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Nikon D5100 - battery - charge retention - how many shots  Rating:  Rating
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Posted by PRSS: Thu Aug 30th, 2012 20:07 1st Post
Hello Everybody

I recently photographed my Interior Design Project with my Nikon D5100 - 18-55 lens - with the battery fully charged. For all the shots I was using the built-in flash to trigger my external flashes through slave units. I was shooting in RAW + JPEG Fine. And I was also using LIVE VIEW for all the time. Exposure time was between 2seconds to 1 second using tripod - VR was off. For some hand held shots VR was on. And all the photos were taken using AutoFocus mode.

By the time I reached 140 frames, my battery level was showing RED and was almost dead. Since my photography was over, I did not shoot further to see for how many more shots the battery lasted. But the indicator was showing almost dead.

My question is whether this is normal. In my earlier photography session where I had taken photographs of exterior shots of buildings (again RAW+Fine - but no VR and no Live View - no flash -  and all the shutter speeds were faster than 1/60sec) I have taken more than 300 shots and the battery level showed only 50% drain. Please clarify.

Thanking you in advance
PRSS



Posted by Robert: Fri Aug 31st, 2012 03:49 2nd Post
Not unexpected using all the features and especially the power hungry ones will drain power from the tiny battery.

I would expect to carry at least one spare battery.

Why save JPEG AND NEF? It greatly slows the save, uses more battery and wastes storage space. The NEF already contains a JPEG which is what you view on the back of the camera and on the computer screen when you view the image.

You can use that for quick viewing, or make a screen grab of the part of the image you want for a low quality display.

If you want a good quality image you process the NEF.



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Posted by jk: Fri Aug 31st, 2012 04:59 3rd Post
Using LiveView and also the flashes will eat the battery so I dont think that 140 shots is too bad or unreasonable.
It's always good to have a spare battery for these sort of occasions.



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Posted by Eric: Fri Aug 31st, 2012 12:29 4th Post
PRSS wrote:
Hello Everybody

I recently photographed my Interior Design Project with my Nikon D5100 - 18-55 lens - with the battery fully charged. For all the shots I was using the built-in flash to trigger my external flashes through slave units. I was shooting in RAW + JPEG Fine. And I was also using LIVE VIEW for all the time. Exposure time was between 2seconds to 1 second using tripod - VR was off. For some hand held shots VR was on. And all the photos were taken using AutoFocus mode.

By the time I reached 140 frames, my battery level was showing RED and was almost dead. Since my photography was over, I did not shoot further to see for how many more shots the battery lasted. But the indicator was showing almost dead.

My question is whether this is normal. In my earlier photography session where I had taken photographs of exterior shots of buildings (again RAW+Fine - but no VR and no Live View - no flash -  and all the shutter speeds were faster than 1/60sec) I have taken more than 300 shots and the battery level showed only 50% drain. Please clarify.

Thanking you in advance
PRSS


It's quite normal to have significant battery drain when shooting 2second exposures. I had to do some night exterior shots for Best Western some years back with the D1X. Some of these shots were 5-6sec exposures and the poor old D1X batteries were drained in no time. I remember one old battery, fully charged was exhausted after 20 shots!!

Battery technology has improved significantly since then, but I still always carry 2 spare batteries when doing commercial shoots that involve time exposures



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Posted by Doug: Sat Sep 1st, 2012 22:57 5th Post
Live view is the battery killer - Sensors use a lot of power



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Posted by Eric: Sun Sep 2nd, 2012 04:13 6th Post
Doug wrote: Live view is the battery killer...... Yes that's very true.

In the long exposure evening shots I made reference to above, I was also using the LCD extensively to check the captured images. So that would have contributed significantly.



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Posted by PRSS: Sun Sep 2nd, 2012 09:25 7th Post
Thank you everybody. It is heartening to note that there is nothing wrong with my camera or my battery.

All of your advice is greatly appreciated.



Posted by robertperez: Fri Feb 10th, 2017 06:24 8th Post
You are using live view and flash light during capture image so its ok there is no issue regarding to battery.



Posted by Eric: Fri Feb 10th, 2017 10:46 9th Post
robertperez wrote:
You are using live view and flash light during capture image so its ok there is no issue regarding to battery.
I beg to differ.
2sec exposures with live view screen on, will drain the battery quickly.



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Posted by Gilbert Sandberg: Fri Feb 10th, 2017 11:22 10th Post
PRSS,
re: will drain...
I tend to agree with Eric and others.
Using long shutter speeds, live-view etcetera may drain a battery several times faster than normal daytime use.
Do not forget that the D5nnn series are consumer-grade camera's, the options for live view etcetera may come in useful, but were of no consideration when designing the battery size/life.
In other words: if you wanted long battery life in those conditions, the weight and cost would of the camera+battery be like a Pro-grade D3/4/5 camera.
If you want reliable power for the circumstances mentioned: consider mains-power on the camera.
Regards, Gilbert



Posted by Robert: Fri Feb 10th, 2017 15:56 11th Post
Not understanding what has caused this topic re-surface, however, perhaps I might add that another cause of the battery drain could be long exposure noise reduction, I understand it's about the same duration as the exposure itself. That would be another drain on the battery, almost like taking two exposures.

Just in case somebody happens to pull this thread out with a search.



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Posted by Eric: Sat Feb 11th, 2017 04:06 12th Post
Robert wrote:
Not understanding what has caused this topic re-surface, however, perhaps I might add that another cause of the battery drain could be long exposure noise reduction, I understand it's about the same duration as the exposure itself. That would be another drain on the battery, almost like taking two exposures.

Just in case somebody happens to pull this thread out with a search.

I remember taking night exterior shots of a hotel using the D1X tethered to a laptop. The D1 series batteries were notoriously poor, but I drained 2 batteries doing long exposures on one shoot! In those days I shot 3or 4 of each image ...so I could lose the noise by superimposition. I guess with today's NR in camera I would have only neeeded one battery.



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Posted by jk: Sat Feb 11th, 2017 04:49 13th Post
Eric wrote:
Robert wrote:
Not understanding what has caused this topic re-surface, however, perhaps I might add that another cause of the battery drain could be long exposure noise reduction, I understand it's about the same duration as the exposure itself. That would be another drain on the battery, almost like taking two exposures.

Just in case somebody happens to pull this thread out with a search.

I remember taking night exterior shots of a hotel using the D1X tethered to a laptop. The D1 series batteries were notoriously poor, but I drained 2 batteries doing long exposures on one shoot! In those days I shot 3or 4 of each image ...so I could lose the noise by superimposition. I guess with today's NR in camera I would have only neeeded one battery.

Yes I think you are correct Eric.

However the D5xxx and D3xxx batteries are much lower powered compared to the professional Dx models and semi-professional camera Dxx and Dxxx models battery versions.



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Posted by amazing50: Sun Mar 12th, 2017 11:39 14th Post
I still use my D5100 for copy work but with an external power adapter.
Agree with the above comments.
One thing that I found was that the D5100 battery meter was inaccurate in displaying remaining usage.
It could drop from 50% to near zero within a few shots depending upon usage.
The D610 is much more accurate in it's readings.
Always carry an extra battery.



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