battery life for NIKON D610

I have 25.000 shots since I bought this camera back to 2014. Never had a problem.

 

I leave now on a trip in the middle of nowhere in Africa but with the possibility of reloading the battery. I am just wondering if one can reload a battery on and on? Can it die all of a sudden which means I'd better buy a spare one?

 

Thank you.

Battery aging process should mean a reduced capacity (shots per charge).

2014 isn't really old for a decent original battery.

I'd ponder buying a cheap knockoff to have something backup during your trip and expect that one to die before your original does. - I am a pessimist, just FTR.

If I am quite happy with a battery's capacity (as in lithium powered DSLRs) I might go as far as bringing 2 cameras 3 batteries (= one shared backup) or stick to just 2 cameras with one battery each.

I don't feel comfortable without a backup body but I don't shoot Nikon and spent too much time browsing the wedding forum here...

I didn't have sudden battery in use death yet. No demothballing success happened though.

YMMV & Good luck!

I would not consider going almost anywhere, let alone a trip to Africa, without a spare battery. Recharging is only one aspect - what if you simple get trigger-happy and run down your sole battery during a day worth of shooting? Given that you only took 25,000 shots in 5 years, chances of that happening appear slim though - I can accumulate 5K shots in a week or even a weekend given the right circumstances.

I'd ponder buying a cheap knockoff to have something backup during your trip and expect that one to die before your original does

Quite likely - and the reason I do no longer purchase anything but OEM batteries. Never have done that for my Nikon's anyway but got some for my Sonys. And the only ones that ever gave me problems were the knock-offs.

I have been to Africa for safari several times. It depends on where you go and what your accommodation is, charging batteries can be an issue. For example, back in year 2000, I was in Tanzania and I was in tents for several days. They had a generator that they ran like two hours a day, and there were only two outlets. I was still shooting film back then and didn't need to charge any camera battery, but my wife had camcorder batteries to charge. Several in our group were disappointed to see only those two outlets, until I pull out a US-style extension cord with several additional outlets.

 

During a 2016 trip to Botswana, we were also in tents, but they had an AC inverter inside the safari vehicle so that we could charge batteries inside the vehicle.

 

If photography is important to you, I would bring a backup camera to Africa and a few batteries. Charge them when you can.

I hardly go to the bottom of my garden without a spare battery.

I always bring a back up camera when I travel. This time my new little Sony RX100 M3 will make its first travel experience with 3 spare batteries...

 

Last question please: The D610 has a 64GO extrem pro card in it. The LCD screen shows 1.1k. Should it not show 2.2k?

 

Thank you.

I hardly go to the bottom of my garden without a spare battery.

:):):)

I hardly go to the bottom of my garden without a spare battery.

Sounds like you have a huge property. :cool:

I wish.

Sounds like you have a huge property. :cool:

Last question please: My D610 has a 64GO extrem pro card in it. The LCD screen shows 1.1k for RAW images. Should it not show 2.2k?

The LCD screen shows 1.1k for RAW images. Should it not show 2.2k?

It'll probably fit close to 2200 - but the number reported is an estimate based on the assumption that no compression (which on average results in a 50% reduction of file size) is possible - hence the huge underestimate. 1100 uncompressed images * 24MP * 14bit per pixel *3 colors per pixel amounts to close to 64GB.

It's getting close to that chilly time of year when the in-camera battery starts to cool down pretty quickly and loose 'life'.

 

I keep a spare one in a pocket next to me, such as a shirt or trouser pocket rather than an outside action jacket.

 

As soon as I see the battery symbol loose a 'block' I rotate them. Usually once the former has warmed up again it regains the block for another hundred frames or so.

 

It doesn't get that cold in the UK, but hoovering around zero for a couple hours, and not using the camera often (no nice hand warmth getting through the grip), it does drain a bit quicker than normal.

It'll probably fit close to 2200 - but the number reported is an estimate based on the assumption that no compression (which on average results in a 50% reduction of file size) is possible - hence the huge underestimate. 1100 uncompressed images * 24MP * 14bit per pixel *3 colors per pixel amounts to close to 64GB.

So I may

take 1100 Raw uncompressed pictures. Why shoot compressed?

It'll probably fit close to 2200 - but the number reported is an estimate based on the assumption that no compression (which on average results in a 50% reduction of file size) is possible - hence the huge underestimate. 1100 uncompressed images * 24MP * 14bit per pixel *3 colors per pixel amounts to close to 64GB.

 

better:when shoot compressed and when uncompressed?

The D610 does not offer the option to shoot RAW uncompressed; the only options are "lossless compressed" and "compressed" (which implies lossy). Unless you really want to minimize file size, there's really no reason not to use "lossless compressed".

The D610 does not offer the option to shoot RAW uncompressed; the only options are "lossless compressed" and "compressed" (which implies lossy). Unless you really want to minimize file size, there's really no reason not to use "lossless compressed".

 

thank you so much.

Get a spare genuine Nikon battery and an extra memory card. You never know what you will see, how ”trigger happy” it makes you, how often you can recharge the battery and transfer files off of your memory card.

 

Consider what said trip costs and the above is not really much of an investment for you to feel more relaxed, if nothing else.

I'm a pretty cheap sort of dude, but given the cost of the trip and the risk I would never go on a trip without plenty of spare memory and at least one spare battery. These days I usually take three, though I rarely need more than one. You must, among other things, remember the possibility that your file backup system will fail or fill up and you'll have to leave all your images on the cards, either as sole copies or safety backups. I've never had a battery fail on a trip but I did have a charger fail on a trip to Costa Rica. With both my batteries at high charge when it happened, I managed to get through the trip, with AF stopping working on the last day! And I also had a battery (third party I should add) fail at home, suddenly simply reading zero in the camera. I gave it a higher voltage zap directly with no charger and it recovered, but I'd be a fool to trust it on a trip as anything but a spare.

I'm a pretty cheap sort of dude, but given the cost of the trip and the risk I would never go on a trip without plenty of spare memory and at least one spare battery. These days I usually take three, though I rarely need more than one. You must, among other things, remember the possibility that your file backup system will fail or fill up and you'll have to leave all your images on the cards, either as sole copies or safety backups. I've never had a battery fail on a trip but I did have a charger fail on a trip to Costa Rica. With both my batteries at high charge when it happened, I managed to get through the trip, with AF stopping working on the last day! And I also had a battery (third party I should add) fail at home, suddenly simply reading zero in the camera. I gave it a higher voltage zap directly with no charger and it recovered, but I'd be a fool to trust it on a trip as anything but a spare.

 

You are right. I never thought the charger could brake down or bring problems. One point for you!

 

Merci!

You are right. I never thought the charger could brake down or bring problems. One point for you!

 

Merci!

Chargers can certainly fail, but that is rare in my experience.

 

In engineering, we say "no single point of failure." When I go on these long trips to remote areas, my standard procedure is to bring three bodies, a number of lenses with some redundancy, several batteries and two chargers.

 

A few months ago back in February/March, we went to Antarctica and I had four Nikon bodies, one being the Z6 so that its lenses are somewhat different. I had two MH-25 chargers for my various EN-EL15 batteries, one in my carry on luggage and the other in our checked luggage, along with our winter clothing. Due to some airline connection issues that were beyond my control, all of our checked luggage was missing and we had to buy some emergency winter clothing in Chile. Fortunately I hand carried all of my camera and computer gear and that one MH-25 charger saved the day. We were on a 100-passenger cruise ship in the Antarctic and there were quite a few Nikon users. I am sure that I could have borrowed some charger once in a while to get by.

ShunCheung - "I hand carried all my camerea and computer equipment" 4 Nikon bodies plus lenses. How do you managed to get that onboard. In Asia a have problems with 2 bodies and 3 lenses!

ShunCheung - "I hand carried all my camerea and computer equipment" 4 Nikon bodies plus lenses. How do you managed to get that onboard. In Asia a have problems with 2 bodies and 3 lenses!

I had one mid-sized camera backpack (ThinkTank Street Walker Por) and a roller bag for cameras. My wife no longer brings any camcorders so that we managed to get thru. My biggest lens on that trip was the 500mm/f5.6 PF. Fortunately I didn't have any 500mm/f4 or 200-400mm/f4 as in previous trips. Since my tripod was missing along with the rest of the checked luggage, it would have been very difficult to use those lenses without a tripod.

 

I did get everything back at the end of the trip, but that didn't do me any good at some very remote locations.

 

Back to the OP, I was reading a Tanzania trip log this morning. It reminded me that a lot of the African lodges switch off their generator at 9pm or 10pm, so that it would be impossible to charge your batteries overnight. I would definitely bring two chargers so that you can charge simultaneously. If possible, bring an inverter that plugs into the cigarette lighter so that you can charge inside the safari vehicle.