topic Re: Bad LP-E4 Battery? in General Discussion

Bad LP-E4 Battery?

Waddizzle — Sun, 28 Jun 2020 16:20:46 GMT

I recently bought a used 1Ds Mark III, mainly because I wanted a new battery for my 1D Mark IV. The battery in the 1D Mark IV had begun to give me "calibrate" messages. A battery calibration would [not] clear the message.

The battery that came with the 1Ds Mark III is on top. It is different from the "bad" battery that I received with the 1D Mark IV. Also, there three symbols that are totally illegible to me stamped in the grey box on the "bad" battery. I think they are related to how not to dispose of the battery.

But, why are these batteries so diffferent? Is one from a USA camera and one from a grey market camera? I had bought both cameras used from reputable dealers. The "bad" battery is actually a replacement they shipped to me because the original battery that shipped with the camera would fail to charge.

I really don't think the "bad" battery is counterfeit, but it is a possibility until this mystery is solved. Thanks, guys.

Re: Bad LP-E4 Battery?

wq9nsc — Mon, 29 Jun 2020 01:01:06 GMT

I suspect the label change is something that happened over the production life of this battery. My 1DX "no stripe" LPE-4N and later 1DX II and III LPE-19 batteries have labels that are similar to your "bad" battery (the LPE-4N used a gold label to differentiate it) while the NP-E3 battery packs for my much earlier 1D Mark II have lables more in the style of your "replacement" battery.

Doesn't the 1D Mark IV accept the LPE-19 battery also? I know the older charger doesn't charge to the same capacity but the newer battery is usable with the older charger.

Rodger

Re: Bad LP-E4 Battery?

Waddizzle — Mon, 29 Jun 2020 01:18:07 GMT

@wq9nsc wrote:

Doesn't the 1D Mark IV accept the LPE-19 battery also? I know the older charger doesn't charge to the same capacity but the newer battery is usable with the older charger.

Rodger

That was my next question. I know the LPE-19 battery should fit mechanically. I did not know if the older chargers can properly charge it.

For less than the cost of a new LPE-19, charger, and AC Adapter, I picked up a 1Ds Mark III with all of the above accessories. It looks like I may need to still replace the failing LP-E4. It keeps reporting that it needs a calibration.

Re: Bad LP-E4 Battery?

Waddizzle — Mon, 29 Jun 2020 01:24:37 GMT

B&H still sells the LP-E4N, so I may pick up one of those.

BTW, the 1D Mark IV works just great with the WebCam Utility Beta. I was totally surprised by that because it uses EOS Utility 2, instead of EOS Utility 3 like all of the supported bodies do. It works great with my Rokinon 14mm T3.1 Cinema Lens, which has a very short hyperfocal distance, about 3-4 feet.

Re: Bad LP-E4 Battery?

Waddizzle — Wed, 01 Jul 2020 00:43:48 GMT

So, after the time consuming process with using each charger, in turn, to calibrate my batteries. I just may have a bad/weak charger. I guess it was a good thing that I bought the entire battery and charger combo. But, that was the plan, anyway.

I did it twice with each charger to make sure the suspect battery was good, and were consistent each time.. But, I will probably run the batteries down through normal use and do the tests again. But, this time my eye will be on the chargers, not the batteries.

Thanks, for listening.