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Battery life
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Aug 4, 2017 13:30:30   #
Einreb92 Loc: Philadelphia
 
Hello all. I am not getting the kind of performance out of my battery I was expecting (nikon brand) and am aware of the toll taken when using the rear screen. My brightness setting are low/normal. That got me to thinking, with some electronics, there is a hit on the power supply booting up and shutting down. Obviously, if I am not shooting I will turn it off, but I wonder if I shoot, turn off, turn on five minutes later to take some more shots, turn off, turn back on etc etc. Is my methodology flawed? What do most of you do? Thanks!

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Aug 4, 2017 13:44:21   #
CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City
 
What specific model are you using? Does it have a bluetooth option? That's the feature to assure is turned off. Turning the camera off and on is typically unnecessary if you have a sleep mode. Today's cameras sleep with very little power usage and can go days in sleep mode with virtually no battery usage. Are you using a Nikon battery?

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Aug 4, 2017 13:44:26   #
big-guy Loc: Peterborough Ontario Canada
 
The only time I actually turn off the cameras is to change batteries. Other than that they stay on and go to sleep after 30 seconds. Never had any problem and the cameras can last weeks like that. In fairness, I'm not out every day, maybe once or twice a week and usually 1-200 photos per outing.

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Aug 4, 2017 13:50:12   #
Ched49 Loc: Pittsburgh, Pa.
 
If I know I'm going to be shooting every 3-5 minutes or so, I leave my camera on. Most cameras go into "sleep" mode when not being used after about a minute even though it's turned on. When I'm ready for the next shot, just tap the shutter button and it goes on instantly. I use my compact camera the same way...hope this helps. Oops, looks like Big Guy beat me to it.

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Aug 4, 2017 13:56:05   #
rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA
 
As everybody else asked, what Nikon? Do you have WiFi turned on for that horrible Snapbridge app? If you've got WiFi on, then the radio is going to be constantly looking for a connection, and as it seeks, it ramps up the output power, which is a sure fire way to drain batteries.

And yes, turning it off when not shooting is a battery saving methodology.

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Aug 4, 2017 14:20:20   #
Hangingon Loc: NW North Dakota
 
I have found one of my D500's (battery grip) batteries going dead. I have three batteries so I am switching it between cameras to see if it is the battery or the way that I have the camera set up. None of them are older than eight months old.

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Aug 4, 2017 14:35:16   #
Einreb92 Loc: Philadelphia
 
D7200. Nikon battery. Wifi turned off. I will have to check to see if the sleep function is on this camera and/or if it needs to be activated. Thanks.

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Aug 4, 2017 14:57:40   #
Leitz Loc: Solms
 
Einreb92 wrote:
Hello all. I am not getting the kind of performance out of my battery I was expecting (nikon brand) and am aware of the toll taken when using the rear screen. My brightness setting are low/normal. That got me to thinking, with some electronics, there is a hit on the power supply booting up and shutting down. Obviously, if I am not shooting I will turn it off, but I wonder if I shoot, turn off, turn on five minutes later to take some more shots, turn off, turn back on etc etc. Is my methodology flawed? What do most of you do? Thanks!
Hello all. I am not getting the kind of performanc... (show quote)

I'm not familiar with your camera, but it should have the option to set the standby timer to go into sleep mode whenever you want, no need to turn it on and off all the time. Things like noise reduction, live view, GPS, the rear screen, &c., all use extra battery power.

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Aug 4, 2017 15:07:20   #
bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana
 
For what it's worth, I've noticed that the D7100 eats more batteries than my D7000 (which gets AMAZING battery life) I'm only guessing, but they D7200 may suffer form even worse battery life. Nothing to worry about. I used to only get 500 or so shots from my D200 with a brand new Nikon brand battery, and was amazed.

You may have to change batteries is all. It's not like when we had to change film every 24-36 shots. Even if you got 500, that's quite a bit of time between "stopping to change" something.

Just my 2 cents.
bk

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Aug 4, 2017 16:13:12   #
LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY
 
I don't know about Nikon, but Canon has a sensor cleaning feature that actually shakes the sensor to help remove dust. It activates every time the camera is turned on or shut off. Leaving the camera on saves whatever power it uses. As others have mentioned, things like GPS and wi-fi can be battery hogs. With a number of Canon bodies the GPS, unless turned off, stays active in sleep mode. It will drain a battery rather quickly. The display screen is probably the biggest power hog of the bunch. It's always best to leave it off unless you absolutely need it. When left on, even with the sleep mode working, the screen is still drawing power for the 30 sec or so that it takes it to go to sleep. That adds up. As far as power usage when in sleep mode, that is so little as to be unnoticeable, with my Canons anyway. I assume your Nikon would be the same. I have several Canon bodies and it is not unusual for me to forget to turn them off and come back later to find that one has been on the shelf for days, some times weeks, with no noticeable drain on the battery.
BTW, how old are your batteries? That can be a factor.

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Aug 4, 2017 16:53:47   #
Einreb92 Loc: Philadelphia
 
LFingar wrote:
I don't know about Nikon, but Canon has a sensor cleaning feature that actually shakes the sensor to help remove dust. It activates every time the camera is turned on or shut off. Leaving the camera on saves whatever power it uses. As others have mentioned, things like GPS and wi-fi can be battery hogs. With a number of Canon bodies the GPS, unless turned off, stays active in sleep mode. It will drain a battery rather quickly. The display screen is probably the biggest power hog of the bunch. It's always best to leave it off unless you absolutely need it. When left on, even with the sleep mode working, the screen is still drawing power for the 30 sec or so that it takes it to go to sleep. That adds up. As far as power usage when in sleep mode, that is so little as to be unnoticeable, with my Canons anyway. I assume your Nikon would be the same. I have several Canon bodies and it is not unusual for me to forget to turn them off and come back later to find that one has been on the shelf for days, some times weeks, with no noticeable drain on the battery.
BTW, how old are your batteries? That can be a factor.
I don't know about Nikon, but Canon has a sensor c... (show quote)


Brand spanking new. But thanks for the feedback. The camera is set to do "sensor clean" as you noted, so maybe off and on repeatedly probably adds up. I have reset my sleep mode and have learned from most here to change my behavior and just let it sleep, except maybe when putting it away for extended periods. Thanks to all for your responses.

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Aug 4, 2017 16:55:57   #
Einreb92 Loc: Philadelphia
 
bkyser wrote:
For what it's worth, I've noticed that the D7100 eats more batteries than my D7000 (which gets AMAZING battery life) I'm only guessing, but they D7200 may suffer form even worse battery life. Nothing to worry about. I used to only get 500 or so shots from my D200 with a brand new Nikon brand battery, and was amazed.

You may have to change batteries is all. It's not like when we had to change film every 24-36 shots. Even if you got 500, that's quite a bit of time between "stopping to change" something.

Just my 2 cents.
bk
For what it's worth, I've noticed that the D7100 e... (show quote)


You know bkyser, you are absolutely correct! I am an old head who remembers quite well having to do exactly that. Of course, in those days, I was lucky to be able to have more than one can to shoot at the same time

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Aug 4, 2017 18:03:06   #
larryepage Loc: North Texas area
 
Aside from wifi, blutooth, gps, and the rear monitor, two big battery hogs not mentioned in this thread are VR and continuous AF. Lens manuals mention that using VR will substantially reduce available battery capacity. Each should activate only when the shutter button is partially depressed, but they do cause substantial battery drain when working.

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Aug 4, 2017 18:06:26   #
Einreb92 Loc: Philadelphia
 
larryepage wrote:
Aside from wifi, blutooth, gps, and the rear monitor, two big battery hogs not mentioned in this thread are VR and continuous AF. Lens manuals mention that using VR will substantially reduce available battery capacity. Each should activate only when the shutter button is partially depressed, but they do cause substantial battery drain when working.


That makes a lot of sense! I have been playing around with a Tamron 70-300 and in addition to the VR being noisy, I would bet money it is my culprit! I will do some tests over the next few days to see if I can repeat. Thank you very much.

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Aug 4, 2017 18:38:23   #
BJ in OKla Loc: No Water Oklahoma
 
Einreb92 wrote:
D7200. Nikon battery. Wifi turned off. I will have to check to see if the sleep function is on this camera and/or if it needs to be activated. Thanks.



____________________________________________________________________________

Check your battery to see if there is a ( E or F ) in the Ser. number..
I read on the Nikon Site that EN-EL-15 Battery's with the ( E of F )
in the Ser. number, there is a recall on them...

That's all I know,, and I am sticking to it,, lol.
Bj

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