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[OM] E-M5 battery cautions

Subject: [OM] E-M5 battery cautions
From: Chuck Norcutt <chucknorcutt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 04 May 2013 15:59:48 -0400
Y'all may remember that I was concerned about battery life when I first 
got my E-M5.  As a result I bought not one but two spare non-OEM "EZO 
Power" branded batteries from this Amazon seller
<http://www.amazon.com/EZOPower-Olympus-Full-Decoded-Rechargeable-E-M5/dp/B00A743A06/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367694747&sr=8-1&keywords=olympus+EZO+battery>

I purchased these (knowing they have 16% less capacity than the 
original) since the cost was low and, unlike others available at the 
time, they are "fully decoded" meaning the Olympus charger recognizes 
and will charge them and the camera recognizes them and reports the 
charge level.

I had used all 3 batteries several times with no problems.  Caution: 
I'm drawing on faulty memory here... Sometime before we left Florida I 
[think] I charged all 3 batteries and left the Oly in the camera.  Based 
on my shooting pattern I believe that was about March 5.  Since then the 
Oly battery has delivered approx. 250 shots shooting raw + medium size JPEG.

This morning I went out to take some photos of flowers and budding tree 
blossoms when I got a message in the viewfinder "BATTERY EMPTY".  After 
a short chuckle over the wording of the message I went in to get one of 
the EZO Power batteries.  It turned out to be stone dead... no battery 
empty message from that one.  Then I tried the other.  Same thing.  I 
measured the no load voltage which was 3.4 volts for each.  Then I 
measured the same with the Oly battery which, although "EMPTY" measured 
6.6 volts.  What's worrying is that (I believe) that both batteries 
fully discharged without having any usage... and it's not clear when 
that happened.  Shades of old NiMH technology.

I have since charged all three batteries and was surprised to see the 
EZOs only required 1-1/2 hours. The Oly required somewhere between 1-1/2 
and 2-1/2 hours.  I'm not sure since I was not around when the charging 
ended.  One of the EZOs is installed in the camera now.  I will monitor 
both from here on out to see how long they last both in and out of the 
camera.

If you read the EZO reviews on Amazon you will see that 4 out of 10 
reviews are at 1, the lowest level... the batteries prove defective in 
one way or another within 1-3 months.  I will report back when I know 
more about my own batteries (they do apparently take a charge) but it 
doesn't look good at the moment.  BlueMall (the seller) also only offers 
a 30 day guarantee.  Not good.  All these negative reviews were not 
there when I bought mine in early January.

Chuck Norcutt
-- 
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