Mk III battery life

Anyone have real life estimates as to the number of shots before it is drained ?

I only have one, leave for Alaska in a couple of days and don't know if I will have time to buy an additional one. I will be able to charge it up every evening but I don't want to be out in the middle of nowhere shooting bears and I only get a few hundred shots and it is dead.

I get 1k+ images, with IS lens. That includes a lot of test tracking(AF + IS) BIF's, where I never fire a shot. I also check my previews + histograms every few shots. So, if I wasn't still learning and experimenting I'd expect well over 1k images, possibly close to 2k. It would get me through any given day.

The only reason I have a second battery is to cover for failure. I've had batteries die(dead, not discharged) on other cameras. When it's important, I make sure I have a spare with me. A spare also lets me fully cycle my batteries once in a while, not as important with LiPo batteries, but still a good thing.

I shot 2300 pictures at a bike race saturday with a 70-200 lens IS off and the battery is still 81% according to the camera.

I shot 2500+, w/ a residual battery level of 10%, using various lenses, none w/ IS. A third of the shots were AI Servo w/ constant AF tracking and high speed frame rates. The others were all landscapes and such. I have a spare battery - I think 2 will be enough for most applications with this camera, certainly for anything I've done so far....

Thanks for the input.

This weeks Amatuer Photographer has a review on the camera... They rated it at over 2200 shots.... Oh and they loved the camera and put it at the top above those nikonian things with 19/20 for spec, 19/20 for build/handling, 19/20 for performance and 36/40 for image quality..... overall 93%. Nikon D2Xs 85%, Nikon D2Hs 83%

On my first major shoot last Saturday, I shot over 3,000 shots. I have LCD review off and I reviewed way more than I usually do checking focus. I still have the same battery in the camera and it reads 67%!!

I'm getting at least 2500 shots all with IS lenses and a lot menu viewing and chimping along the way. It's a pretty amazing battery.

yeap ..same here ..i don't take charger to the events any more ..it shows 1400 and 37% of battery life left..and i have to admit i am a pationate chimper my review is set to 'on' for 4 sec. ..so without reviewing, shooting only in 80-isch temp. with some prime non-IS lens i am sure i could get over 3,000...this is amazing and it has no memory effect so in that particular matter mark III is a true winner

Have had my MK III for a while now and I have been writing down the shots taken vs. % for the last 3 batteries. I admit, I do not trust it enough and find I am charging at 50% left or so. Results: average number of shots that would have been taken (if I ran it to the end) = 7349 !

Blue Deuce wrote in post #3484901
Anyone have real life estimates as to the number of shots before it is drained ?

I only have one, leave for Alaska in a couple of days and don't know if I will have time to buy an additional one. I will be able to charge it up every evening but I don't want to be out in the middle of nowhere shooting bears and I only get a few hundred shots and it is dead.

Where in AK are you going? I'm leaving for Haines on the 11th. I've to the Mk III also and a spare batter, so hopefully that will be enough!

gymell wrote in post #4239457
Where in AK are you going? I'm leaving for Haines on the 11th. I've to the Mk III also and a spare batter, so hopefully that will be enough!

Went three months ago for a few weeks. Spent most of the time on the Kenai Peninsula. Posted some wildlife shots in the animal forums when we returned. Plan on going back in Feb. of next year and then again in August.

The cold will significantly reduce battery life on any camera. I'd say get a spare.

I'd get a spare (just for the reasons stated above...in fact I have one but have never needed it on a shoot...even an 8hr shoot) but in all honestly, I shoot constantly and have had to charge my batteries 3x since June.