Battery in Nikon D300 keep going dead quick? Help please

12 years 9 months ago #118046 by Freshstart
I have a Nikon D300 and noticed lately that my battery was draining quickly. At first I thought it was just the battery. Then I decided to put another battery in the camera and the same thing happened, after 30 maybe 40 minutes the battery indicator would show only one bar left??

The camera has no warranty left, so I'm hoping it's nothing serious. Any idea's what might be taking all the battery juice?


Photo Comments
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12 years 9 months ago #118048 by Baydream
Try cleaning the contacts with an eraser. That added some life to mine. If not that, the battery may be on it's final legs and need to be replaced. Buy OEM - the price difference is worth it.

Shoot, learn and share. It will make you a better photographer.
fineartamerica.com/profiles/john-g-schickler.html?tab=artwork

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12 years 9 months ago #118049 by Skinny431
Both batteries may actually be dying. Buy a whole new battery, put it it fully charge and see how that pans out. If the same thing happens, could be the camera.


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12 years 9 months ago #118083 by Freshstart
I'll try cleaning the contacts when I get home. How can I check the batteries?

Thank you both for your help!


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12 years 9 months ago #118251 by Jim Photo

Baydream wrote: Try cleaning the contacts with an eraser. That added some life to mine. If not that, the battery may be on it's final legs and need to be replaced. Buy OEM - the price difference is worth it.


I don't think battery connectors all grimed up would cause the batteries to drain. OP - have you dropped the camera or did a firmware upgrade or something different to the camera? There is chance both batteries are dying on you too.


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12 years 9 months ago #118255 by Joves
Do you have all of the Firmware revisions loaded on your camera? It should read atleast 1.10 for the false low battery problem. Also are you using a VR lens with the VR on all the time. That will drain batteries faster as well. With my VR lenses it always drains faster.


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12 years 9 months ago #118267 by Joe Photo Daddy
Is there such thing as a hard reset on these cameras? Something more than just pulling the battery out?


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12 years 9 months ago #118273 by Baydream

Freshstart wrote: I'll try cleaning the contacts when I get home. How can I check the batteries?

Thank you both for your help!

You could get an inexpensive multi-meter for about $10. (Any one who does any electronic work would have one, ask a friend). Check the voltage label (my Canon is 7.4 V) on the battery and touch the contacts after fully charging the battery (it should read that voltage and maybe a bit more (mine reads 7.96), then leave it sit for a day and re-check. If that is OK, put it in your camera, leave it turned off and check again. Still OK, use the camera for a day and re-check.
That may give you some idea about the battery and the camera.

One other thing, Use the battery until it is completely dead. Turn the camera off and back on (it may "come back" for a while). Let it die again. Repeat until it won't come on. THEN recharge the battery. Sometimes a battery's "memory" gets confused and it will only take a partial charge. This process will completely drain the battery and refresh the memory.

Shoot, learn and share. It will make you a better photographer.
fineartamerica.com/profiles/john-g-schickler.html?tab=artwork

Photo Comments
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12 years 9 months ago #118274 by Joves

Joe Photo Daddy wrote: Is there such thing as a hard reset on these cameras? Something more than just pulling the battery out?

Yes there is a two button reset. It is the Quality button and the Exposure Comp button. I think you hold them down for like 5 seconds I have never had to do it. It resets everything to baseline.


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12 years 9 months ago #118444 by Joe Photo Daddy

Joves wrote:

Joe Photo Daddy wrote: Is there such thing as a hard reset on these cameras? Something more than just pulling the battery out?

Yes there is a two button reset. It is the Quality button and the Exposure Comp button. I think you hold them down for like 5 seconds I have never had to do it. It resets everything to baseline.


Good to know. OP - I would try doing a hard reset :thumbsup:


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