R-D1 Battery Life.. how much?

[jimbobuk]

I've seen conflicting reports on the battery life of the R-D1.. from conservative 200 shots, to no monitor use getting 1000 shots.. obviously monitor use, file format etc all play there part.. whats the rough numbers you guys are getting of a single battery?

Cheers

Jim

 

[amateriat]

Whenever I've shot digital, I've kept the monitor shut off, since I never use it till I'm done with a given shoot (meaning: I shoot the same as with film).

What sort of Li-Ion battery does this thing use, anyway?


- Barrett

 

[RML]

I use the screen quite regularly, probably ever shot or every other shot. I turn of the camera when I'm not shooting instead of relying on the sleep mode to kick in after three minutes. I format in the camera. I probably get more than 2 SD cards of 1 GB full on a single charge, with 101 shots in RAW on a single 1 GB card.

I have to other non-Epson batteries. These don't live as long as the Epson battery and have a tendency to suddenly fall dry at the end of the charge, meaning I could be shooting and the battery dies on me while the image is being saved. That results in a stuck camera, which is BTW easily resolved by switching the camera off, taking the battery out and putting it back in, switching the camera on again and changing the shutter speed. That way the camera becomes reactive again. It also means I need to get a fresh battery because this hang up will occur the next shoot or the one after that again.

 

[Jim Watts]

I'm still only getting about 200 shots with minimal LCD use, quick checKs of the histogram etc. from the Epson 1500Mah battery and about 75% of this from a Uniross 1350 Mah if shot over about 10 hours. It does though depend on the time period I shoot them over. I will get much more than this if shot over say two hours or less if shot over a day or two. I put this down to the camera being switched on and taking power. I have the sleep time set to 5 minutes, but regularly keep tapping the shutter to keep it live and avoid lost shots when potential pictures are likely. By the way I have found that the camera does not totally power down until 30 minutes have passed no matter what timeout is set (maximum is 20 minutes). You can check this by looking at the position of the needles, until 30 minutes have passed they do not fully return to zero markers.

After 14 months both batteries may not be holding power as well as when new. I still need to get a couple more new good quality ones. The Epson ones still don't seem that readily available in the U.K.

 

[jimbobuk]

Just got my R-D1 today.. early days yet but i think its an ok, heck a good version.. with all the stories i've heard.. i'll create other threads for most of that..

Anyways i am sure i'd read somewhere about it but its similar to this threads question so i'll ask it again here to be sure..

What is the R-D1 like with handling a flat battery.. i'm sure i read somewhere that card corruptions can occur if it flattens mid write!? Am i imagining that or does the R-D1 like most cameras have a limit to battery strength where it decides its "flat" even though its actually good enough for a few more shots probably.. ie. it'll never die mid transfer corrupting a card?

Its needle is approaching empty and i dont wanna ruin the card.. thought it'd be good to find out.. cheers

 

[RichC]

The Epson ones still don't seem that readily available in the U.K.

Jacobs in London had several in stock just before Xmas.

Li batteries dislike being stored warm, especially at full charge - storing them fully charged in a warm environment will substantially degrade them over a year or so. Ideally, they should be stored half-charged just above freezing (but never frozen!) - doing this substantially prolongs how long they'll provide power before running out of juice.

Ideal storage is impractical, so what I do is keep one battery in the camera and the others in the fridge (not freezer!), part charged whenever convenient.

I haven't kept a precise note about how many shots I get per full charge - 200-250 with light-ish use of the LCD?

 

[RML]

Jim, the Epson batteries have never given me any trouble. They never seem to fail mid-write. My other batteries, though, do and indeed the image will be corrupted and unretrieveable. But it's only the one shot, not the whole card that gets corrupted. IMO, stick with Epson batteries and you won't have any trouble. Just make sure you have at least 1 and better 2 spare batteries, especially if you shoot a lot or go out for a long time.

 

[Gid]

Just got my R-D1 today.. early days yet but i think its an ok, heck a good version.. with all the stories i've heard.. i'll create other threads for most of that..

Congratulations Jim. Don't worry about battery life - its not a major issue unless you want to spend hours looking at the LCD. I have two Epson batteries and two 1Gb SD cards and I've never had a problem on a day out other than filling up both cards. However, I appreciate that your shooting style will probably be different to mine. You definitely need a spare, but wait and see how it is in the field before you get too excited. Enjoy.

Gid

 

[jimbobuk]

glad to hear that only the last file tends to be corrupted not the whole card. With a new battery you can keep using this card and it'll just have the one corrupt file written when the battery ran out.

What do the epson batteries do when they're not doing this? They just power off gracefully after writing a file? Its not clear how to me yet till i see it, how it informs you that the battery is totally gone.

 

[RML]

glad to hear that only the last file tends to be corrupted not the whole card. With a new battery you can keep using this card and it'll just have the one corrupt file written when the battery ran out.

What do the epson batteries do when they're not doing this? They just power off gracefully after writing a file? Its not clear how to me yet till i see it, how it informs you that the battery is totally gone.

I think it has to do with how the Epson batteries maintain power, the curve that it follows. I'm not a battery specialist by far, though, so I can't be sure. But I notice that the Epson battery I have a) lasts longer when not in use, b) lasts longer when in use and c) has never died on my while writing a shot. It simply just doesn't take the photo when the battery is almost at its end. And the meter will indicate "E" very clearly. With my other batteries I have to worry of them dying already before the meter hits "E".