topic Re: Removing the camera battery loses the date and time? in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

Removing the camera battery loses the date and time?

Sara7 — Sat, 02 Jul 2016 13:38:29 GMT

Hello

I read in my Camera manual (Canon 700D) that it is recommened that you remove your battery when storing your camera to reduce power current being released, futher on in the manual it mentions that you can lose date and time settings if the battery is removed for a prolonged legth of time. Is it even worth removing the battery? Do you store your Cameras without a a battery in them?

I know that on some older cameras have a small circular back-up battery that keep the date and time, but my 700D (And my dad's 500D) don't appear to have one. Do these cameras have something similar to keep these settings?

Thank you!

Re: Removing the camera battery loses the date and time?

RobertTheFat — Sat, 02 Jul 2016 13:54:45 GMT

@Sara7 wrote:
Hello

I read in my Camera manual (Canon 700D) that it is recommened that you remove your battery when storing your camera to reduce power current being released, futher on in the manual it mentions that you can lose date and time settings if the battery is removed for a prolonged legth of time. Is it even worth removing the battery?

No, IMO.

Do you store your Cameras without a a battery in them?

No.

I know that on some older cameras have a small circular back-up battery that keep the date and time, but my 700D (And my dad's 500D) don't appear to have one. Do these cameras have something similar to keep these settings?

Yes, but it's apparently more like a slow-draining capacitor than a proper battery. It's powered from the main battery and gradually loses its charge if the latter isn't present.

Thank you!

What you do want to do is turn the camera (and separately, the GPS, if present) off when not in use. The GPS, in particular, can drain the battery quickly. And to be safe, charge the battery (and any spares) before an important shoot.

Re: Removing the camera battery loses the date and time?

ebiggs1 — Sat, 02 Jul 2016 13:58:19 GMT

"Do you store your Cameras without a a battery in them? "

I use my camera(s) daily. But I have some very old models I pick up once in every few months. I do remove the battery from them.

I have a 1D, circa 2001, it is stored without its battery. All my cameras have the "CR", keep alive battery, and I don't remove it. I don't know why I just don't?

Re: Removing the camera battery loses the date and time?

diverhank — Sat, 02 Jul 2016 16:30:20 GMT

@Sara7 wrote:

...Is it even worth removing the battery? Do you store your Cameras without a a battery in them?

I know that on some older cameras have a small circular back-up battery that keep the date and time, but my 700D (And my dad's 500D) don't appear to have one. Do these cameras have something similar to keep these settings?

I always keep the battery in my camera, but I'm like ebiggs and others use my cameras almost daily. If I keep a camera in storage for months on end then I would consider it and the price of resetting the time and date is worth it if I want to dust it off and use it. The only deleterious effect of storing the battery, imho, is that batteries do leak in time and the leaked acid completely destroys the camera's battery connection, rendering the camera useless. I had this happen to me on a couple of old flashes and a few remote controls - all AA batteries though...never camera batteries yet.

Many recent Canon cameras no longer have a separate battery to keep dates and other memory anymore. They rely on internal capacitor(s) in the circuitry to keep charge so you don't lose time and date when you swap battery. This capacitance does not last very long (a few days at most).

So for me, if I wouldn't bother removing the camera battery unless I store the camera for more than a few months.

Re: Removing the camera battery loses the date and time?

TCampbell — Sun, 03 Jul 2016 04:33:47 GMT

To be fair, I suspect that many of the regular contributors of this community forum are using their cameras with some regularity (if not daily, then weekly). If you are not using your camera for a day... or a week, then there's little point in removing the battery.

But if you only pull out the camera for special occasions and it may be stored for months without use... then I might consider pulling the battery.

Some battery technologies like to be used from time to time (it's not good for the battery to sit for extended periods). Some batteries don't cope well with being fully charged (over-charging can damage some types of batteries) and other types of battereis don't do well if excessively drained.

Ordinary alkaline batteries tend to leak if they are fully drained (which can cause damage to battery compartments).