SX70 HS battery level indicator question

[richapple]

I've searched and not been able to find what the various battery level indicators are supposed to look like for this Powershot SX70 HS. Is such information out there? Somehow a little battery graphic for a Canon LP-E12 that had just been fully charged doesn't seem like it should be solid white on the left and two diagonal slanted black bars on the right. (Other Canon info shows that as a partially depleted, but still usable, battery. All I'd done was set the date and time following a fully - green light - charging of the battery.)

Searches in these forums do find a bunch of discussion about battery indicators, their unreliability, and possibly issues with non-Canon batteries, but hoping an SX70 HS owner can say if the solid white with two black diagonals on the right side of the graphic means fully charged, or what...

thx for any info

[Tronhard · Accepted solution]

I have about 20 Canon bodies and I had the SX40-60 series at different times.  Consistently the symbolism works as follows. 
1. The graphic showing all white with two diagonal stripes indicates a fully-charged battery.
2. As the battery drains the bar goes dark from the left.

You should be able to figure that out by conducting a simple experiment.  Charge the battery overnight.  View the display and it should be as I described.  Then use the camera and over time watch the dark area expand from the left.

If you are going to use the camera a lot, then do get some spare batteries.  Canon are adamant that you must use theirs and by and large I tend to stick with that.  Still, I have had occasions to use compatible units, ones that clearly state that they are not made by Canon - that is distinct from counterfeit one's that falsely show a Canon logo and nothing else.   I have had mixed results: some worked really well, others did not give the length of charge expected, and some failed to fully charge after only a few top-ups.

[richapple]

Thanks, Trevor! Exactly what I was hoping for, and yes, sorry to seem lazy and not shift into trial and error mode. I kinda know that with Lithium the old "exhaust the battery fully before recharging" isn't a thing anymore, but... I think I was more worried that the new battery coming off the charger after the green light maybe wasn't accepting a full charge for some reason.

Which yes, brings us to counterfeits. I'll be on the lookout for those since my pro photog friend (one of the earliest skateboard photographers, took his first shots in college days using my AE1) said he would only go with Canon's batteries. So I'll eventually have 4 Canon batteries, educated-guessing (based on published estimates) they'll get me through 10 day backpacking trips.

Seems in forums people observe that the compatibles work, but don't last as long as the Canon batteries. And many of those compatibles claim to be a much higher mAh. Marketing, eh? With AAs (Powershot S3 IS) I have a charger that can also test and report mAh. Probably just have to gauge a battery getting too old by its not lasting as long.

Seriously, thanks so much for your answer!