D500 batteries

[Barry Clemmons Photography]

I've seen several posts on the web about possible shorter battery life with the D500. I have not noticed anything out of the ordinary. The first battery charge with any new body is shorter than normal for me, but only because I spend time in the menus setting it up and chimping more than usual. The one thing I did notice was a difference in battery % shown when moving a battery from the D810 or D750 to the D500. The D500 always shows slightly less charge (about 5%) than the other two. I also moved one battery from the D810 that showed about 30% left on that body, and there wasn't enough charge to even turn on the D500. The same thing happened with a low charged battery from the D750. Once I charged them they worked fine in the D500. I tried all of my EN-EL15 batteries (both Li-ion01 and Li-ion20) and all worked fine in the D500 after being fully charged. I'm wondering if the D500 uses a different algorithm to determine battery life remaining.

 

A few have also mentioned problems using Lexar 1000x and 2000x SD cards in the D500, even though they are shown as approved for use in the D500 by Nikon. The D500 would show that the card was defective and sometimes lock the camera. The problem was remedied by turning the camera off then on. The issue also presented itself sometimes when trying to view a shot at 100% on the D500 display. I was unable to replicate that issue using a Lexar 64GB Pro 1000x card.

[Barry Clemmons Photography]

<p>I forgot to add that there are reports that most (maybe all) third party batteries will not work in the D500. I only use Nikon batteries, so I can't test to see if that is true.</p>

[joseph_smith3]

<p>Barry, I have a new Nikon battery in my D 500. I think it runs down faster than my D 800E and D 810. However, I have been using the LCD more to check images, exposures, etc, as I experiment with settings so the comparisons may not be accurate. They certainly are not scientific. </p>

<p>I will try and post some D 500 images right out of the camera with no processing in a few minutes. </p>

<p>Joe</p>

[ShunCheung]

<p>Not that I think it explains all the differences, but one thing to keep in mind is that when a camera body is new, the (EN-EL15) battery needs to charge the small internal, backup battery that keeps your clock and other settings when you remove the regular battery. And any new battery may need a few charge/discharge cycles before it shows its full capability.</p>

<p>In any case, this is an interesting issue that I'll keep an eye on.</p>

[Barry Clemmons Photography]

<p>Good point Shun about needing a few charge/discharge cycles. I think it is also best to discharge them to almost zero each time as well rather than topping it off every day or so.</p>

[erik_christensen3]

<p>I was advised by the dealer that the new battery has to be charge abt 3 hours more after it is fully charged and repeat that 3 times after the battery is down to abt. 10%, thereafter normal charging until it is full.</p>

[Barry Clemmons Photography]

<p>For those of you who read Brad Hill, he has a new blog post about the D500 including a paragraph about battery life.</p>

<p>http://www.naturalart.ca/voice/blog.html#D500_DXNirvana</p>

<p>To summarize, he stated his first battery charge lasted for less than 100 shots. He wasn't surprised because the first charge was used to go through all menus to set the camera up plus take about 80 shots using Liveview to test ISO. He stated that when recharged and used as he normally would he got about 2000 shots.</p>

 

[ShunCheung]

<p>Barry, it just shows counting the number of captures a battery lasts is a far-from-ideal way to measure battery performance. E.g. one could be chimping a lot that drains much battery power, or a GPS hook up could also drain the battery fairly quickly.</p>

[cousir]

<p>I also had low picture counts and Nikon Canada replaced my 4 older Li_ion 10 batteries to the same as supplied with the D500 Li-ion 20 series.<br>

New ones did not perform much better < 300 shots per charge. All external communication functions are OFF.<br>

Turn off the screen TOUCH Function under the SETUP MENU and the shutter count drastically went back up to what I would consider an acceptable count of ~ 1000 per charge.</p>

<p> </p>

[ShunCheung]

<p>I have used two different D500 bodies extensively. The touch screen function is always on, and battery consumption is quite reasonable.</p>

<p>For any new batteries, including those exchanged from Nikon for the Li-ion 20 type, they may need to go through a few charge-discharge cycles before they show their full strength.</p>