How come my D70 battery not lasting?

[fuhyong]

I got my D70 over the weekend and have been playing around with it since.

I charged the ENL3 battery that comes with the kit for the first time on Friday evening. left it overnight until the charger light don't blink anymore.

I took it out on Saturday for a gathering, shot about 50 shots and then another 20 plus shots at home. In between, I updated the custom curves, downloaded the pics etc and ...... lo and behold, capture 4.1 and the camera itself says that battery is almost dead!! ??

I thought battery is NOT the problem with the D70, what gives? Is it because it must be charged a few times before it attains full capacity? OR did I get a dud?

please advise. Thanks

 

[Gymrat76]

First off, you shouldn't leave the battery charging overnight, 2 hours will do. Overcharging will decrease the lifespan of the battery over time. Typically, I just charge it until the light stops blinking, and wait give it another 10-20 minutes for the battery to cool before taking it out of the charger.

The battery will only achieve its full charge potential after several cycles of charge and discharge.

Secondly, the most probably reason would be that you left the camera connected to the USB port for a long time. When plugged into the USB port of your computer, the battery drain is a lot faster. Either get the AC adapter or lessen the time you leave it plugged in the PC

 

[yutitan]

I got my D70 over the weekend and have been playing around with it since.

I charged the ENL3 battery that comes with the kit for the first time on Friday evening. left it overnight until the charger light don't blink anymore.

I took it out on Saturday for a gathering, shot about 50 shots and then another 20 plus shots at home. In between, I updated the custom curves, downloaded the pics etc and ...... lo and behold, capture 4.1 and the camera itself says that battery is almost dead!! ??

I thought battery is NOT the problem with the D70, what gives? Is it because it must be charged a few times before it attains full capacity? OR did I get a dud?

please advise. Thanks

Did you leave the camera connected to the PC for long? This is one of the more battery draining operations.

The other reason I can think of is the extensive use of flash which will cause battery drain.

 

[gadrian]

In between, I updated the custom curves, downloaded the pics etc and ...... lo and behold, capture 4.1 and the camera itself says that battery is almost dead!! ??

30-45mins on NC4.1 doing curve updates and downloading.. can totally drain the EN-EL3.

Dont need to even talk about shooting.

It is best to download using a CF USB adaptor.. or a CF PCMCIA adaptor.

 

[fuhyong]

30-45mins on NC4.1 doing curve updates and downloading.. can totally drain the EN-EL3.

Dont need to even talk about shooting.

It is best to download using a CF USB adaptor.. or a CF PCMCIA adaptor.

No wonder..... it was connected for the better part of 2 hours while I was figuring out what to do.

Thanks all for the pointers. Greatly appreciated.