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Batteries 95

once the display shows 0% power left. But still, when you’re shooting an
important assignment having this additional indication of battery life
available to you is certainly useful information.

TIP: Most modern battery chargers will shut off the charging circuitry when
they sense that the battery is fully-charged; but according to Sony’s instruction
manual, this is not the case – you should NOT routinely have the battery live
on the charger, for Sony says this will shorten its useful life.

3.10.1 THE OTHER BATTERY
That’s right, your camera uses TWO different batteries! The other is an
internal rechargeable battery that is soldered to the circuit board inside and
is not user replaceable. This internal battery is used to keep track of the
date and time even when the camera is off -- even if the battery is removed
for months at a time.
The battery naturally recharges itself by drawing on power from the NP-
FM500H battery, or from when the camera is connected to the AC Adapter
(described in Section 10.23). If you tend to keep a fully-charged battery in
your camera as I do (it’s always good to be prepared!), then you have
nothing to fear – the internal battery will always have power and will be
invisible to you. If, however, you leave the camera sitting on a shelf for
more than 8 months without the NP-FM500H battery inside, then the
internal battery will surely deplete and you’ll be prompted to set the date
and time again when you finally turn the camera back on. Should the
internal battery become depleted like this, put a fully-charged NP-FM500H
battery in the camera for 24 hours, and the internal battery will absorb
enough power to keep the memory alive for another eight months.
In theory this internal battery will last forever; however just like any
rechargeable battery its ability to hold a charge will diminish over time.
Ten years from now, if you find that the camera constantly asks you to
specify the date and time when you turn it on, you’ll know that it’s time to
send the camera in and have that internal battery replaced by Sony.