Proper care and feeding of batteries

I bought a new digital camera the day after Thanksgiving. Following Adam's First Law: Gadgets Yield More Gadgets, I have ordered a new vertical shooting grip and several batteries.

When the batteries arrived, I followed Adams 379th Law: Always Read the Instructions. I am thinking seriously about moving the 379th law up to at least 134 because I discovered some interesting information about rechargeable Lithium-Ion batteries.

1. Li-Ion batteries run down faster when they are cold. If you are shooting in the cold, you should keep spare batteries in your pocket, close to your warm body.

2. You should not store Li-Ion batteries charged. This will degrade the life of the battery.

3. You should not store the batteries in any device. Strangely, this will over discharge the batteries.

4. You should not leave batteries on the charger for extended amounts of time. It is recommended to leave them on the charger for about an hour after full charge, then remove them from the charger.

Most laptops and digital cameras use Li-Ion batteries. There is no such thing as a memory-free battery. All batteries go bad over time, but hopefully following these guidelines will prolong the battery's life.

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