I am getting only about 500-600 frames off a single charge with my camera with new batteries that have been refreshed. This is with IS lenses, but only moderate chimping. I know some folks have reported 1200 and more. As I am planning another trip with no possibilities of recharging, I am hoping to find a way to improve this and not need to take my extra batteries. Any ideas? I was considering taking the camera for evaluation to see if there is a problem there.

Depends on the ambient temperature as well as use of IS, chimping, autofocusing etc., but 600 frames sounds about right to me. That's what we're getting this week on a photo trip to Acadia, with outside temps about 70 - 80° F. At times I've gotten as few as 200 frames in cold weather. Manual focus everything, turn off the IS, minimize your chimping and keep batteries warm to eke out the maximum battery life. But by all means, take extra batteries if you'll have no ability to recharge. Otherwise you're guaranteed to see something like an ivory-billed woodpecker landing on a tree 30 feet away ten seconds after your battery goes dead. In the old days the saying was "film is cheap, so shoot it". If you're lugging a 3 lb. camera that costs $8,000 (U.S.) new, it hardly makes sense to leave the spare battery at home.

I agree with Geoff, given your usage 600 frames sounds about right. Unless weight or bulk is a problem, IMO taking a spare battery or two is cheap insurance.

Paul

I usually get 500 to 800 photos on a mk2 battery so your camera seems fine. If I'm shooting a lot of photos in a short time (like shooting sports), I may get over 1000 on a single charge.

thanks everyone, I wonder where the specs of 1200 frames come from. I once tested with out IS, no chimping, and short auto off setting and still did not get much than 500. My experience with Canon specs beside this is that they are reliable.

When my batteries were brand new, I was much closer to Canon's estimation. On some occasions I even got over 1400 photos but, as I said above, I was shooting a lot of photos in a short amount of time.

I sold my Canon 1Ds MkII and upgraded to the MkIII. I have an extra battery for the MkII for sale. $40 plus shipping and insurance.

Bud James
North Wales, PA

I have 3 batteries for my 1Ds II and they all give really awful battery life. I don't use any lenses with IS and don't really understand why its so bad. Certainly the battery life on my unused old 20D seems to be 100 times better and still shows a full charge even if I pick it up after many months without use.

Recently I have started to refresh the batteries on a regular basis but I still find that I can refresh and charge a battery, leave in the bag for a few weeks and then put it in the camera only to find its flat or perhaps worse still shows fully charged and then packs up after just a couple dozen frames. When the battery is left in the camera its even worse. It seems like the only way to get a decent amount of usage is to completely refresh and charge a battery 2-3 times then use it immediately which is clearly not a great way to work but its the only way at present that I can shoot a few hundred frames with one battery.

One of the batteries is a Canon original while the other two were purchased on eBay and none of them have been brilliant from day one. Since the NP-E3 is apparently just a group of rechargeable AA batteries in a container, I wondered if there is any way to get an outer enclosure which fits the camera and put in my own Nimh batteries which I could charge separately with a turbo charger in 15 minutes. That would also allow me to use the Hybrio batteries which don't drain so quickly when not in use. Any ideas?

Thanks

Ashley

How do you figure that? Wouldn't the words "12v Ni-MH battery" on the battery case suggest that it is a 12v Ni-MH battery?

Did you actually open one up and see a group of AA batteries inside?

I remember reading on a forum a couple years ago about some guy who apparently ripped one open and discovered it was just a group of AA Nimh batteries put together.

That clearly shouldn't happen. My batteries hold charge when stored for quite a while. Multiple recharge cycles is recommended when you first get the camera and on occassion during its life time. It does need to be drained completely before recharging (or go thru discharge-recharge cycle). When I have a chance I'll try mine with manual no IS lens to see if it makes a substantial difference.

JFC.

"Don't believe everything you read on the Internet."