanks for the replies guys.

So in conclusion.
If storing it for a month or longer I should take the battery out? (*This is not what I am doing)

I use the camcorder on ocassion, so when I have a outing, I would guess 4 times a month? But not evenly spread apart. Any other comments on my specific situation? Based on you wrote, im guessing you are suggesting me to leave it in?

Thanks again!

Li batteries have very low self discharge, eg, 20% per year. I would leave a fully charged battery on the camera, and charge it every once a year - but I expect you will use it more often than that !

Never let a Li battery become completely discharged (you equipment should not allow this to happen), as it will be permanently damaged and likely to catch fire when charged again.

But, Li batteries last a lot longer when stored at half charge. The Tesla Li powered sports car has a 'half' charge function to increase the life of the batteries.

the problem isn't with the battery itself, it's with the spring-loaded contacts... when the battery keeps 'em depressed all the time, they lose their tension, and you get a flakey connection between the battery and the camcorder.

i've had that problem with all the canons; l1, l2, xl1, xl1s... i forget what the hf11 battery contacts look like, but if it's spring-loaded, leave the battery out as much as possible, imho.