Battery low when taking a shot (20D)

[biathlon]

Hi guys, I have strange problem with Canon 20D.

When I turn on camera everything is fine, but when I am doing 1-3 shots camera shows "battery low" or even turned off. I have several fully charged batteries and all of them have the same problem.

In the internet I found 2 main issues:

1. Battery is not really charged. Not my case, I am checking on 3 different batteries.

2. Contacts on the camera and battery need to be cleaned. I did this, but in any case when I just turn on the screen on the camera, then it works for hours, so battery and contacts are ok.

What can I do else?

[hsbn]

You're using 20D so your batteries must be years old. So it could be dead already. Dead batteries will appeared fully charge, but it will go from 100% to 0% in a few shots if lucky.

[biathlon]

I don't think batteries are the reason, although they are old.

3 hours ago I turned on display on my camera, it's still working and still showing full change.

But, if I do 1-3 shots, then I will see "battery low".

[RobertTheFat]

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@biathlon wrote:

I don't think batteries are the reason, although they are old.

3 hours ago I turned on display on my camera, it's still working and still showing full change.

But, if I do 1-3 shots, then I will see "battery low".

---

Your camera is telling you that batteries are the reason, and not all error messages are wrong. It's possible that taking a picture causes a much higher current draw, and is therefore a greater challenge to the battery, than maintaining a picture on the screen. (This could be especially true if the internal flash was used.) It's at least worth trying a newer battery. Batteries for a 20D ought to still be available, especially if (as I suspect) it can accept the same batteries as the 50D, a very popular camera that people still use.

[biathlon]

2 RobertTheFat

I did the following test.

1. 3 shots, camera shows "battery low" or turns off

2. Remove the battery and insert it again

3. Turn on the camera, it shows "battery is full"

Repeated steps 1-3 20 times. And I used the battery that have been in the camera with turned on display for the last 4 hours. Battery is not the reason, I am sure I can make 500 photos with it, just removing it and insterting again.

Additional information:

I do not like lens sound during a shot, it sounds not as always. May be it sounds like that because of battery problem, or may be battery problem appears because of lens... Unfortunately I do not have another lens.

[hsbn]

20D battery is cheap now. You can buy one to test and return it after if it's not. I have run into this problem before with camera and other electronic devices. It shows full, after a few uses, it shows empty. Take it out, put it back in, it shows full again. The battery doesn't communicate well with the camera anymore. You can try other options but I still think it is a battery.

[Bulos1]

I have the exact same problem with my old 20D is there an non-OME battery that you would recommend? 

[Bulos1]

PS: I have a 20D and a 40d I used rarely the past 10 years they both worked fine until I took them out again this week the 40D is erratic, sometimes error 01  (but only with the ef 300mm f4 which would over expose everything in MANUAL mode).I cleaned all the contacts and right now it is OK but it has done this before then back to the things I just listed. They were stored in bags and cases in AC cooled room (South Florida). You sound knowledgable any thoughts?