 BetterPhoto Member |
More Power! I have a Canon Digital EOS and would like to get more battery life any suggestions?
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
batteries don't last long in digital cameras. you need an extra battery. Only other tips, if your out in cold weather, keep the extra in a pocket so some body heat can keep it a little warmen than in a camera bag. Digital camera batteries really don't last long in cold weather. There's also the feature that turns the camera off if it's inactive for little while. Just look in the manual to read about it. And to keep the battery from developing memory, I'll let it drain completely if I know it won't get used right away, and then let it get a full recharge.
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Wing Wong |
Hi Sandra, What kills the batteries the most is using the LCD on the back of the camera. The less you use it, the longer your battery life. Another killer on battery life is the use of a Micro Drive CFII card. Since it uses moving parts, you will see a higher drain in power. If you use a standard CFI/II card, you will see better battery life. If you want to keep using your camera the way you have always been using it or you are already doing everything you can, then the next thing to do is to get a battery grip from Canon for the Rebel. The battery grip will let you use 2 BP511/BP512 batteries at the same time. What the camera will do is use up one, then automatically switch to the other. This will let you almost double your camera usage without having to swap batteries, but the grip costs about $199 by itself. Greg's suggestion of getting more batteries is the more cost effective option. Typically, you will want at least 2 batteries for your camera. That way, you have a spare. 3-4 batteries will let you go out and shoot while the other set is charging back at home or in the hotel room. Some caveats/thoughts: As Greg pointed out, batteries won't last long in the cold when they are being used. However, keeping them cool when you are not using them will help to ensure that the charge they are holding will last until you need the battery on a trip. The batteries used with the Rebel "shouldn't" develop a memory under normal usage, but they "can". The recommendation is that when you first get the batteries, charge them fully, then run them until they are no longer able to power the camera, then charge them full again. This is repeated once or twice to max out the capacity of the battery. Think of it as shaking a box to settle things out to make room. Over the course of using the battery, things can get all disorganized again, so you will want to perform the "charge/discharge" cycle. I would say that if you have a medium to light use, once every one or two months would be fine, or when the batteries seem to not hold their charge as long. If you use your camera very heavily, then maybe once every 2 weeks of heavy use. The thing is, however, that full discharge and full recharge cycles are hard on the batteries and can shorten the life of rechargable batteries. Another good reason to have a spare.
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