Latest NP-FZ100 batteries can't be fully charged

[Aaron Yang]

Since I bought the a1, I have noticed one of the two genuine Sony NP-FZ100 battery can't be charged to 100%.

Owners of the Sony a1 on the Facebook group also complained about only being able to charge to ~90%.

The older batteries for my a9 from 2017 didn't have this problem. I wonder if these batteries made in 2021 are problematic.

 

[andrewD2]

Do you take them off charge when they hit all the bars or wait till the light goes out? I leave them another hour after that like with the older smaller batteries.

Andrew

 

[SilvanBromide]

Since I bought the a1, I have noticed one of the two genuine Sony NP-FZ100 battery can't be charged to 100%.

Owners of the Sony a1 on the Facebook group also complained about only being able to charge to ~90%.

The older batteries for my a9 from 2017 didn't have this problem. I wonder if these batteries made in 2021 are problematic.

I had this problem for a while in 2018/19 with several OEM NP-FZ100 batteries - when charged externally (i.e. in the charger) and transferred to the camera they showed up as 93% or 95% etc.

Interestingly, after a few cycles of charging them in camera via the USB-C port, the problem seemed to self-correct, and those same batteries now charge up to 100% again.

Not sure if it was the in camera charging that addressed the cycle issue or whether that was just coincidence.

At any rate, my experience suggests that the issue is not specific to current/new batteries, and that it isn't necessarily permanent. My guess is that the on-board firmware on the batteries fell out of sync and subsequently got reset (possibly by the in-camera charging sequence - at least that's my "semi-educated guess"). ; )

--
Former Canon, Nikon and Pentax user.
https://500px.com/raycologon
https://www.instagram.com/raycologon

 

[lattesweden]

Since I bought the a1, I have noticed one of the two genuine Sony NP-FZ100 battery can't be charged to 100%.

Owners of the Sony a1 on the Facebook group also complained about only being able to charge to ~90%.

The older batteries for my a9 from 2017 didn't have this problem. I wonder if these batteries made in 2021 are problematic.

I had this problem for a while in 2018/19 with several OEM NP-FZ100 batteries - when charged externally (i.e. in the charger) and transferred to the camera they showed up as 93% or 95% etc.

Interestingly, after a few cycles of charging them in camera via the USB-C port, the problem seemed to self-correct, and those same batteries now charge up to 100% again.

Not sure if it was the in camera charging that addressed the cycle issue or whether that was just coincidence.

At any rate, my experience suggests that the issue is not specific to current/new batteries, and that it isn't necessarily permanent. My guess is that the on-board firmware on the batteries fell out of sync and subsequently got reset (possibly by the in-camera charging sequence - at least that's my "semi-educated guess"). ; )

I've experienced similar "problems" with my batteries and as you say, they tend to self correct after a few cycles.

 

[AlephNull]

Give them three cycles - charge, then use, then charge again. I don't know the technical reason, but some new batteries take a couple of cycles to reach full capacity. I don't think it matters whether you charge them in the camera or charger (I always use the charger).

If they don't reach 100% after three cycles, then worry :-D

 

[SilvanBromide]

Give them three cycles - charge, then use, then charge again. I don't know the technical reason, but some new batteries take a couple of cycles to reach full capacity. I don't think it matters whether you charge them in the camera or charger (I always use the charger).

If they don't reach 100% after three cycles, then worry :-D

Doesn't match my experience at all.

The batteries I referred to were ones I acquired in late 2017 and early 2018. They were fine and showed 100% after each charge for the first 7-10 cycles.

Then a couple of them started showing less than 100%, which continued for a number of recharge cycles (I didn't count, but it would have been at least five or six for one of the batteries, and probably more for another).

Then, after just a couple of in-camera recharge cycles, they all went back to showing 100% after charging.

So in my case, it was unrelated to them being new. And it didn't go away after three (or less) cycles, either. But it did go away. Whether that was *because* of in-camera charging or whether that was just coincidence is unclear (but I tend not to be a great believer in coincidence...).

Always happy for you to recount your findings, but in this case they don't line up with mine. ; )

--
Former Canon, Nikon and Pentax user.
https://500px.com/raycologon
https://www.instagram.com/raycologon

 

[Mr_Win]

Try to deplete all the way, batteries run better that way. I have the same issues with my tool batteries.



another thing you can try is right before charging, do a high drain operation for a short amount of time. You don’t want it hot but triggered.

 

[SilvanBromide]

Try to deplete all the way, batteries run better that way. I have the same issues with my tool batteries.

another thing you can try is right before charging, do a high drain operation for a short amount of time. You don’t want it hot but triggered.

The batteries I mentioned were used on sessions of different lengths prior to developing the "issue" I described, during the occurrence of the issue, and after the issue "self-rectified".

That being the case, I don't think depletion (or not) before charging has a bearing on the sequence of events I described.

--
Former Canon, Nikon and Pentax user.
https://500px.com/raycologon
https://www.instagram.com/raycologon

 

[Jeff2013]

'Percent charge' of the batteries is determined through an algorithm where the terminal voltage of the battery is compared to, basically, a conversion table that correlates percent charge with terminal voltage. This algorithm is based upon trial averages of many batteries. Due to manufacturing variances such as battery chemistry tolerances, the algorithm may not be completely accurate, and should just be considered to be an estimate.

The terminal voltage will vary depending on the load on the battery. I suspect that the charger does not load the battery sufficiently to take a highly accurate measurement. The surface charge on the battery after charging, which shows full voltage in the charger, can quickly bleed-off when installed in the camera and is now under a load, thus showing less than 100%. Working the battery through several charge-discharge cycles seems to correct much of this.

Perhaps, when charging in the camera, the measurement is taken when a greater load is applied, making the measurement (estimate) more accurate. I'm not sure about this, but such has been my assumption since I have had greater success when charging in-camera (although I don't really worry about it and use chargers most of the time). I was probably more concerned with all this when I shot early A7X's that had an enormous appetite for batteries.

I don't get too hung-up on the percentage charge shown after charging. To complicate matters, as the batteries age, the internal resistance goes up, which corrupts the conversion algorithm even further. One thing I liked about shooting professional Canon DSLR's is that they had a function that measured this internal resistance and then displayed the apparent age of the battery. Lacking this, I now write the date on my Sony batteries with a Sharpie when I acquire them.

--
Jeff
Florida, USA
http://www.gr8photography.com

 

[AlephNull]

Try to deplete all the way, batteries run better that way. I have the same issues with my tool batteries.

another thing you can try is right before charging, do a high drain operation for a short amount of time. You don’t want it hot but triggered.

That was a good idea with NiCd batteries, but it is discouraged with Li-ion batteries, because if you go too far you can do permanent damage to the battery internals - the camera’s battery circuitry should prevent it happening, but it is still not recommended.

 

[pollup]

Try to deplete all the way, batteries run better that way. I have the same issues with my tool batteries.

another thing you can try is right before charging, do a high drain operation for a short amount of time. You don’t want it hot but triggered.

That was a good idea with NiCd batteries, but it is discouraged with Li-ion batteries, because if you go too far you can do permanent damage to the battery internals - the camera’s battery circuitry should prevent it happening, but it is still not recommended.

Yes, reaching 0% is the worst thing you can do to a Li-ion battery.

It's just going to accelerate the battery's death.

Actually, 100% is also not ideal, but still much better than 0%.

To maximize the battery's life, you want to have the shortest discharge delta (I forgot how it's called), so, if you go from 0 to 100 to 0 to 100 ... that value is 100% and if you do 20-80-20-80 ... you get a delta of 60%, which will actually double or triple the battery life. (I don't have the exact numbers right now but I can find them later if needed).

However, for practical reasons, we often want our batteries to be fully charged of course.