>>>>"Or more likely, just a fully charged one."<<<<
>>>> "Think about it 10-15 degrees. How long do you want to be out there exposing yourself in those temps? If you enjoy it for longer than 1/2 hour to 45 minutes, you're going to need gloves, face masks, and specialized clothing, so plan to get a weatherproof camera that can be operated with gloves and have battery power that was designed for this environment."<<<<
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I certainly can appreciate what was expressed (above), but don't completely agreee with the premise.
Generally I get approx 300+ shots on a single fully charged battery. If I go outside in even 30 degreees F, (with little or no wind), which isn't all that cold, then often within 20-30 minutes, the fully charged battery in the camera might take approx 60 pics or less until battery is exhausted. Sure, for casual shooting one can put camera in a bag (which actually doesn't help all that much after a while), or under a coat.
The problem occurs if one is shooting an 4-7 hr event outside, constantly moving, in these not really extreme temperatures (30-32 degrees F), changing a battery to the next one shortly after only getting 50 shots and then the next warm battery quite soon after maybe getting maybe another 50 shots, and so on...very soon, all batteries will be depleated before a 1/5 of the event is covered. I have many extra batteries for such events..but with only getting 50 shots in these not very extreme temps..one would have to carry an enormous # of batteries and be changing them every 20 minutes, far from practical. A few of the batteries when warmed up may recover a bit, but stopping every 20 minutes to keep changing batteries is also not realistic in these circumstances. ..and yes, I'm shooting with two digital M's at the time....often with a wide angle lens on one and a normal or telephoto on the other, so keeping one camera warm at any given time isn't the solution, nor is constant changing of lenses with the other body thats kept ready in shooting.
I'm certainly not faulting Leica for current battery technoogy, but if such a small battery is going to be used in the Leica digital M's...I think some sort of look into improving the batteries would be warrented. There are other DSLR's I've used, where the battery wasn't much bigger than the M8/M9 batttery, and I can shoot with those camreas for hours and hours in conditions I just described, with a very low reduction of shots per charge and no need to change the battery except maybe once. Some of those DSLR's also have autofocus and image stabilization in larger lenses, so if anything, they would appear to draw more from each battery. Obviously something more than just battery technoogy is at work...maybe the way the camera's electrical circuits uses battery power efficiently could also be improved.
At much colder temperatures like 2-10 degreees F, I could understand the issues encountered, but 30-32 degrees F? I think something better could be achieved (as I experienced with other small battery DSLR's), especially in whats expected from a professional level camera like the M8/M9...otherwise conditions to shoot the camera are too restrictive for some due to this one issue of the battery. Obviously others have expressed the same observations, but if they are just causally shooting, then putting camera under a warm coat is do-able...but not when constant use of the camera(s) is required. Just some personal experiences..on many occasions.
Dave (D&A)