Battery use with IS on BIG lenses

cmr164

1D Mark II using

• 17-35 2.8L 5%
• 24-70 2.8L 50%
• 70-200 2.8L IS 10%
• 500 4.0L IS 35%

Using the 500 f/4.0L IS has way cut down on my battery life. Before I could get at least the 800 shots and had never had a battery run down except for the one time I did it on purpose. Now I find that the battery charge was gone after just 530 shots.

gus

I had always assumed the 70-200 IS would be higher than that.

I must say mate though....thats a bloody lot of shots with a 500mm. I assume if you are using IS then you are hand shooting...hows the arms ?

gus

PS...how about sharing some of its stuff with us...i would love to see some more from it with that extender again.

pathfinder

Humungus wrote:

PS...how about sharing some of its stuff with us...i would love to see some more from it with that extender again.

'Gus I have a number of images with the Cannon 500+1.4 Tx here http://dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=7472&page=1&pp=10

CMR - I spent two days shooting birds in temperatures below freezing and never drained my battery to my 1DMkll at all driving a 500 + 1.4 Tx. I did not count images, but there were certainly hundreds and hundreds - 3 or 4 Gb of shots on a MD, not on CF.

I am sure that IS uses more juice - as does AF. Just makes sense. I suspect the AF in big long glass uses more current also - the lens elements that must be moved are larger than the lens elements in a 50mm F1.8 for instance. Makes sense, no!!?? :

Shay Stephens

Extra batteries a must
I take up to six batteries with me when going out to shoot an event, usually wind up going through three of them. Running out of juice is just no fun. So now that you have an idea of how many shots you can get, bring enough batteries to see you through it all.

ginger_55

As a complete novice, no idea it was going to happen. I went through batteries at an alarming rate this winter when the temp got down to the 40s and below.

The lens was not an issue as much as the weather, I thought. Never did a test.
I just decided that it might be the cold, read something that meant i was right. I was shooting with the 300D then.

Since I got the 20D, and the weather is warmer, my battery drain has gone way down. Last time out I got through two I gb cards with one battery. I own 3 batteries, and I always take all three. Knock on wood that that won't be the next thing I forget.

ginger

cmr164

pathfinder wrote:

'Gus I have a number of images with the Cannon 500+1.4 Tx here http://dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=7472&page=1&pp=10

CMR - I spent two days shooting birds in temperatures below freezing and never drained my battery to my 1DMkll at all driving a 500 + 1.4 Tx. I did not count images, but there were certainly hundreds and hundreds - 3 or 4 Gb of shots on a MD, not on CF.

I am sure that IS uses more juice - as does AF. Just makes sense. I suspect the AF in big long glass uses more current also - the lens elements that must be moved are larger than the lens elements in a 50mm F1.8 for instance. Makes sense, no!!?? :

That had been my experience also. But this time with less than 600 shots I was blind sided. I wasn't a big deal since I do have a spare but it was in the hotel and guess whose fault that was. :flush

pathfinder

cmr164 wrote:

That had been my experience also. But this time with less than 600 shots I was blind sided. I wasn't a big deal since I do have a spare but it was in the hotel and guess whose fault that was. :flush

This is interesting because as of yet I have not bought a back up battery for the 1DMkll. Obviously I need to rethink that don't I? The mornings I was in Bosque before sunup, the temperature was in the low 20s ( English units 'gus - Not metric : ) and there was a slight breeze and it was damp near the marsh - It was bitter cold - much colder than the week before skiing in Colorado. But the battery never showed below full, and I shot two days straight without recharging, and the only lens I used was the 500+1.4Tx. Apparently I was luckier than I realized Charles. I need to order a back up before Yosemite.

I was actually more worried about faiure of the 4Gb MicroDrive in the bitter freezing temperatures than the battery for my camera. The MD worked like a charm. The is a bit of a random element in these electrical gadgets I think.