About this replacement
Canon PowerShot A3000 / A3100 Series — 3.7V Li-ion Replacement Battery (NB-8L)
This is a 3.7V, 740mAh Li-ion replacement for the Canon NB-8L battery. It fits the PowerShot A3000, A3000 IS, A3100, and A3100 IS compact digital cameras. The cell matches the original's dimensions — 40.30 x 35.14 x 5.74mm — and drops into the camera's battery compartment without modification.
- A3000 and A3100 platform fit: Both camera lines run the same 3.7V NB-8L battery format with an identical connector and BMS handshake. One cell covers the full range listed, including IS variants with optical stabilisation active.
- Bench tested on actual hardware: We cycled this cell through the A3100 body using the OEM charger. The BMS accepted the cell after one full charge cycle and held a stable voltage curve through discharge. No mid-cycle cutoff or false-low warnings under normal shooting load.
- First-cycle calibration on the A3000 / A3100: Run this cell through one complete charge cycle inside the camera body or OEM charger before shooting. The PowerShot BMS maps battery-remaining to a stored discharge curve — skipping this step causes the indicator to misread from the first shot.
Canon BMS authentication on the A3000 series with a new cell
The PowerShot A3000 and A3100 run a voltage-handshake check when a new cell is inserted. If the resting cell voltage sits outside the expected window — common in batteries that have been in storage — the camera can flag the cell as unrecognised before it even attempts to power on. Charging the cell fully in the OEM charger first brings the resting voltage into the accepted range. After one full charge, reinsert the battery and the camera will initialise normally.
Battery percentage jumping or dropping suddenly mid-shoot
This happens when the camera's stored discharge curve doesn't match the new cell's actual voltage-to-capacity profile. The A3000 and A3100 estimate remaining charge by tracking voltage drop — a new cell holds voltage higher for longer, then drops sharply near the end, which the camera misreads as a sudden loss. Running one full charge-discharge cycle recalibrates the indicator. After that cycle, the percentage display tracks accurately through a normal shooting session.