5D mark II battery life?

What are you guys seeing from your batteries?

As a long time canon shooter, as soon as I see the battery gauge drop one notch, I typically swap and drop the low one on the charger. With the new battery gauges this isn't necessary, but it's still a hard habit to break. I'm finally sticking to my guns this time and I've got 20% left on the battery with 844 shots on it. Not bad at all, and it's looking like it'll be ~1k shots.

what's anyone else getting from 1 charge?

With 2 batteries in the grip i was able to go a whole day filling two 16GB memory cards with photos and video. Battery reading from both batteries was around 30-40%

Im getting around 1k per charge. :wave:

I'm getting about the same - 1k/charge

That's pretty impressive. Not 1D Mark III impressive [Battery life on that body is ridiculous. I've gotten over 5000 on one charge, 3000 average in cold weather and tons of chimping], but better than the 5D Classic.

Perry Ge wrote in post #7699417
Not 1D Mark III impressive.

like OMG no wai!?

jacobsen1 wrote in post #7699461
like OMG no wai!?

Sorry, I couldn't resist throwing that in . Anyway, I'm always impressed by batteries that don't spontaneously die on me in the middle of shoots. We've come a long way since the 1D Classic.

And believe me I have real problems/bad luck with batteries...

Perry Ge wrote in post #7699476
I'm always impressed by batteries that don't spontaneously die on me in the middle of shoots.

We've come a long way since the 1D Classic.

yeah, except with the 1D it'd die 3 times in the middle of the shoot, maybe 4 (I had 4 batteries and would kill them all)....

jacobsen1 wrote in post #7699640
yeah, except with the 1D it'd die 3 times in the middle of the shoot, maybe 4 (I had 4 batteries and would kill them all)....

The 1D Classic has absolutely awful battery life. Ugh. The 1D Mark III is absolutely insane, but I'm really glad the 5DII has improved battery life over the Classic, which is already not bad.

So with the grip I assume you get ~2k?

grip?


and yeah, I'd still own my 1D if it wasn't for the batteries. I used it for sequence shooting, but mostly in the winter which only made the batteries worse... Now I'm just waiting for a 1Dii 'N' to drop into my lap for the right price.

In the thread directly below this one we're having a discussion about how frickin' ridiculously awesome the 1DIII is, and how it makes a terrific pair with the 5D2 . *nudge nudge*

A question of mine.. I paid for a grip and extra 5d2 battery but I got all my stuff except this 2.. They said is going to be a huge delay in extra batteries and grips.. Shall I exchange them for a lens? I bought the grip for the handling, portraits, landscapes and architecture(most) not for the battery life to be honest. as it helps alot..

Perry Ge wrote in post #7699673
In the thread directly below this one we're having a discussion about how frickin' ridiculously awesome the 1DIII is, and how it makes a terrific pair with the 5D2 . *nudge nudge*

thats my goal

ps: I wonder why canon delay this accessories so much, as they exist..

grips don't extend your battery life though, just how long you can go w/o stopping to change. IMHO, I PREFER knowing exactly when I'm half through both batteries (ie #1 is dead dead)....

trade the grip for the lens, still get a second battery.

and perry, no wai, I need something that can focus.

kidding asside, I don't use a 1 series often enough to justify one. Justifying a 1Dii 'N' is tough enough. Honestly, had the 1D's batteries been good, 4mp is enough for me for what I use one for. Unfortunately, I DO need more than 6.5fps... I used to own a 1Dii, so if I'm getting another, I'll hold out for a 1Dii 'N', but yeah no 1Diii for me.

I understand where you're coming from Ben, and I do love my 5D and use it more than my MKIII, but I wish people would stop making snide comments about the 1D3 focus. It's the best and fastest AF I have ever used, period, by a long margin. I had a 1DIIN and the 1DIII is a huge upgrade - it blows the IIN out of the water, and is just a different class of camera.

I shot over 2,000 images with my 5D Mark II and still had about 25-30% battery life left according to the battery guage. That was with IS and autofocus on (100-400 L), automatic preview turned off. Single battery, no grip.