FZ30 battery question.

Hi everyone,

I just bought a new Panasonic FZ30 ("new" as in "not used", not as "recent model", I know it is quite an old model ).

I am finding the camera really good (I'm a newbie, learning photography, I understand that to someone else this camera probably is "average", but please bear with me ).

One thing that surprises me is how short the battery duration is.

Sure, I'm not expecting them to last for hundreds of shots like the two AAs I place in the Nikon L16 (I almost forget that it has batteries), but the battery that comes with the camera, after being full charged, loses the first third of its power after just 10 shots (manual, ISO 100, no flash, LCD turned off, manual focus).

The first time I put the battery pack in the charger, the green light blinked for about 10 minutes (that's an error message according to the manual) before becoming stable.

My brother has a Lumix FZ8, that camera should have the same battery of the FZ30 and he says that he loses count on how many shots he does with the first third of his battery... Above an hundred of them.

I did a search, but found nothing like this.

I see that there are a lot of FZ30 users in this forum, so I hope I can get some help from your experience.
Is this normal?

Thanks to all.

--Sounds like the battery is as old as the camera...and why not, it should be.

You should be getting more than 300 shots with a new battery.

Keep using it...as you recycle it a few times, it may come back to life. If you do need to replace it, new ones are cheaper than dirt...so get two.

-Kurt Horsley

Kurt Horsley said:

--Sounds like the battery is as old as the camera...and why not, it should be.

You should be getting more than 300 shots with a new battery.

Keep using it...as you recycle it a few times, it may come back to life. If you do need to replace it, new ones are cheaper than dirt...so get two.

-Kurt Horsley

Click to expand...

I second that. I had the original Panasonic battery and two cheap replacements (10 EUR each in early 2007). The Panasonic one just died, so I got three new nonames with a good customer rating. Three? Yeah, the batteries were about 3 EUR each, while shipping was 5 EUR. That way even my wife agreed that getting three wasn't stupid at all.

Marcel

AntonioAV said:

Hi everyone,

I just bought a new Panasonic FZ30 ("new" as in "not used", not as "recent model", I know it is quite an old model ).

I am finding the camera really good (I'm a newbie, learning photography, I understand that to someone else this camera probably is "average", but please bear with me ).

Click to expand...

The FZ30 is anything else, but not average. The body is very robust, way above average. The sensor's noise is a lot above average, too. The lens delivers sharpness to the corners even wide open, still produces a wonderful bokeh on head-and-top-of-shoulders-portraits (if the background is a few dozen metres away), virtually free of chromatic abberations and is a 12x zoom with f/2.8-f/3.7. Pay as much as you want, you just can't have this in one single lens in DSLR world. Worlds above average. File size of 8 MP raw files is above average, too, as well as writing times for raw files. The JPEG engine with its noise enhancement, the blueish colour cast in many situations, overexposing in sunshine and underexposing under dark clouds is quite off the average, too. Two adjustments wheels at the front and the back are above average, while the time you need to adjust shutter time and aperture with them is above average as well.

She's not perfect, but you'll love her and you'll miss her as soon as you dump her for another camera.

AntonioAV said:

One thing that surprises me is how short the battery duration is.

Sure, I'm not expecting them to last for hundreds of shots like the two AAs I place in the Nikon L16 (I almost forget that it has batteries), but the battery that comes with the camera, after being full charged, loses the first third of its power after just 10 shots (manual, ISO 100, no flash, LCD turned off, manual focus).

The first time I put the battery pack in the charger, the green light blinked for about 10 minutes (that's an error message according to the manual) before becoming stable.

My brother has a Lumix FZ8, that camera should have the same battery of the FZ30 and he says that he loses count on how many shots he does with the first third of his battery... Above an hundred of them.

I did a search, but found nothing like this.

I see that there are a lot of FZ30 users in this forum, so I hope I can get some help from your experience.
Is this normal?

Thanks to all.

Click to expand...

It is not. As already stated, try to refresh it and get a couple of replacements.

Marcel

--Congratulations on getting a great camera, I still use my FZ30 regularly (I gave away my other FZs but the FZ30 was my favorite)......but It seems your battery is shot........try your brothers battery and if things work OK and they should just buy another battery or 2....get a generic and you should be fine......MY FZ30 can take way over 100 photos on one charge, more like 500.

I just wanted to add all my original Panasonic batteries are still working even the one from the FZ10 (thats 6 years) while all my generics died in about 2 years.
Gene from Western Pa

http://imageevent.com/grc6
http://grc225.zenfolio.com/
FZ10....20 and 30 and FZ18

D50 ....D80 - 18 to 200VR- 50mm 1.8 - 80 to 400 OS



Just trying to learn and it's slow going!

I've taken around 30,000 shots over the last two years with these batteries: 2 Panasonic's and 5 copies. None have died, and the charge on the originals and the copies seem to be about the same: I count around 300 shots per charge over 2 hours, leaving the cam on the whole time. Once they start to die I intend to buy a fistful of copies from the Far East on eBay and save on shipping.

Richard

Duracell makes excellent FZ30 batteries. The FZ30 is a great camera, you won't be handicapped with it.
--
tsiya [Bob]
http://www.pbase.com/tsiya/
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v244/tsiya/
http://cabbagehammock.blogspot.com/

These batteries don't last forever, and odds are you have the original batter from when that camera was new in 2005,

If you bought a used car with 50,000 miles on it then you probably might need a new battery on it too...

I've had very good luck with cheap replacement batteries for my FZ30 from this site...



http://www.bestbatt.com/Panasonic_CGR_S006A_for_DMC_FZ30_FZ50_FZ7_FZ8_FZ18_p/bbs006-01.htm

Currently, they sell them for $8.90 each.
You should buy two!

--
Marty
http://www.flickr.com/photos/marty4650/sets/72157606210120132/show/
http://www.fluidr.com/photos/marty4650/sets/72157606210120132
Olympus E-30
Zuiko 9-18mm
Zuiko 14-54mm II
Zuiko 40-150mm I
Zuiko 70-300mm
Zuiko 50mm f/2.0 macro

Getting about 300-ish shots per charge... using the Battery Barn replacements (2000 mAh IIRC). LCD off. I think I had the EVF auto-off set to... maybe 10 seconds? Can't remember what the menu options are (my daughter is using the camera now). But the EVF does indeed suck power.

--
JF

I have seen the flashing then solid light with a few batteries when they have been sitting for a while. I remember reading somewhere from Panasonic that if the battery flashes when you first plug in the charger that it is either dead or is very, very drained. Mine have always recovered. Also, even if the charging light goes out, keep charging for the entire recommended time (120 or 180 minutes, I forget). Just do as the others suggest and use and charge it a few times. It may come back. They have for me on old stock. The third party batteries that were suggested are great. Congratulations on the FZ30. It is far beyond average. Please post some pictures when you can. Always glad to see posts with FZ30/FZ50 pics.
Clancyboy

Thank you all for your answers.
I really appreciate your genuine interest and help.

The problem has been solved. Here's how it ended:

• I contacted Panasonic support, after more than a week I still haven't got an answer, not even a "go to hell". I just got an automated email message telling me they received my request. Lesson learned about Panasonic.
• I contacted the seller and he sent me a brand new original Panasonic battery for the FZ30.

@Kurt @Clancyboy: At first I was able to get an average of 150 shots. After 6 complete cycles the number of possible shots decreased... It reached a point when the battery lost two thirds of its full charge after just 20 shots.

@1971_M5: I didn't know the EVF was such a battery vampire. I'll keep the auto-off as tight as possible.

@radamczak @tsiya: I have never seen kodak batteries here in southern Italy, but since so many of you tell me that unbranded ones perform well, I think I will take some more of them in the future.

@Marcel: Thank you for the review of the camera (and even the irony "sensor's noise is a lot above average"). It's good to see that so many people have found this camera a good one.

Where did you find the batteries at 3€ each? (could you share the link to the seller's shop?)

@Gene: I wanted to try my brother's battery, but we are in different countries, I will see him on Christmas holidays.

AntonioAV said:

Marty wrote:

These batteries don't last forever, and odds are you have the original batter from when that camera was new in 2005,

If you bought a used car with 50,000 miles on it then you probably might need a new battery on it too...

Click to expand...

I'm sorry if I didn't explain myself well (English is not my main language, I struggle from time to time to write understandable stuff, and I appreciate that people still answer me, no matter how bad my grammar is).

First I want to thank you for the link, I'll consider it for my next battery purchase (I must check the customs price too, since when ordering stuff from outside the EU I have to pay a 30% tax or more on the declared value of the items.).

I am the first owner of the camera. It's not second hand.
The battery had never been used before it came in my hands. (No mileage )

I understand that it may have been decayed while in the box, but if you buy a brand new car you'd expect it to have everything working.

Conclusion:
In the end, on the good side

• I have got a branded battery for replacement without further expenses and an unbranded one is on its way from England (I ordered it on ebay last week, before opening this thread, I was hoping to get the camera working as fast as possible)
• I have discovered a lot of friendly and helpful people here and gotten a lot of advices.

On the bad side

• I have a fiscal receipt and a warranty paper that makes the two years warranty start from this month. It has a legal value as warranty, but Panasonic doesn't seem to care at all.

Antonio....

Your English is excellent. Much better than that of some of us who are born into the language. It is probablly my fault I misunderstood and assumed you had purchased a used camera.

I hadn't considered the customs charge. There might be some EU vendors who sell the same type of replacement battery. However, it may also be that a purchase so small might be under the threshold for duties. Perhaps someone from your country would know for sure.

Welcome to this forum.

Your observation is correct. I find this the friendliest and most helpful forum here, and find it full of some very knowledable and wonderful people. And even though I mostly use my Olympus DSLR, I still use my FZ30 and LX2 occasionally so I justify coming here so often!
--
Marty
http://www.flickr.com/photos/marty4650/sets/72157606210120132/show/
http://www.fluidr.com/photos/marty4650/sets/72157606210120132
Olympus E-30
Zuiko 9-18mm
Zuiko 14-54mm II
Zuiko 40-150mm I
Zuiko 70-300mm
Zuiko 50mm f/2.0 macro