Nikon D500/500mm PF battery query

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guitarman67

guitarman67

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Hi all. This is my first post, so looking forward to learning more.

I recently purchased a Nikon D500 and 500mm PF lens and love that combo! My query relates to the EN-EL15b battery. I’ve charged the battery (I have 2 of them) about 5 times from new. It seems to me that the battery drains a lot quicker than the batteries for my Canon 7Dii/100-400ii lens did.
For instance, today I began my bird shoot at 2.45pm with the battery showing 100%. By 4.45 pm I had taken 287 shots and the battery showed 35%. During that time I did “chimp” somewhat. I had the lens on VR (normal and sport) and the camera on AFC. In addition I have aeroplane mode on and wifi/Bluetooth disabled.
I’d really appreciate it if I could get some advice as to whether you think the battery may be faulty or is this photo count about normal. Are there any other settings that I could change to maximise the number of shots I can get from fully charged? Thanks in advance.
Paul
 
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If you are new to Nikon, then you may not realize that blue-tooth is set default "on." This means that the battery will supply power to bluetooth even when the camera is off. I can not recall the menu setting, but I suggest you turn "airplane mode" on... this deactivates the wifi & will increase battery life.
 
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Sounds a little worse than typical new battery performance, but it's hard to say since I don't have a D500. Lithium Ion batteries typically need a good 5-10 charge cycles before you start to see them reach their full potential. Do you have image review set on (shows a picture on the screen after every shot), or using liveview at all? Both of those would cause a fair bit of battery drain.
 
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guitarman67 said:
Hi all. This is my first post, so looking forward to learning more.

I recently purchased a Nikon D500 and 500mm PF lens and love that combo! My query relates to the EN-EL15b battery. I’ve charged the battery (I have 2 of them) about 5 times from new. It seems to me that the battery drains a lot quicker than the batteries for my Canon 7Dii/100-400ii lens did.
For instance, today I began my bird shoot at 2.45pm with the battery showing 100%. By 4.45 pm I had taken 287 shots and the battery showed 35%. During that time I did “chimp” somewhat. I had the lens on VR (normal and sport) and the camera on AFC. In addition I have aeroplane mode on and wifi/Bluetooth disabled.
I’d really appreciate it if I could get some advice as to whether you think the battery may be faulty or is this photo count about normal. Are there any other settings that I could change to maximise the number of shots I can get from fully charged? Thanks in advance.
Paul
Click to expand...

How cool was it when you were taking your photographs? I find that my "original" Nikon battery averages 316 pictures going from 100% charge to around 25%. I generally don't have VR turned on and I very rarely turn on the lcd screen to review shots or read menus or use live view. I also have the airplane mode turned on. I've talked to staff at my local Henry's (sort of like your B&H) and they say that this is not unusual...
I do have a couple of Neewer batteries and I get 400 to 450 pictures within the same parameters.
If it's cold, I get fewer pictures.
hth,
Alex

added in edit...I have a Nikon D500.....
 
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I can usually get 1,000 shots or more on a single charge, and that's with some chimping here and there. I have a D500 with 200-500mm. I think you have optimized the settings for battery life, so to me there is something off if you are discharging this quickly. I will add, though, that I do a lot of bursts for birds in flight or similar action sequences, so maybe that uses less power per shot than a more "average" type of shooting.
 
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There seems a lot of variance in these posts. I’m usinga D500 with a 400 prime + TC with VR on. I don’t chimp (something I should do a bit more) or use live view, and use in an environment that is generally over 25c. I start the day with a fresh battery and would generally expect about 1000 shots in a day mostly in bursts of about 8. I commonly don’t turn off the camera between shots unless facing a recalcitrant critter or moving on to a different subject. A battery almost invariably lasts the day. I’ve had no luck with 3rd party batteries, and I’m careful where I get replacement ones to avoid counterfeits. As Alex says, it could be the temperature that’s giving the variance in these answers. I know that when you head to the lower end of the thermometer it’s a challenge. You didn’t mention if the degree of variance to the Cannon. You could check the batteries to see if the capacity is different. If it’s temperature related I know people swap batteries to warm them up using body temperature to get some extra life out of them.
 
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Some of the battery performance people are having is in direct contrast to my own experience. Like Squawk (above me in this post), I shoot all day long with the camera on and VR on with a variety of lenses. I can easily get 1000 images if not more from my D500 and lenses (the same is not true for the Z6). I live in MN and will shoot in -15 deg F weather and still get more than adequate battery life... 800+ pics in a shoot.
A few things to consider... how long do you set the camera to stay awake? Mine sleeps at about 30 sec... the wake up time is near instant, so I don't worry about it. Are you doing videos between stills (video sucks battery life)? How bright is your back LCD setting? How much chimping do you do?

It's no fun to hear that others get better performance... I would say your battery life performance is well below expectation. I suggest you run the camera until it quits to see exactly how many clicks you can get from a battery, as the monitor that reads 35% may not reflect the actual number of images you might actually be able to take.

bruce
 
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Thanks everyone for replying. I didn't do many bursts in this particular shoot, so I guess I'd get a lot more shots using bursts. I must admit that I did chimp quite a bit and used the zoom to check focus etc, so perhaps all is normal. I don't do video, so that's not a concern at the moment. As far as i can see there is no option to set the time the camera is awake (auto shutdown)...please correct me if I'm wrong here. Cheers.

update: Yes, there is a setting to change the time the aperture etc is displayed. I had it on 30 minutes...so change it to 30 seconds.
 
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Something in the setting somewhere is eating your power, or you should return it to Nikon for a check-up. I have the D500 and 500 PF since they came out in SA. I get anything from 800 plus images on a battery. I use 3 batteries for my D500 and have used them all in a day shooting Gannetts. But that was about 4000 images. I also try not to work the battery below 20%.
 
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This may not apply to you but there is a Nikon recall on earlier batteries for the D-500. there seems that earlier manufactured batteries can result in lower performance with the D500 and they will replace older batteries for free. it is more specifically addressed in the Support notes in this link battery support for D500
 
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Squawk said:
There seems a lot of variance in these posts. I’m usinga D500 with a 400 prime + TC with VR on. I don’t chimp (something I should do a bit more) or use live view, and use in an environment that is generally over 25c. I start the day with a fresh battery and would generally expect about 1000 shots in a day mostly in bursts of about 8. I commonly don’t turn off the camera between shots unless facing a recalcitrant critter or moving on to a different subject. A battery almost invariably lasts the day. I’ve had no luck with 3rd party batteries, and I’m careful where I get replacement ones to avoid counterfeits. As Alex says, it could be the temperature that’s giving the variance in these answers. I know that when you head to the lower end of the thermometer it’s a challenge. You didn’t mention if the degree of variance to the Cannon. You could check the batteries to see if the capacity is different. If it’s temperature related I know people swap batteries to warm them up using body temperature to get some extra life out of them.
Click to expand...
Callie said:
Something in the setting somewhere is eating your power, or you should return it to Nikon for a check-up. I have the D500 and 500 PF since they came out in SA. I get anything from 800 plus images on a battery. I use 3 batteries for my D500 and have used them all in a day shooting Gannetts. But that was about 4000 images. I also try not to work the battery below 20%.
Click to expand...
Good points, thanks!
I think, in my case, the poor performance is due to my OCD habit of using the AF button (BBAF) too much - I have a tendency to keep pressing it whilst composing a shot and especially if I'm taking a close up of a flower, hand held, on a windy day. I should use my tripod more and keep my thumb off the AF button after the first press!
My other settings are very conservative, and I try not to let my batteries drop below 20% before charging.
Good info in this thread - thanks guitarman for the original post!!
cheers,
Alex
 
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I assume you tried this again with a different battery? Sounds to me like your battery might be at fault. However, using Live View does suck up battery life in general. I have six or so batteries so really don't give battery use much thought: I just pop another one in as needed. I do shoot with the same combo, BB, checking histogram and/or shots, in coolish weather, rapid fire. Get some more batteries would be my advice.
 
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