Short answer: on the usual industry ranges, a lithium-ion battery still holds 75-85% of its factory capacity after 500 full cycles, and drops to roughly 65-75% after 800. At 80% a 950mAh still holds about 760mAh, which is enough for a short shoot, so its real retirement point comes later than most people assume. All of that depends on counting cycles correctly, and plenty of people overestimate their workload while plenty more underestimate it.
What follows covers how to estimate cycles, what the remaining margin actually feels like after a few hundred, and which factors bend the curve earlier.
First: how many cycles has your battery actually done
A full cycle means a cumulative discharge equal to the nominal capacity, not one session on the charger. Using three tenths today and seven tenths tomorrow adds up to one cycle. That means casual top-ups do not inflate the count, while the habit of shooting to shutdown and then charging fully accumulates cycles much faster.
The way to estimate is to divide annual energy use by the nominal capacity. Take an easy version: if you consume the equivalent of 1.5 batteries a week, that is about 78 battery-equivalents a year, roughly 78 cycles, and after three years something over two hundred, still on the flat part of the curve. If you consume four batteries a week, that is about 200 cycles a year, close to 400 after two years, and around then the capacity loss starts to be noticeable.
| Workload | Approximate cycles per year | Capacity after two years | Capacity after four years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under a battery a week | About 40-60 | Above 90% | Around 85% |
| One to two batteries a week | About 80-120 | Around 88% | Around 78% |
| Three to five batteries a week | About 180-260 | Around 82% | Around 70% |
| Professional, high frequency | Over 300 | Around 75% | Around 60% |
These figures are range estimates, not measured results. The real curve is strongly affected by temperature, depth of discharge and charging habits, and batteries from the same batch can differ by a dozen percentage points between two owners.
What a few hundred cycles actually feels like
At around 85% most people notice nothing. 85% of 950mAh is 807mAh, still above a brand-new 750mAh, which is the hidden value of a larger tier: it raises the floor that aging leaves you with.
At around 75% the effect becomes concrete. An outing that needed one battery now needs one and a half; a battery that used to reach the end of the day now needs a swap. The battery is still reliable at this stage, but the schedule has to be recalculated.
Below 65% the problem shifts from capacity to voltage sag. The gauge reads full, a few dozen frames cost a bar, and a burst or a video take triggers a low-battery warning. That is not a capacity issue but the voltage drop caused by rising internal resistance, and no number of spare batteries compensates for it. Replace the battery.
What bends the curve earlier
- Storing fully charged for months. Charge to 100% and leave it for months, and the cathode sits at a high potential with side reactions more active. This is the most common accelerant and the easiest to fix.
- Heat. Leaving a battery in a car in summer, or in a warm equipment case long term, fades it noticeably faster than room temperature. A lithium-ion battery is more sensitive to temperature than to cycle count.
- Deep discharge. Running to forced shutdown every time puts more stress on the anode. Swapping at one bar is kinder.
- Continuous high-current discharge. Long 4K takes and high-frequency bursts keep the battery in a high-load band, and the accumulated wear is higher than with intermittent use.
The first three are habits and cost nothing to change. The fourth depends on the kind of work you do, which you cannot change, but you can spread it by carrying an extra battery and avoiding long high-load runs on a single one.
Where the 950mAh sits
In the three LP-E17 tiers, the 950mAh is the middle: about 27% more than the 750mAh and about a tenth less than the 1050mAh. The advantage of the middle tier is that it keeps room to manoeuvre as it ages. At 80% it still holds 760mAh, exactly the capacity of a new 750mAh. Over a long service life, that usually makes the 950mAh better value than the small tier.
If your pattern is one battery per day, the 950mAh is effectively the floor; if you regularly need two or more in a day, look at the 1050mAh. To recalculate for your own body and workload, the capacity and compatibility guide has scenario-based estimates. The 750mAh version works better as a top-up battery, and pairing the two is a common arrangement.
FAQ
How many years will a 950mAh last?
At a moderate workload of one to two batteries a week, capacity falls to around 80% after two or three years and the battery remains usable; four to five years brings clear degradation. The actual figure depends on storage temperature and charging habits, and both heat and long-term full-charge storage shorten it.
How do I know how many cycles my battery has done?
The LP-E17 has no cycle counter, and the body cannot display one. The workable approach is to keep your own record: label the battery and note each full charge, or estimate consumption by month. Crude, but better than having no idea.
Must I replace a battery at 80%?
No. At 80% a 950mAh still holds about 760mAh, enough for everyday shooting. The signals that genuinely call for replacement are voltage sag and charging anomalies, not a particular percentage. Capacity loss affects scheduling; voltage problems affect reliability.
Does a new battery need to be broken in?
No. Lithium-ion cells are formed at the factory, have no memory effect, and the old advice about three full charge-discharge cycles comes from the nickel-cadmium era and does not apply to a battery like the LP-E17. Normal use is all that is needed.