Storing camera when not using?

Camera Fun

Senior Member
There are periods of time when I don't get a chance to use my D7000 and I'm wondering about storing it during those times; such as this summer when work has been extremely busy and I've had very little time off. Should I remove the battery? Should the camera be positioned vertically (lens down) as positioned in my bag or should I store it horizontally? Thanks.
 

nickt

Senior Member
I don't know about position, I wouldn't worry about it though. I've stored mine in all random positions. I would keep the battery in. If you remove it, eventually all of your settings will go away. I've heard it could take up to a month for it to forget things with the main battery removed. With battery in, it should go many months before the main battery runs down. I would avoid that situation, so if you are going to store it for like 6 months, then I would say remove the battery.

I keep my cameras in cheap ebay cases, not in my gear bag. Almost no padding, but they are good for a quick grab and go and they keep the dust off.
 

skene

Senior Member
You do realize that there is a section in the manual about storing your camera.

And if you are not planning on using the camera for anything over say 2 weeks you should be removing the battery to avoid any battery leakage onto the terminals.
 

Blacktop

Senior Member
Sometimes it's on the shelf, or the kitchen table, or like right now, sitting on top of my printer.
Lens always attached, battery in it. I worry more about my fragile lenses, then the D300 body.
 

nickt

Senior Member
Lithium-ion battery leakage is extremely rare. It sometimes takes me a month or two to run my camera battery down. So should I take my battery out and put it back in every 2 weeks to reset the 'leakage timer'? Of course not. They are the same type of batteries as in our laptops and we pretty much never remove them. Its just common manufacturing 'CYA' to say 'take the battery out'. We're not talking alkaline AA's here, they can't wait to leak and should not be left in any high-drain device once they have been run down some.

My only concern would be leaving the battery in so long that it becomes dead and stays dead for a long time. Li-ion batteries have protection. Voltage should never go above or below certain thresholds or the battery will be damaged and become dangerous. The protection works well in normal use, but if the battery stays dead for a long time, it could be damaged by dropping below the lower safety limit. A charged battery outside the camera should go over a year without running down. Ideally, slightly less than fully charged is the ideal way to store Li-ion batteries for the very long term.
 

STM

Senior Member
My D700 has sat idle for often months on end. All I do is turn it off and store it in my gear bag. I use Nikon EN batteries in both the camera and grip and I have never seen the need to remove them, no leakage ever.
 

FastGlass

Senior Member
Just take the battery out. Doesn't hurt to do so if it makes you fell better. No your settings won't go away as there is in internal battery that keeps the settings.
 

carguy

Senior Member
My body is always in a camera bag of some type with a lens attached. I use mine at least two times a week so the battery is always inside.
 

skene

Senior Member
There are differences when you do talk about leakage. One is a familiar alkaline battery leakage which will show oxidation from the cells in crystalline form and there is the power drain leakage where you do destroy the cells from constant connection. Hence laptop battery where you see degradation of battery charge life from constant connection/overcharging.

I never keep my laptop battery in my laptop when I know that it will be on the power supply for this reason. This is the same reason why I would not leave my car battery connected if I know I am going to not drive a car for months.
 
Top