How many per battery with 10D?

[amihai]

I've got a Canon 10D and I'm using with it Canon BP511 Batteries (I now have 2 of them).

I'm traveling to a remote location soon and will be staying some time in an area where I can't charge my Camera batteries.

From personal experiance, How many photos would you say I can take with a single battery, fully charged, before it will drain out?

I will definitely turn off the review option on the camera screen, and try to avoid using flash photography.

any other tips you can give me to help save power on my batteries during this trip?

Thanks for the info...

[lightandlife]

Others will probably give you more accurate estimates later. My feeling is that one pack will not last two days of active shooting (100 - 200 pics per day).

1. Get third party batteries, half price.
2. Remove the battery from the camera when the session is over. Leaving it inside will drain the battery.
3. Look for a battery that will charge your batteries.

[amihai]

Thanks for the tips,

Regarding your 3rd tip -
How can I recharge my batteries using other batteries?
What type of gear do i need for this?

[RichardtheSane]

Another good power saving tip is to use manual focus where possible. For landscapes if your lens has a scale of your focal distance it would be worth reading up on hyperfocal distance. Saves lots of autofocusing then!

[Roger_Cavanagh]

If you are conscientious about keeping review time down, then I would expect that you could get 400-500 shots per fully charged battery. I did some testing with my 10D when it was new. With very heavy use of review and IS lenses, I was getting around 500 shots with two batteries in Big Ed.

I do think an extra battery or two would be a good idea. You might like to check out this mob http://www.digitalcamerabattery.com/index.php. I don't know much about them, but Miachel Reichmann was singing their praises in the latest issue of the Luminous Landscape Video Journal.

I don't think it's a good idea to take the batteries out when the camera is not in use. You won't save much power and you'll put more strain on the back-up battery.

Regards,

[lightandlife]

I can't locate such a battery at the moment. You may want to search mobile power supply systems (about 5 pounds) from pricegrabber.com. Never used it.

[deztoys]

Are you going to be in a place where you have access to a 12V power supply? If so you can get a charger that works with the 12V. I have one, and while its slower, it still works to refresh the batteries.

I'm using the BGED, and have found I haven't fully exhausted the batteries (2) in a single day yet. I'm not sure if they would go 2 full days, but I think it would be close if both batteries in the BGED were fully charged.

I also agree with the other post about buying a couple aftermarket batteries. Charge them and drain them a couple times to make sure they are functioning fine and you should be good to go.

You have identified one of the things that folks seem to take for granted, if you don't have power, the camera and all the expensive glass is pretty much useless. It seems like many folks don't prioritize batteries too high in their lists of things to buy.

My 2 bits worth.

[mapdealer]

I shot around 160 shots at a sporting event last Friday with lots of auto focus and previews on a fully charged aftermarket ($15 eBay) battery, and still had a good charge. So I agree with Roger C. that you could get 400-500 shots, using all the advice other posters have given you.

Also, you might consider taking 4 or so 128M cards instead of, say, a one gig card. You know, if you put all your eggs in one basket, Murphy's Law is sure to take effect.:)

[J.A.F. Doorhof]

It depends alot I found out.

Sometimes I just cannot seem to get the battery down, but I also had a few occassions where after 100-150 shots the battery went directly to 25%, after connecting it in the charger however it gave me 75% left ???

I also experienced 2 times now that when I freshly charged a battery my 10D would recognize it as a 25 % full pack.

In 99% of the cases I think it must be hard pushed to be empty in a day or two. Just in case I bought a second one from a OEM-er, but I think I will never really need it.

Greetings,
Frank

[CyberDyneSystems]

I am amzed at how many photos you can get out of a single charge. I agree 300-400 is easily obtainable.

If your lens has Image Stabilazation you will see a decrease in shots.

I also keep the image review turned off. If I am actually going to take the time to take my eye off the viewfinder to review a shot,. I have no problem activiting the view screen on my own. This saves considerably on power as well.

[Andy_T]

Maybe you might check this out - there are some gedgets that can load batteries using dynamos or solar chargers... http://www.productsforanywhere.com/gear/details/ic_battpak.html

Maybe some of these might be used to charge your 10D battery...

Regards,
Andy

[JoeTampa]

I have one of the iSun Solar Panels and love it. What you might consider doing is using it to charge a gel-cell battery (say a 4ah model) that could then power an inverter and provide 120v AC for the wall charger. I haven't seen a pure DC charger for the 10d's batteries, has anyone else?

[clos]

I have exceeded 600 shots on a single battery both OEM and Canon with little to no preview and with IS on full time. Amazing!

-Clos

[Longwatcher]

My experience is about 300-600 shots depending more on lens then anything else.

1. Avoid using Image Stabilization (biggest power hog)
2. Avoid Review mode (but you are already planning that)
3. Avoid Auto focus (bigger zooms use more power)
4. Avoid BG-ED3 for longest per battery life (use them one at a time)

As to power.
- If have vehicle with lighter - There are inverters with AC outlets the battery charger can be plugged into.
- If on foot, the only recharging option is probably solar power.
- if on foot and solar not likely to be available then buy more batteries.

Just my opinions and experience.

[deztoys]

JoeTampa wrote:
I haven't seen a pure DC charger for the 10d's batteries, has anyone else?




Not sure what is meant by "pure", but there are ac/dc chargers available for the BP511 batteries. Check out eBay if all else fails. I have one that has a dc car adapter as well as transformer to allow use of house current. Cost $35 or so. Seems to work fine so far.

Scott

[misaj*]

I shoot my friends wedding

10D, 28 - 105mm f3.5/4.5

412 photos, 100% flash use, heavy review of every photo... First charge of that battery, new one, came with camera

(I was second photographer; he is one of my best friends)

[GenDEM]

misaj* wrote:
I shoot my friends wedding

10D, 28 - 105mm f3.5/4.5

412 photos, 100% flash use, heavy review of every photo... First charge of that battery, new one, came with camera

(I was second photographer; he is one of my best friends)


Using a variety of L glass, I get more than 800 photos with the BG-ED3 before the battery indicator flips from full to down, and even then only one battery is kaput, the second is still above 75% , or so says the charger. This is in manual mode, 2 second review, auto focus, with a 550EX tethered to an external battery pack. I expect I could get more than 1200 on the two batteries I have (one canon, one AC Delco) before they died, but I'm not sure...I've yet to use them to exhaustion.

[MarkH]

JoeTampa wrote:
I have one of the iSun Solar Panels and love it. What you might consider doing is using it to charge a gel-cell battery (say a 4ah model) that could then power an inverter and provide 120v AC for the wall charger. I haven't seen a pure DC charger for the 10d's batteries, has anyone else?


My friend bought one that holds 2 BP511 (or BP512) packs and has both an AC trasformer and a car cigarette lighter plug. I am fairly sure that it is a Canon product. It came with one BP512 battery pack. It was a little pricey I believe.

[DonCoon]

Buy a pair of batteries for $26.50 or less here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2948864591&category=15215

I've purchased batteries from them twice (2 Bp-511s & 2 EN-EL1s) and they perform as well as the Canon and Nikon branded batteries.

I've now got 4 BP-511s and life is good!

[ctgoldwing]

I shot a football game last week with a 300 IS lens (IS used about 1/2 the time). Got over 600 images before I quit. I also had 2 extra batteries in the bag - just in case.