Panasonic DMW-BCH7 Lumix DMC-FP1 Compatible Battery 3.7V 690mAh

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FP1 Series — 3.7V Li-ion Replacement Battery (DMW-BCH7)

This is a 3.7V, 690mAh Li-ion battery for the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FP1, DMC-FP1A, DMC-FP1D, and DMC-FP1G, along with over 50 compatible Lumix compact camera models. It replaces OEM part numbers DMW-BCH7, DMW-BCH7E, DMW-BCH7PP, DMW-BCH7G, and DMW-BCH7GK. Capacity matches the original at 690mAh (2.55Wh).

• FP1 series compatibility: The DMC-FP1 family shares a common battery bay footprint and identical voltage rail at 3.7V. All models in this range use the same BMS handshake protocol, so one cell covers the full lineup without connector or firmware variation.
• Bench tested on actual hardware: We cycled this cell through the DMC-FP1 body under mixed photo and video load. The BMS accepted the cell without rejection errors, held voltage above the camera's low-battery threshold through the discharge curve, and triggered the protection cutoff cleanly at depletion.
• First-cycle initialisation on the FP1: Run the first full charge through the camera body or OEM charger before shooting. The FP1's battery-remaining indicator maps voltage thresholds to a discharge curve it calibrates on the first cycle — skipping this step causes the percentage display to read erratically in early use.

Battery percentage jumping on the DMC-FP1 display

The FP1 estimates remaining charge by mapping the cell's voltage to a fixed discharge curve stored in firmware. A new cell's discharge curve doesn't always align with that map until the BMS has seen one full charge-to-depletion cycle. This causes the indicator to skip levels — dropping from 75% to 40% with no warning, or holding at one bar longer than expected. Run one complete charge cycle in the camera body or OEM charger, then discharge fully during a normal shoot. After that cycle, the indicator stabilises and reads accurately against the cell's actual voltage output.

Flash recycling slowing down before the battery indicator shows low

The FP1's flash capacitor draws a sharp recharge current spike after each shot. As the cell's internal resistance rises toward end of discharge, that spike causes a momentary voltage sag — the camera throttles flash recharge rate before the indicator shows a single bar. This is the earliest real-world sign that the cell is near depletion, often appearing 10–15% of indicated charge before the low-battery warning. If flash recycling pauses noticeably between shots, check cell voltage with a multimeter: anything below 3.5V under load means the cell is effectively spent. Swap the battery at that point rather than waiting for the warning icon.