How many batteries do i really need for a wedding?

<p>I'm renting a Nikon D90 to shoot a wedding, and i'm not sure if just ordering an extra battery (so i'd have 2) will be enough to last all day. I could order the battery grip and 2 batteries, so i'd have 3 batteries...it just costs a little more than i would like to spend. Is it necessary to have 3 to last 8 hours? I'm also ordering the Nikon SB-600 speedlight and if i understand correctly, that uses it's own AA batteries so it's not drawing from the camera batteries. I shoot in JPEG. Thanks for your help! :)</p>

<p>I use a D90 to shoot weddings and carry only one spare battery and have yet to use it. I have shoot up to 1,000 photos on one fully charged battery. So one spare battery is enough. Don't shoot in JPEG if your shooting a wedding shoot in Raw. If you must shoot JPEG & Raw. Having a RAW file will allow you so much more adjustment on your shots than JPEG ever will. Also JPEG will loose a lot in size as soon as you start altering them. Shoot in RAW make your adjustments and then save as JPEG.</p>

<p>Brooke -- <br>

It depends on how much you shoot. Personally, when shooting a wedding I only take 600-800 shots, (6-8 hours), including formals. I can, (but don't), get away with ONE battery in my D300s. My flash, on the other hand, requires 16 batteries (2 sets of 8 for my SB-900 w/ battery pack).</p>

<p>Now that I've answered the question, I'm going to ask you what your primary camera/flash/lens setup for the wedding? When is the wedding? And, since you are asking a question regarding back-up,(I hope), equipment, how much time do you have to practice with this equipment so you know what to do without thinking on the wedding day?</p>

<p>RS</p>

 

<p>Personally I'd take 3 if I were you. Every now and then I've drained my first battery. Especially if I'm using a VR lens. I think my 70-200mm 2.8VR eats through batteries quicker. Nothing scientific, just a hunch =). Better to have extras just in case one fails, or you forget to charge, etc.</p>

<p>John - Thanks for your help! I will probably shoot in RAW, i just haven't gotten used to it yet. But i have some time before August. :) Good to know too!<br>

Richard - Thank you, that was helpful! My primary camera will be the D90 with 17-55mm f/2.8, 35mm f/1.8 and SB-600 speedlight. My D40 is the backup with the kit lens, both of which i probably won't use unless i have to. The 2 weddings are in August, the first is both inside & outside, the other will be completely outside. I plan to have my rental equipment 5 days beforehand to allow time to practice. :)</p>

<p>for each camera i always have 2 extras ( 3 total )... even though i usually end up using 1.</p>

<p>for my 2 speedlights that i use in a wedding, i also have 3 extra sets ( so 12 spare AA total ).</p>

<p>It is not whether you need it or not.. its what happens when you really need it and don't have it.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Thank you Charles and Mark! So then does it matter if i have the actual battery grip? Or can i just have the 2 spare batteries with me ready to pop in as needed?</p>

<p>Personally I only take the cameras with there grips loaded w/2 batteries. I have never burned through 2 batteries during a wedding and I shoot a lot of frames, between 1000-1200 for a full day. When I come home my d700 which gets used 75% of the time has 0% left on one battery and 70-80% on the other. and the d300 will have 40-50% on one and 100% on the other.<br>

To answer you question on the battery grip, It will not matter if you get it or not, X amount of batteries will give you X amount of shots. Where the grip comes in play is that your battery changeover will be seamless and you will have no need to stop and change the battery. Most grips also give you the vertical shutter option for portraits and alot even have shutter/aperture dials and ev/focus lock buttons. If you shoot longer lens it also helps to balance the weight of the lens. They are a worth while investment if you don't mind the weight and bulk they add.</p>

<p>Brooke,<br>

One of the things I am assuming of the answers people have provided is that they all own their cameras and you are renting for this wedding.<br>

If you take two D90s that came off the assembly line one right after the other and they are mechanically and electronically identical, there will still be nuances and quirks that make them a bit different. Call it the ghost in the machine, the soul of the camera, chaos theory at work... but I have yet to find two camera bodies that behave the exact same.<br>

Anyway, with the excellent answers that you've been provided so far, please remember that these are from people who know their specific camera body. Since you are renting the camera and, presumably, doing so only a day or two before the wedding, getting to know the intricacies of that specific body is not a luxury you will have.<br>

Therefore, my strong recommendation is to be over-prepared. Yes, two batteries <em>should </em>suffice but you may end up with a camera that drinks battery power like I drink beer... :-) So, get the third.<br>

<br /> One last note about the flash unit. See if you can rent a Quantum Turbo battery. The recycle time is a fraction of AA batteries and I couldn't imagine voluntarily shooting a wedding without mine.</p>

<p>Cheers,<br /> Rob</p>

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<p>See if you can rent a Quantum Turbo battery</p>

 

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<p>This will only work if the OP also rents a SB800 or 900; the SB600 won't accept external power. I also just wanted to add to the "you can never be too careful crowd". One battery should do it. An extra is a must. A third is the fail-safe. Same goes with memory cards: if you shoot 1,000 images, carry enough cards to hold 3,000. I always tell my shooters if <em>anything</em> weird happens, change batteries <em>and </em> memory cards. This is also a good reason to shoot Raw + JPEG: image redundancy.</p>

I shoot Canon and can't comment on the D90's battery life. I rarely drain a single battery on my 5D2 during an entire wedding shoot (in my part of the world, 16hrs is not uncommon) but I always have another fully charged one close to hand. I would ensure I had 2 batteries for the D90 and 2 for the D40. When renting, does it come with a battery? If so, it may be safer to have 2 new ones, as you never know how drained the in-camera one might be.

<p>John (Deerfield) makes a point on the RAW+JPG that I hadn't considered before (file backup). However, just curious, if one fries the CF card or it just goes haywire, won't they lose both the RAW and the JPEG anyway? What are the chances of recovering only the JPEG or only the RAW? For weddings, I shoot JPEG only and it works for me :)

<p>You should also take into account - aside from the number of shots you take - how much you use the monitor and whether your lens(es) use VR or not (as it also drains the battery). Also, if you're using your built-in camera flash to remotely command the other flash(es), that would drain battery juice too.</p>

<p>Also, the more a battery gets used, the less efficient it becomes, so an old battery, however carefully used and conditioned, will never provide the same number of shots as a new battery...</p>

<p>Some points I don't think have been mentioned yet and a some I wish to expand upon:<br /><br />I remember your previous thread about lenses. I think I might have mentioned on that thread my passion about "System Redundancy" for the kit. <br /><br />Does the D40 and the D90 take the same main batteries? If such is the case I would be comfortable with a total of five camera batteries for the two bodies. I am passionate about redundancy. I think a more common answer (in addition to the views already posted here) would be "two cameras using the same batteries, then three batteries would be a minimum, four would be "very safe".<br /><br />Next question - do these cameras also have a "small battery" for date and other functions (usually the size and shape of a small coin) . . . <br />If yes: if that battery dies, how does that affect the camera's output? <br />Are these small batteries the same?<br />Do you have back up of those batteries too?<br /><br />Re the battery grip - I have one for each digital camera. Although my main reasons for the battery Grip is the second Shutter release (not necessarily a “Vertical” shutter release) the other reason is for better balance - but with two batteries loaded I have never run dry at a Wedding, on any camera.</p>

<p>You should consider weight and balance re the battery grip – many women do not have large hands (as large as men’s hands – though my hands are comparatively small) – Most Women who have worked with me, and most Assistant Photographers have been Women – do not like using a battery grip, citing weight and size the reasons. <br /><br />I drive two cameras, sometimes three - so that's six batteries spread over the event - also my three main working cameras ALL take the same batteries so the "spare" battery number is kept to only two . . . and one only "small battery" - my logic being that I can cannibalize my kit at any time, should one pair of batteries run dry.<br /><br />Also the another reason for having a battery grip for me is that it holds TWO batteries so I know where two batteries are all, the time: they will not be going lost or stolen, because I have the cameras ON ME - not in the car; or in the camera bag, behind the DJ's set up etc . . . <br /><br />My last reason for a battery grip is that it allows the AA battery insert to drive the cameras - which is another level of "System Redundancy" I don’t know if this applies to the Nikon cameras you will be using - and the answer to the question about AA is: I have about twelve sets of 4 AA’s fully charged, in my bag at all times, and I don't use Flash that often - my battery grip-inserts, each take 6 x AA batteries.<br /><br /><br />Also batteries don't like cold - not that this appears to be relevant to your situation as you mention an outside wedding - but for skiing or snowboarding, for example, I carry extra charged batteries in sealed plastic bags close to my skin, as the cameras are out in the cold, the batteries last less time, than I might usually expect.<br /><br />I think that Rob’s point about most of us knowing our gear inside out and upside down and you renting is important to note – I think that you should drive the gear hard in those days before the Wedding so you know it as best you can and leave enough time to make adjustments or purchases to suit. I think you should rent a D90 about a month out from the Wedding, for a weekend – it might not be the same camera you rent for the Wedding – but familiarity is a good thing. <br /><br />If you shoot RAW + JPEG (or just RAW) and have only been shooting JPEG, then you should consider how many memory cards you need to have, also.<br /><br />WW</p>

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<p>Is it necessary to have 3 to last 8 hours?</p>

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<p>In my view - yes.</p>

<p>I get around 12 hours from a single battery at my shooting rate, perhaps a little less if I'm using VR lenses. I've shot many weddings just on a single battery. But I can't <em>guarantee </em>that I'll only use one battery, so I'll definitely need a second. And I can't guarantee that my second battery will work perfectly, or doesn't have a problem that's made it discharge prematurely. So I also need the third battery, just in case.</p>

<p>I carry one spare battery. But I have one spare for each of the two cameras. If I need the second battery for the first camera and it fails, well that is why I have the second camera. So I guess you could say I have four batteries. But having the second camera is more important than multiple batteries for the first camera.</p>

<p>In my experience, it's standard procedure for a rental house to give an extra body battery. So you should be starting with 2, but I'd check in with them to be sure. Get a third, if one is availible. AAs are cheap. Try to recycle them.<br>

I also don't understand the point of shooting RAW and JPEG on the same card. There is no significant benefit for redundancy. I think it'd actually be a liability- using up a lot more space than necessary. If the camera writes different files to 2 different cards, maybe then it would make sense. Is the D90 capable of that?</p>

<p>Wow! Thanks everyone for your help! I decided to go with 3 batteries just to have one less thing to worry about. I will be sure to have plenty of cards too! Again thank you, it's nice to know that there are so many WISE photographers on here willing to give sage advice to newer photographers trying to learn. I'm very appreciative :)</p>

I have 3 batteries for the canon 1ds Mark 3. Since I shoot so many weddings I sometimes forget to charge the camera battery. The Canon battery is good for 1800 shots.

 

If it were me, I pack about 12 or more double A's for your flash. Figure you will get about 150 shots per set of batteries. Most likely you may get more, but why take the chance.

 

You can also buy a quantum battery, such as the turbo, which should last the entire wedding. I use this battery with a more powerful flash unit and I've had no issues with the battery going dead before the end of the wedding. Unless you take around 2000 shots you should be fine with the turbo or 13, 4 packs of AA. This will give you 1950 shots or more.

<p>two batteries at least for each camera, minimum, preferably the batteries will work on both cameras, extra flash, if any thing can go wrong it will is a good rule to follow</p>

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<p>However, just curious, if one fries the CF card or it just goes haywire, won't they lose both the RAW and the JPEG anyway? What are the chances of recovering only the JPEG or only the RAW?</p>

 

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<p>There is no easy answer to that. Most issues are directory related. The advantage to having two sets of images is that you have now doubled your chance of recovering at least one of them. That isn't to say that you will be able to. However, I like doubling my odds. </p>

<p>i would have thought that if you have a battery in each of your d90's, and one spare, that you would have plenty of juice. just don't get too trigger happy; keep your shots under 800.</p>

<p>I shoot Canon and I only do some events (and definitely not weddings, <strong>ever!</strong>) but here's an old saw that works every time: it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. No matter how many batteries you have, bring a couple of extras and a recharger too. Remember, Murphy of Murphy's Law fame finds most of his victims amongst the unprepared, the optimistic, and those who spend an inordinate amount of time wandering around hoping for the best.</p>

<p>Just to comment on the VR battery issue. When I shoot my buddies playing basketball with my D80 and 70-300 VR I found that in one hour I could pretty much kill the battery (same as in the D90 I believe) to 10-20% if I left the automatic image review on. Of course the camera never left my eye in that hour so it was running VR and auto focus (AF-C) constantly. When I turned off the auto image review I would walk out of one of their games with 40-50% life left. just my two non wedding shooter cents :)</p>

<p>I use canon so I can't comment on how long the batteries last for nikon. BUT...I Can tell you about when I rented batteries & a camera. One of the batteries I had rented was bad. I could charge it, it would show fully charged, but when you used it in your camera, it would lose the charge in less than an hour. I got my money back for the rental, but if that had been my only back up battery it would not have been good. So I would say get the extra battery. Even though most places test their gear, you just never know, its better to be prepared. </p>

Also remember not to overcharge batteries. Some people leave their batteries on the charger for a week or more. This actually takes away the life of your batteries. Next, put the batteries on a long charge, don't buy those chargers that will charge your battery in 15 minutes. The slow trickle chargers are the best, such as 4 to 6 hours, or even longer. This is in reference to AA batteries for flash units. I remember a photographer putting in newly charged batteries that were about 2 years old and he only got about 5 shots out of the batteries.

 

The same goes with camera batteries, don't leave them on the charger for a week or 2., until your next gig.

 

I would suggest replacing your camera batteries as well as your AA batteries every 2 years, but the problem is we usually buy new cameras before the batteries need replacement.

 

I thought the 1Ds Mk3 would be my last camera before retiring. With built in video it looks like I will need to buy a new camera.