Sony InfoLithium battery (NP-F970) at DVinfo.net

Georg Liigand · November 16th, 2005, 12:39 PM

Hello,

A few days ago I received a brand new and genuine Sony NP-F960 battery for my VX2100 and the amount of power it contains is amazing. When I charged it to FULL, it showed around 700 minutes when I began recording.

Today I got another new battery which is NP-F970, a bit higher in capacity than the 960. I put my cam charging it and for some strange reason it says FULL at only about 520 minutes. Do you have any idea what may be the cause and is there some trick I should try to fix it? Maybe leaving the camera running without tape till the battery runs empty and then start charging again? Or can it really be defective?

Thanks a lot.

Boyd Ostroff · November 16th, 2005, 12:47 PM

I don't think those numbers mean very much. On my VX-2000 I got as much as 8 hours with the 960 running with the LCD, zooming, rewinding, etc. That would be 480 minutes. Great as those batteries are, I don't think you'll ever get 700 minutes (11 hours 40 minutes!). As you use the battery on the camera the remaining time is updated, and after awhile it gets more accurate.

Now I also got a couple NPF-970's for my Z1. That camera draws a lot more power. With the 960 I probably get 4 hours (haven't ever run it down that far) and perhaps 5 with a 970. Funny that you mention running the battery down before recharging. I don't want to put extra mileage on my Z1, so when I shoot with it in SD mode I use the VX-2000 to view and capture the footage. I put the 970 battery on the VX to finish running it down after a 3 hour shoot on the Z1. It lasted a LONG time while rewinding and viewing footage on the VX - a number of hours.

Then a couple days later I did the same thing with the 970 battery after shooting for 3 hours on the Z1. But this time I just left the VX powered up in play mode with the LCD panel on. The NEXT MORNING it was still going strong and showing over 300 minutes remaining. It took nearly 20 hours to fully discharge that battery on the VX!

Georg Liigand · November 16th, 2005, 01:08 PM

Interesting, Boyd! Thanks for sharing. It's indeed good that VXs take less power than the new HDs and in playback mode the F970 and also 960 probably last VERY long.

The camera has been running now for a while and is currently showing 482 min. When it was about 505, it jumped for a moment to 444 min and then back to 505. I hope my battery is still okay.

David Aguilar · November 23rd, 2005, 08:12 PM

whenever I buy a NEW battery, I like to fully discharge it (using my cam) and then charge it up , full. Just because I heard somewhere that it works best after it's been discharge/charge the first couple of times.

Georg Liigand · November 24th, 2005, 03:17 AM

I see. I'm slowly doing the same, but the F970 battery is still around 350-400 minutes from the time I charged it first time and I have used the camera pretty much. I thought I should maybe simply put the camera to playback mode and leave it on for the night, but I don't know if this is the best idea.

November 16th, 2005, 12:39 PM	#1
Georg Liigand Major Player Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Estonia Posts: 214	Sony InfoLithium battery (NP-F970) Hello, A few days ago I received a brand new and genuine Sony NP-F960 battery for my VX2100 and the amount of power it contains is amazing. When I charged it to FULL, it showed around 700 minutes when I began recording. Today I got another new battery which is NP-F970, a bit higher in capacity than the 960. I put my cam charging it and for some strange reason it says FULL at only about 520 minutes. Do you have any idea what may be the cause and is there some trick I should try to fix it? Maybe leaving the camera running without tape till the battery runs empty and then start charging again? Or can it really be defective? Thanks a lot.

November 16th, 2005, 12:47 PM	#2
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	I don't think those numbers mean very much. On my VX-2000 I got as much as 8 hours with the 960 running with the LCD, zooming, rewinding, etc. That would be 480 minutes. Great as those batteries are, I don't think you'll ever get 700 minutes (11 hours 40 minutes!). As you use the battery on the camera the remaining time is updated, and after awhile it gets more accurate. Now I also got a couple NPF-970's for my Z1. That camera draws a lot more power. With the 960 I probably get 4 hours (haven't ever run it down that far) and perhaps 5 with a 970. Funny that you mention running the battery down before recharging. I don't want to put extra mileage on my Z1, so when I shoot with it in SD mode I use the VX-2000 to view and capture the footage. I put the 970 battery on the VX to finish running it down after a 3 hour shoot on the Z1. It lasted a LONG time while rewinding and viewing footage on the VX - a number of hours. Then a couple days later I did the same thing with the 970 battery after shooting for 3 hours on the Z1. But this time I just left the VX powered up in play mode with the LCD panel on. The NEXT MORNING it was still going strong and showing over 300 minutes remaining. It took nearly 20 hours to fully discharge that battery on the VX!

November 16th, 2005, 01:08 PM	#3
Georg Liigand Major Player Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Estonia Posts: 214	Interesting, Boyd! Thanks for sharing. It's indeed good that VXs take less power than the new HDs and in playback mode the F970 and also 960 probably last VERY long. The camera has been running now for a while and is currently showing 482 min. When it was about 505, it jumped for a moment to 444 min and then back to 505. I hope my battery is still okay.

November 23rd, 2005, 08:12 PM	#4
David Aguilar Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: San Fernando Valley, California Posts: 36	whenever I buy a NEW battery, I like to fully discharge it (using my cam) and then charge it up , full. Just because I heard somewhere that it works best after it's been discharge/charge the first couple of times.

November 24th, 2005, 03:17 AM	#5
Georg Liigand Major Player Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Estonia Posts: 214	I see. I'm slowly doing the same, but the F970 battery is still around 350-400 minutes from the time I charged it first time and I have used the camera pretty much. I thought I should maybe simply put the camera to playback mode and leave it on for the night, but I don't know if this is the best idea.