Saving battery power

Not sure which forum this belongs in, but the problem comes up for me when I'm traveling so I put it here. My question has to do with how best to conserve battery power in the camera when you have difficulty finding a place to recharge. Obviously one solution is to carry extra batteries (I carry 3) but if you are backpacking for several days, or longer, this can be a major issue.

 

My thought is that turning the camera off whenever you are not taking a picture may be counterproductive since it takes power to retract the lens and shut down. So there must be an optimal (in terms of saving battery power) time period for which it's better to keep the camera on, rahter than shutting down. Is there any data on this? What's your strategy? Thanks

For best suggestions we need to know the camera name and model. For most Nikon DSLRs, reduce the brightness on the LCD screen by setting a minus number in the menu, set a short viewing time for the LCD, turn off any bluetooth type stuff, do not use IS or VR unless it is necessary (turn it off.) Your camera manual may even have a page with specifics things to do. Do not check the LCD after each picture. Do not have the picture come up on the screen without a prompt from you. Things like this,

It's easier for me to carry several batteries than to try any of these battery-saving tips, but since you asked:

 

- Activate your camera's sleep mode, if it has one.

 

- Do NOT turn it on/off.

 

- Assuming your camera has an optical viewfinder, turn off the LCD screen.

 

- Do not 'chimp' after you take a shot; of course, if your LCD is turned off, then this is a moot point.

 

- If you can't or don't want to turn off your LCD, reduce the screen brightness.

 

- Avoid using your camera's on-board flash, if possible.

 

- Avoid/minimize continuous focus

 

- Do not press the shutter halfway down if not needed.

 

Those are the ones off the top of my head. I'm sure others will come up with more.

 

Good luck!

photo_galleries:

 

Thanks for all the hints on saving power, but my question really has to do with your second response.

- Do NOT turn it on/off.

 

Surely this can't be a good strategy if you know you are not going to take a picture for the next, say, 4 hours. But at what time point is it better to turn it OFF? 2 hours? 1 hour? 30 minutes?

photo_galleries:

 

Thanks for all the hints on saving power, but my question really has to do with your second response.

- Do NOT turn it on/off.

 

Surely this can't be a good strategy if you know you are not going to take a picture for the next, say, 4 hours. But at what time point is it better to turn it OFF? 2 hours? 1 hour? 30 minutes?

use, as photo_galleries suggests, sleep mode which can normally be set to a few minutes or longer. if you enter a photogenic area keep depressing the shutter to keep the camera awake. otherwise let it be.

There are solar chargers which fit on top of your backpack, and work pretty well according to sources. Another alternative is to carry one or more small USB battery packs, which hold enough energy (20K maH) to charge 15-20 batteries for my Sony A7Rii (1050 maH) or 10 iPhone6 cycles.

 

My A7 batteries last about 3-4 hours in idle mode, and several days when off. When walking about, I turn the camera off between periods of active use about half the time. Otherwise I let it "sleep" after 2 minutes and get about the same life as with on/off cycling. 10 net minutes of astrophotography uses about 50% of the battery.

 

That's for a mirrorless camera, which draws considerable power even when sleeping. A Nikon DSLR uses batteries with up to 7000 mAH, almost nothing when sleeping and with instant wake-up.

Edited July 27, 2017 by Ed_Ingold

photo_galleries:

 

Thanks for all the hints on saving power, but my question really has to do with your second response.

- Do NOT turn it on/off.

 

Surely this can't be a good strategy if you know you are not going to take a picture for the next, say, 4 hours. But at what time point is it better to turn it OFF? 2 hours? 1 hour? 30 minutes?

 

It would be different for everyone (and for different cameras) so there are really no guidelines. For me, I usually leave it on (and let it go to sleep) when there is an opportunity to shoot, even when I'm transit from one location to another. I only turn it off when I'm taking a break or if it's a long transit, e.g., driving from one location to another. But again, I carry multiple batteries with me and I usually have access to power at the end of the day.

 

If you don't expect to shoot anything in an hour, that may be a good time to turn it off -- but again, it's really hard to say.

I have unfortunately no clue how much power is involved in electrically retracting lenses. The point and shoot cameras I used seemed to have a will of their own; i.e. they decided to get bored from waiting for a shot and retract their lens and shut down. - I haven't seen any that would enter a "sleep" mode with lens out. With EVFs or rear displays running, due to lack of optical alternatives powering off ASAP seems important to save batteries?

I assume CIPA ratings of batteries are made counting a full start click and shut down as "shot"? - I recently took 2800 frames with a Canon, running continuous AF and IS but didn't run out of battery, although it is rated only 850 "shots", it displayed at least 40% power left.

IMHO carrying another spare battery should outweigh the hassle of fuzzing over how long the given ones might last. - I wouldn't buy the ultra cheapest ones from fishy online sources or at least try to keep track of their capacity compared to original batteries. - If they don't hold much they don't seem worth carrying.

Sometimes photo opportunities are scarce and it is best to turn camera off right after photo is taken and tuck camera away in pacs. Sometimes there are plenty of photo opportunities and camera wont even have time to auto shutdown and retract the lense. I have never needed more than two batteries in day. But I can see if shooting style is more active or one is on the path for multiple days, then multiple batteries are needed.

 

I just timed Nikon Coolpix S3500, one minute to lcd auto black, four minutes to auto lens retract. I am pretty sure these times are not just educated guess, but result from tests from user audience and optimized for power conservation and useability in mind.

Do not 'chimp' after you take a shot; of course, if your LCD is turned off, then this is a moot point.

 

I have my rear screen off all the time, and batteries last for a VERY long time. You can always look when you need to.

If you have them, turn off GPS and wi fi.

I have never needed more than two batteries in day.

It is all relative and can be very camera dependent. - I recall the Fujifilm made 1.5MP P&S Leica eating batteries like crazy. I had to run Canon Powershot 70 Pro and Nikon Coolpix 990 on AC for an assembly line studio job. -Everything else would have been too annoying, like maybe 3 kits of AAs and 2 quick chargers?

Batteries and cameras improved since then but I read of people shooting Sonys or Fujis heavily carrying 3 or more spares all the time. Sigma must have a reason to ship with 2 batteries too.

My Sony A7Rii goes through a batter in 3 hours or 350 exposures, whichever comes first. My Nikon D3 will take over 1500 images per charge, and last at least a month in "sleep" mode (if I put it away forgetting to turn it off). The new Nikon D5 is reported to be good for over 3500 images per charge.

 

As Frank said above, I keep mine in "airplane mode", which turns off battery-eating Wifi and Bluetooth.

I would recommend not worrying too much about and just carry a powerbank (one with ability to solar charge) to top up batteries each day. Of course it depends on how much you shoot and how much sun you have each day but in my case I went on the Snowman trek (which is around 30 days with no external power) and did fine with 3 batteries and a Power Monkey solar charger. It should be noted that we had 11 days of rain and it still was not a problem.

 

I used a Canon 6D.

The OP seems to have been kidnapped by ceramic garden gnomes... :eek:

 

Not knowing whatever sort of camera we are discussing here--if one accepts a battery grip this does not really become a great concern! The extra bonus is that the grip improves the ergonometrics of many DSLR bodies.

On my recent trip to Mongolia, the digital photographers were desperately searching for enough juice every night before "lights out" at 9:30 P.M. meant the generator went down for the next 20 hours.

 

My Nikon film camera bodies had enough "juice" for the next two years. And I brought four years worth of spare batteries, about the heft of a penny apiece.

 

Results here: Best of Mongolia by Brad Cloven | Facebook

 

I don't think I lost anything to the digital guys, my kit was smaller and lighter, and I never scrambled for power. :-) Film Rules! (Except, for most people, most of the time, it doesn't. I understand.....)

Film is great and I do love it, but you have to carry it. In equivalent space to your batteries, I can carry media for thousands of digital exposures. In just my D 750, 124G. Another 64G in the DF, Six more SDHC cards in a tiny metal case that fits any pocket. In addition, the SDHC cards are far harder to damage than film, exposed or unexposed. I also carry a pair of spare batteries for each camera, still well under the weight and bulk of your film. I suppose on a long trip, I might run out of power, but never have so far. Pick what you like, but think about the detrimental and beneficial bits of each

On my recent trip to Mongolia, the digital photographers were desperately searching for enough juice every night before "lights out" at 9:30 P.M. meant the generator went down for the next 20 hours.

It's a matter of planning. When I travel to Europe, I make sure I have the proper wall adapters (or an European power strip) and identify the one (if any) outlet that remains hot without a key card in the master switch. When I travel by car, I recharge batteries while driving. I also have several 20 KmAH battery packs, each of which will charge my phone and camera batteries several times over. If I were going to the boondocks without car or reliable electrification, I would invest in a solar pack. I routinely carry 6 charged batteries for my Sony A7, good for two days of shooting.

 

For that matter,I have shot my DSLR batteries dry on many occasions, and replaced batteries in my F100 and F5 daily. On the other hand, my Leica M2 was always maintenance free for the duration, if you don't mind carrying 200 rolls of film there and back, through several X-Ray machines, and limiting your self to three lenses.

 

As Will Rodgers said, "Things ain't like they used to be, and they never were."

Edited August 8, 2017 by Ed_Ingold

"if you don't mind carrying 200 rolls of film there and back, through several X-Ray machines, and limiting your self to three lenses."

 

I resemble that remark! 20 rolls of film, lots of hassles at X-Ray with my lead-lined bag, two bodies and a 24mm, 50mm and 200mm. It wasn't all easy peasy. But I love my way of photography. Just different.

I put my ISO 400 film in lead bags - once. Besides carrying nearly 10 pounds of lead, the film was invariably removed and scanned separately. One place wanted to remove fresh rolls from their foil wrappers, but declined when I explained that the foil was needed to keep light out (which is true, but I used extra care with the unexposed rolls).

 

I have yet to scan that bag of film, all processed and cut into strips of 6, and catalogued. The year was 2001 ;) In April this year, I shot about the same number of frames (~7000) in Iceland, using SD cards which fit into a wallet-sized container, completely immune to light or X-Rays. I've gone through the lot at least 3 times and am nearly ready to publish.