36
Using an electronic viewfinder or LCD screen to compose the image uses more battery life than a standard viewfinder
Using an LCD screen for the majority of device settings uses more battery life than physical, dedicated buttons
Smaller physical devices may, by design, have smaller batteries
32
If having a solar charger, you should note the limitations of law of energy conservation.
Sunshine at best produces 1000 watts / square meter. However, best single junction solar panels are around 20% efficient so you get out 200 watts / square meter. Add 95% efficient charger (you need DC-DC converter somewhere, you can't just plug a raw solar cell into a ...
25
Is there really no way automate a DSLR to shoot every 24 hours without having to pick it up, charge/replace its battery, and put in back on the same spot ?
Canon and Nikon cameras can be connected to AC power by means of an adapter that fits in the battery slot. For example, Canon DSLRs that take an LB-E6 battery (like the 5D II, 6D, and 7D) can use an ACK-...
22
The main reason is because the batteries for MILCs are almost universally smaller than DSLR batteries.
Some mirrorless batteries:
The LP-E17 battery for the Canon EOS M5 has a 1050 mAh (milliamp-hour) charge storage.
The NP-FW50 for the Sony a7R II has 1020 mAh.
DSLR batteries:
Nikon's EN-EL15 battery (for D500, D600, D610, D7000, D7100, D750, D800, ...
21
Just buy as many batteries as you need, plus a charger for all except the one currently in the camera. [When travelling by plane, you're not supposed to carry Li-ion batteries outside of their 'device'. I've checked with airlines that 'device' can include the charger.]
After comments This appears to not be an aviation authority rule, but one applied by ...
17
Although only the manufacturers themselves know for sure and there could be different reasons from one manufacturer to the next there are two obvious possibilities that receive most of the attention from the users of cameras and their proprietary batteries.
Profit. Limiting the amount of competition in the marketplace by not using standard, off the shelf ...
16
CIPA ratings between two cameras from the same generation and from the same manufacturer can sometimes be useful. Comparing CIPA ratings across different brands is pretty much meaningless.
Here's why.
CIPA rating - A measurement of the number of images a digital still camera can take on a single battery charge. The procedure for determining this rating ...
15
LCD screen and any wireless features like Bluetooth, WiFi or GPS would be the heaviest drain. This would be followed by flash/focus-assist then auto-focus, image stabilization would probably be next. Just being on (or even off and providing enough power for the display counts) would be a minor drain. Keeping the camera on between shots won't do too much. ...
15
A mirrorless camera consumes more power mostly because the circuitry is constantly running. Both the sensor and EVF or LCD have to be powered continuously in order to maintain the Live-View which is necessary for framing.
In contrast, a DSLR can even be used to frame while powered off. The viewfinder requires no power at all and the status line below the ...
14
The Nikon FG-20 has an electronic shutter, which will not work properly if no battery is inserted.
You can, with limited capabilities, still use the camera without a battery. Light metereing will of course not work, but the shutter speeds are also restricted to B and a mechanically controlled 1/90s indicated as 'M90' on the speed dial. Unfortunately, the ...
13
Do NOT do this.
Please read this post from Electrical Engineering SE regarding Li-Ion battery.
Li-Ion have one failure mode. Fire. And it's not a normal, lighter fire, or even a stove fire. It is a fire-that-burns-in-a-vacuum fire. It's a fire-that-reacts-with-water-and-air fire.
Li-Ion is not the battery type to play around with. They are dead not ...
13
I don't know that there is a "best course of action", but here's what I do... I have multiple batteries, and I numbered them. When battery #1 gets low, I put in battery #2 and charge #1. If they've been sitting for a while, then the night before I'm going to spend enough time shooting that I may potentially need more than one, I'll top off the charge on the ...
12
Partially functionality and partially profit. With my Canon 5D Mark iii, I use a battery grip. The battery grip provides two power options. One, I can use 2 of the typical Canon proprietary battery packs in parallel or I can use 6 AA batteries that take up roughly the same amount of space.
When I use the AA batteries, the camera performance suffers ...
11
In general I'd recommend charging the battery fully before 'playing'. However this probably isn't necessary with modern lithium ion batteries, which don't suffer from memory effects.
The idea of battery memory and long first charges is a hangover from the day's of NiCd batteries.
When in doubt though read the manual.
11
I trekked for 14 days in nepal. I also bought a solar charger and extra batteries. Buy the highest wattage solar charger you can find and bring like 4 extra batteries. You can get away with charging 2 batteries at the same time.
Also note many tea houses along trekking routes have access to electrical outlets. You will need an adapter though. Below is a ...
10
I'd suggest either plugging it into the wall, a USB port or an external USB based battery. Any of these should be able to provide more power for longer runtime.
10
There are so many variables regarding power consumption per shot that it is probably a little hard to precisely nail down. In general, shooting raw is understood to require more power than shooting JPEG assuming all other variables are equal. Even when saving image files in a raw format, a preview or thumbnail JPEG is generated by most cameras. So some, if ...
10
Having a transcript of the English error message brought the solution, so thanks to all that helped out here and made me do the necessary stuff. On https://learn.usa.canon.com/resources/articles/2015/counterfeit_battery_protection.htmlp the reason and the implications of this message are explained.
What will happen if I chose either of the options? Here's a ...
10
It depends on the specific camera. The Pentax K1000, for example, only requires the battery for metering, but everything else is mechanical. On your camera, shutter timing is electronic and requires a battery — but according to the manual there is a special setting M90 which provides a 1/90th of a second shutter speed which is all mechanical and can be used ...
10
If space is not a critical issue. You should probably bring a few extra batteries as well as a solar charging unit. That way, if you ever run out of battery in your camera while on the field, you can swap batteries and charge the empty one on the go.
9
The Nikon P330 camera uses a Nikon EN-EL12 1050 mAh battery.
EN-EL12 battery capacity is nominally 1050 mAh as supplied.
After market batteries may claim higher capacities and, regardless of label, may have lower capacities.
If the charge rate is not limited by the camera itself when in-camera charging, or when externally charging the battery, maximum ...
9
The ergonomics and weight balance of a camera are more important than that of a flash. By incorporating a proprietary battery into the camera design the manufacturer has more flexibility on its size, shape and position in the camera. This can reduce the size of the battery compartment, simplify the access door and battery contacts, and means that more power ...
9
(this answer assumes digital photography)
Carry extra batteries in the field or bring a solar charging unit?
Carry the batteries. juhists answer explains why a solar charger is not practical.
Ration your photos. Don't take 100 photos per day, don't take video or very long exposure night shots. Spend minimal or no time looking at your photos after you ...
8
There is a GoPro timelapse contoller available from Cam-Do.
This switches the camera off between each shot, which can give much longer battery life. So it can take hundreds of photos, spread over days or weeks.
This controller is compatible with the HD Hero, Hero 2, and Hero 3 White and Hero 3 Black, but it is not compatible with the Hero 3 Silver.
8
Separate pockets. Charged in the right side, dead in the left. You don't have time to be messing around. Fast, Quick, Simple.
I also carry a spare brick with me (20 pack of disposables). Sometimes you need them on the 16 plus hour days.
8
A lot can depend on the settings you have on the camera. Most cameras, when not used for a certain amount of time, will go into powersave mode to save battery for you. Yes this will still use a little power, but its so small almost not worth worrying about.
Some cameras will perform various actions when switching off/on which might end up using more power ...
8
What you're doing now is fine. Li-ion does not need to be fully charged for storage. In fact, the best state to store them in is between 30-70% charge, but I'd probably only bother with that if storing them for many months.
It's also fine (encouraged, even) to recharge them when they're only partially discharged -- a very deep charge/discharge will ...
8
Depends on the camera. If a DSLR, you can get around 1000 shots per charge. If a mirrorless or some other camera that eats batteries, then 500 shots per charge, perhaps less. I can get by with two battery packs (one in camera, one spare) for 4 weeks in the bush (I don't shoot video). If shooting video, that really drains batteries
I would take extra ...
7
In all my compact cameras I ever owned (starting from the original Digital IXUS), when the battery was completely empty (in the eyes of the camera) it would automatically switch off and retract the lens.
As this surely works by measuring the voltage of the battery, it seems that your one LiIon battery has a rather high voltage ar rest (no current flowing) ...
7
The battery being 3.6 gives it away. It is a lithium battery. Lithium batteries are dangerous, they can explode if not charged correctly or protected from physical damage properly. You don't commonly get AA sized lithium rechargeable cells either, they tend to be a little larger to accommodate protection circuits.
In order to allow the use of high capacity ...
Only top voted, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible