Are two contacts as good as three for a lithium ion battery charger? If not, why not?
I am interested in getting a Panasonic ZS50, and have a pre-order in. Well, I have seen from reviews that it seems to take a Panasonic DMW-BCM13E battery. The kit is expected to contain an in-camera charger. Looking for an out-of-camera charger, BH Photo offers a Watson brand charger that is supposed to be compatible with the Panasonic BCM13 and the Canon NB6L. Convenient, because I have a Canon D30 that uses an NB6LH.
These batteries each have three contacts. The charger has two contacts. Is the middle contact of these batteries, which the Watson charger neglects, important? What kind of thing is it supposed to do? The Canon CB-2LY charger for the NB6L battery has all three contacts.
I know that it does charge the batteries with the two outside contacts. I am wondering if there is some kind of significant safety issue or effect on battery service life that the middle contact is supposed to perform.
Thank you, keerok anf fhotoace.
It looks like the Watson will probably be okay for regular use with the Panasonic BCM13. With the Canon NB6LH battery, the Watson gets warmer than the Canon charger, but not frighteningly hot. They both seem to agree on when the battery is fully charged.