Do more MP cause more battery drain per shot?

Do more MP cause more battery drain per shot?

I wonder if the extra pixels cause more power drain for the sensor readout and processing of the embedded JPG for RAW files, along with the saving data to the memory cards.

Of course this would be hard to measure if different cameras are using different processor hardware, which is claimed to gain efficiency in most cases with each new generation.

When going out into the backcountry wilderness for a week or longer, I often have to figure out what my minimum amount of battery power will be needed to cover my trip. Carrying extra gear is sometimes not an option for long trips with huge elevation gains.

So far, I have been super impressed with the 6D battery power usage, and the most I have to carry is 5 batteries for a trip with heavy use.

The differences are likely meaningless, but I have never heard anyone discuss this aspect of camera power usage.

Any thoughts from people who know way more about sensors and camera tech than I do?

It probably does but the drop in total number of shots you can take will be most likely be close to nil. I believe that battery condition, use of live view, on camera flash and larger lens (400 2.8, 500 F4, 600 and 800mm) will have a much greater effect on the total number of shots.

Yeah, modern cameras have so many systems, it's hard to know where to start. Just don't leave your GPS on

Without any scientific evidence to support my opinon, I'd say 'definitely yes'. As more and more megapixels have been added to cameras, so has the features, including upgraded photo processing chips (eg, Digic series). Each of those, including the 'sensing' and transmission by each sensel needs electricity to function.

However, on the postive side, the batteries to go with the newer cameras have longer and longer 'use time', which in my book, outweighs the fact that there's more pixels to 'fire'. Case in point...my gripped 5D3 (genuine Canon grip and genuine Canon batteries) gets AT LEAST 1500 shots, maybe more, on a full charge...and that's RAW + LJPG and both CF and SD cards! Many with external 580EX II firing, too. I've never drained the batteries, so I don't know exactly how many shots I'd get. I'm thinking about 1800-2000.

The 7d and 5d3 use the same battery and I haven't noticed a significant drop in battery life so far on the 5d3. Purely anecdotal on my part and not scientific at all but I hope it helps.

Your rear monitor is about 6 times the size of your sensor. Let us just guess that it uses ten times as much power per second as the sensor. If you fill a card with 10,000 shots at 1/100 second you have effectively had you sensor "ON" for 100 seconds. With these numbers, that translates to roughly 10 seconds of rear-LCD "ON" time.

Even if higher MP sensors do consume more power than lower MP sensors, it is totally irrelevant. I am sure one run from MFD to infinity and back, with the IS on, of a lens like the 100-400L or 70-200 2.8 consumes more power than than any sensor does in 10,000 shots.

I doubt there's any significant difference. There are so many other variables that it would be impossible to tell model-to-model of the same batteries.

Thanks for your replies. You're right that using live view or some other feature makes the number of MP an insignificant factor in battery life.