What Types of Rechargeable Camera Batteries Are There
Rechargeable camera batteries are a great way to get the most bang for you buck. Rechargeables can be used over and over, sometimes hundreds of times. Most of the difference is how long a battery lasts during use, and how often it can be recharged is the chemistry of the battery. The three most common are nickel-cadmium (NiCd), nickel-metal hydride (NiMH), and lithium-ion (Li-ion).
Nickel-cadmium batteries are one of the earlier types of camera batteries, and were very popular for a long time since they were fairly long lasting and easily rechargeable. They were relatively inexpensive and were more cost-effective than other rechargeable types. One disadvantage of nickel-cadmium batteries is that they tended to have a “memory”. That meant that if the batteries weren’t properly cycled between complete charge and discharge stages, they would soon only discharge to a certain point, which meant over time they would have less and less usable time. They are also highly toxic and difficult to manufacture. Another major drawback they have is that they have a tendency for “thermal runaway”. Basically as the temperature inside the battery rises during charging, the less resistance to electricity there is, which lets in more electricity, which heats the battery even more … this led to the battery accepting more and more electric current until the battery caught on fire or even exploded. This is very rare with proper chargers, but is still a consideration.
Nickel-metal hydride batteries are a newer design of battery and are fast replacing nickel-cadmium batteries since they have become cheaper to produce. They are also less toxic and have two to three times the capacity of a nickel-cadmium battery. They do tend to discharge, when not in use, faster than nickel-cadmium, although now there are NiMH batteries that have mostly overcome this problem. They are comparable and sometimes cheaper than NiCd camera batteries.
The last type of battery is the lithium-ion. These batteries are fast becoming the most popular camera batteries because they have a high weight-to-energy ratio, which means they have a lot of power for a small package. They don’t have any “memory” like nickel-cadmium batteries, and discharge much more slowly, when not in use, than other batteries. However, they “age” which means that from the time they are manufactured, they gradually lose capacity, unlike other batteries. Although very rare, li-ion batteries can catch fire or even explode, as seen when a laptop battery caught fire and forced a recall.
All these camera batteries have their advantages and disadvantages. Hopefully this article helped you to decide which rechargeable camera batteries work best for you.
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