Z9 Battery Use Where No Access to Power for Multiple Days

[BillW]

Thanks again for all the comments and suggestions.

I see that I was misreading the capacity of the Anker power block that Nikon recommends for the Z9 — the Anker PowerCore+ 26800 PD 45W.

The reference to 45 watts is for the level of power output, not energy stored. It is rated at 97 watt hour (WH) capacity — good for taking on a plane and more capacity than I was thinking. So I hope that would charge at least 2 EN EL 18ds. I’ll test that, as I am not sure what I lose to the inefficiency of using one battery to charge another battery. Amazon currently lists the Anker power block at $140, so, as others noted, they are cheaper than adding more EN EL 18ds. Bigger and heavier though.

I’m going to test the Anker block to make sure that it will charge 2 EN EL 18ds, if they are down to the 20-30% range. I would hope so, but do not know how efficient a battery-to-battery recharge is.

I also want to test the battery usage of the Z9 with more intermittent shooting and no bursts. As agdogherty noted above, I’m guessing I can get more than a day out of an EN EL 18d in this mode — with airplane mode, a short standby timer, little to no VR (as most shooting will be from a tripod), and no video or GPS. I may also check to see how this changes if I use the GPS. It would be nice to geotag my photos. But I can also run a track on my (partially) solar charged Garmin Fenix 7 in expedition mode and compare times to get a rough idea of location.

If all this checks out, I can do the math on what combinations of EN EL 18ds and power blocks will be enough for 12 days — again in a situation where I will not have access to regular power, a generator, solar power or a vehicle. My Z7II with a handful of EN EL 15s (of various generations) can also be a backup for power (as well as other failures).

 

[John Woodworth]

I wonder if this isn’t a deciding issue in which cameras you take. I know the Z6ii lasts longer than the Z7ii. The Z9 outlasts the Z7ii but, then, the battery is smaller. But you don’t care about that, you care about how many watts they use while they are on. Maybe focus on that?

 

[BillW]

I wonder if this isn’t a deciding issue in which cameras you take. I know the Z6ii lasts longer than the Z7ii. The Z9 outlasts the Z7ii but, then, the battery is smaller. But you don’t care about that, you care about how many watts they use while they are on. Maybe focus on that?

Interesting point. I wonder what the difference is.

I’d like the resolution of a Z9/Z7II/Z7, so I was not thinking of taking my Z6II. I could take a Z7II and Z7 if they use less power. I’d want a second body, both for back up and possibly to have two lenses mounted on bodies at the same time.

Two issues with the Z7II/Z7 combo. The Z7 only has one card slot. Since we won’t be using laptops on this trip, I’ve been planning to use the second card slot (which the Z9 and Z7II have) for backup.

Also, since I have both EN EL 18d and EN EL 15 batteries, taking a Z9 and Z7II might maximize the power capacity I have along with me.

 

[John Navitsky]

@BillW you might also want to really scrutinize how much time you'll be running each day. i would assume part of the time you'll be traveling, do you really think you'll actually have your camera powered on for four hours a day? remember the z9 powers on fast, so it's totally reasonable to power up and shoot in most cases.

but even if we say 4 hours, i think you don't need to pad it quite so much....

consider, if instead of rounding up to 1 battery per day, you factor in actual projections, you get 12 days x 4 hours = 48 hours / 5hr runtime capacity per battery = 9.6 batteries, round up and you say you have 10 batteries + 1 x 95Wh battery pack.

with that math, you should have enough batteries to last the trip, and the battery pack is insurance.

 

[BillW]

@BillW you might also want to really scrutinize how much time you'll be running each day. i would assume part of the time you'll be traveling, do you really think you'll actually have your camera powered on for four hours a day? remember the z9 powers on fast, so it's totally reasonable to power up and shoot in most cases.

but even if we say 4 hours, i think you don't need to pad it quite so much....

consider, if instead of rounding up to 1 battery per day, you factor in actual projections, you get 12 days x 4 hours = 48 hours / 5hr runtime capacity per battery = 9.6 batteries, round up and you say you have 10 batteries + 1 x 95Wh battery pack.

with that math, you should have enough batteries to last the trip, and the battery pack is insurance.

Definitely, we will be traveling on the river each day during which time I will not use my Z9 or Z7II — I will likely use a Nikon AW1 for that (its own battery questions).

I agree that 4 hours actual running for a day is probably not likely on most, or even all, days, especially if I set a short standby timer (and no reason not to, I think, when photographing landscapes rather than wildlife).

This has been a good exercise to get a ball park guess to be refined by some further testing.

 

[Patrick M]

You could rent a D850 … though personally I’d stick to my Z6 …. But you get better battery life …

 

[BillW]

You could rent a D850 … though personally I’d stick to my Z6 …. But you get better battery life …

I agree battery use would be a lot better with a D850. But I’ve sold most of my F mount lenses and very recently my D850. Will take all Z mount lenses, other than perhaps the 19 mm PCE, so will need Z bodies. Battery usage is, I suppose a downside, at least in some situations, of a Z body versus a DSLR.

 

[Wes Peterson]

I think youre underestimating the Z 9 battery. I shot around 6k photos over 5 days with 1 battery that was at 40% when I got home. Shut off the stuff you dont need and turn your standby timers down. Personally Id take 2 batteries the usb charger and a battery bank. I cant speak to the other cameras.

 

[Mark Garfinkel]

Exp

I think youre underestimating the Z 9 battery. I shot around 6k photos over 5 days with 1 battery that was at 40% when I got home. Shut off the stuff you dont need and turn your standby timers down. Personally Id take 2 batteries the usb charger and a battery bank. I cant speak to the other cameras.

Use your Z9 before your trip as you would on your trip. Even over shooting during the day and early evening and even the next day, just start with a fully charged battery and go as far as you can.

 

[BillW]

Exp

Use your Z9 before your trip as you would on your trip. Even over shooting during the day and early evening and even the next day, just start with a fully charged battery and go as far as you can.

Yes, I’m going to do some testing like that. My Z9 is at Nikon now to be cleaned and checked. So will do it when I get it back, likely next week. Next week looks like single digits and below zero F here, so may do some indoors shooting, as it will be closer to the temps we will see in the canyon in spring.

 

[John Navitsky]

I think youre underestimating the Z 9 battery. I shot around 6k photos over 5 days with 1 battery that was at 40% when I got home. Shut off the stuff you dont need and turn your standby timers down. Personally Id take 2 batteries the usb charger and a battery bank. I cant speak to the other cameras.

it really depends on power-on time. i would guess you only had your camera turned on for about 4.8 hours over those 5 days.

 

[BillW]

it really depends on power-on time. i would guess you only had your camera turned on for about 4.8 hours over those 5 days.

And power-on time would generally not Include time when the standby timer kicks in? I assume it will be helpful on battery use to set a short standby timer, in contrast to the longer setting I use when photographing wildlife.

 

[John Navitsky]

And power-on time would generally not Include time when the standby timer kicks in? I assume it will be helpful on battery use to set a short standby timer, in contrast to the longer setting I use when photographing wildlife.

i am unclear on that. i tend to disable all the power savings and just manually turn on and off the camera because i'm shooting action, and works better with my shooting workflow.

 

[Wes Peterson]

it really depends on power-on time. i would guess you only had your camera turned on for about 4.8 hours over those 5 days.

probably closer to 10 hrs at least but a good amount of standby time.

 

[John Navitsky]

probably closer to 10 hrs at least but a good amount of standby time.

i'm guessing that suggests that standby is very energy efficient

 

[billklipp]

We have done a 16 night photo rafting trip down the Grand Canyon. The guides brought a couple of car batteries in ammo cans with solar panels and inverters. We had no problem recharging our cameras. We also brought small Goal Zero solar panel to charge AA, AAA and USB devices

 

[EricBowles]

I would expect the EN-EL18d battery to last 2-3 days each or longer with the type of photography you are doing. That means 3-5 batteries should be plenty. An EN-El18c battery has 30% shorter life than the d version. If you are in the 6000 total images range, two batteries would be enough, but you don't want to take chances. Just budget your battery use so each battery lasts at least 3 days without tapping a final battery for your reserve. Be sure to shut off features that drain the battery - like GPS - when you are in one place for a while. Also use the EVF only if possible - the LCD is bigger and takes much more power. There is also a drain from switching back and forth. If you are running over your budgeted power, you'll have plenty of advance notice and can adjust accordingly.

You can take 1-2 small power bricks like you would use for a phone. They can be plugged into the camera and charge the battery in the camera.

I'd take the Z7ii as a backup with an extra battery or two. You need a small package for a backup, and the camera is able to meet 98% of your needs.

Sleep mode is more effective than turning off your camera if you are talking about 15 minutes or less.

 

[BillW]

I would expect the EN-EL18d battery to last 2-3 days each or longer with the type of photography you are doing. That means 3-5 batteries should be plenty. An EN-El18c battery has 30% shorter life than the d version. If you are in the 6000 total images range, two batteries would be enough, but you don't want to take chances. Just budget your battery use so each battery lasts at least 3 days without tapping a final battery for your reserve. Be sure to shut off features that drain the battery - like GPS - when you are in one place for a while. Also use the EVF only if possible - the LCD is bigger and takes much more power. There is also a drain from switching back and forth. If you are running over your budgeted power, you'll have plenty of advance notice and can adjust accordingly.

You can take 1-2 small power bricks like you would use for a phone. They can be plugged into the camera and charge the battery in the camera.

I'd take the Z7ii as a backup with an extra battery or two. You need a small package for a backup, and the camera is able to meet 98% of your needs.

Sleep mode is more effective than turning off your camera if you are talking about 15 minutes or less.

Thanks Eric. That’s where I am coming out. I’ll take 5 EN EL 18ds and a power brick to add some margin if needed. Turn off GPS and generally not use VR, as most landscape work should be from a tripod. I would take the Z7II as a backup body anyway. And it can also be a backup body for power, as I have a number of EN EL15s and they are small and easy to take.

My Z9 should come back from cleaning by Nikon on Monday, so I can do some further testing to confirm. I’ll also do some testing on trips to Alaska and Vancouver Island before the raft trip.

 

[MikePapple]

I’m going on a trip this spring to the Grand Canyon with a photo group. 12 days floating on the river. No generators allowed except in emergencies. The trip leader says that solar charging has not worked well in the past at the bottom of the canyon. I’m thinking about how to ensure enough battery power for my cameras.

I will take either a Z9 + a Z7II or a Z7II + a Z7. I have an Omni Charge auxiliary battery (73 WH) — testing it now to see if I could get two EN EL 18Ds charged with it, if the batteries start around 20-30% charged.

I generally use my cameras in airplane mode. I can avoid using the built-in GPS on the Z9 (although geotagging would be nice) or adding one to the Z7II/Z7. And I can set the standby timer to shorter than I use for wildlife work. Bringing a Z9 and Z7II would leave me with the most batteries (as I could use both my EN EL 18ds and my EN EL 15s) and I could use the Z7II if I run out of power for the Z9. Probably not much video. Will bring a Nikon AW1 for shooting from the raft.

So far, I have generally used the Z9 for wildlife oriented shooting and have had access to power at the end of the day. I can almost always get a day’s worth of shooting in on one EN EL 18d — 3,000+ shots. Maybe more battery usage in very cold weather (say below 0 F). Shooting on this trip will be much different — far fewer shots and fewer bursts. Rather than using one 128 gb card a day, this trip might need only one or two 128 gb cards in total (I will use the second card slot for back up on this trip — for wildlife work, I generally use the second card slot for overflow and video.)

I have 3 En El 18d batteries and am thinking of ordering 2 more. I have 8 EN EL 15 batteries (of different generations) for my Z7II or Z7.

Has anyone used the Z9 in similar circumstances and if so, how did battery usage go? I understand that circumstances can very a lot. But curious to hear anyway. Thanks.

Last July I went on a rafting trip on the Alsek river, also about 12 days. Yukon to the Alaskan panhandle. I used a 20,000mAh 74Wh battery from Amazon. It can charge an iPhone about 10 times. I took pics at each camp with the iPhone to store GPS coords. The battery/iPhone did die eventually because I used the iPhone too much to view pdf's. I took 4 camera batteries and they lasted. Use airplane mode and take 1 pic at a time.

You best pics may be while you are on the river. I used my backup camera (Sony A7R4) and an expensive lens, 24mm GM prime. The camera and 24mm did fog up so I dried them after I got home (they are fine now). I was splashed in the rapids, one wave went over my head. Later I switched to Sony A1 and 100-400mm GM (for glaciers, icebergs, grizzlies).

In the past I have tried a GoalZero Nomad 7 USB2 solar panel (about 1ftx1ft). Rafting, 2019, Firth river, Yukon. It was just enough to add a trickle of charge each day to a GoalZero 20 battery. This I used to charge Olympus and Sony cameras. For most of the trip we had 24h of sun /day. On July 21st the sun again dipped below the horizon 2:50 to 3am. I used Olympus EM1mkII and 40-150mm f2.8 Pro while on the river, and Sony A7R3 100-400mm GM +2.0xTC while on land. The front of the 40-150 lens had a lot of water spots on it when I got home.

 

[BillW]

Last July I went on a rafting trip on the Alsek river, also about 12 days. Yukon to the Alaskan panhandle. I used a 20,000mAh 74Wh battery from Amazon. It can charge an iPhone about 10 times. I took pics at each camp with the iPhone to store GPS coords. The battery/iPhone did die eventually because I used the iPhone too much to view pdf's. I took 4 camera batteries and they lasted. Use airplane mode and take 1 pic at a time.

You best pics may be while you are on the river. I used my backup camera (Sony A7R4) and an expensive lens, 24mm GM prime. The camera and 24mm did fog up so I dried them after I got home (they are fine now). I was splashed in the rapids, one wave went over my head. Later I switched to Sony A1 and 100-400mm GM (for glaciers, icebergs, grizzlies).

In the past I have tried a GoalZero Nomad 7 USB2 solar panel (about 1ftx1ft). Rafting, 2019, Firth river, Yukon). It was just enough to add a trickle of charge each day to a GoalZero 20 battery. This I used to charge Olympus and Sony cameras. For most of the trip we had 24h of sun /day. On July 21st the sun again dipped below the horizon 2:50 to 3am. I used Olympus EM1mkII and 40-150mm f2.8 Pro while on the river, and Sony A7R3 100-400mm GM +2.0xTC while on land. The front of the 40-150 lens had a lot of water spots on it when I got home.

I thought about a solar charger. I have a couple. The photo trip leader (who is currently out on a trip) noted in the notes to his last trip through the canyon, that solar chargers had not worked well because of limited access to full sunlight at the bottom of the canyon (and while traveling in the rafts).

I plan to take a small Nikon AW1, a relatively waterproof small (1” sensor) camera designed for snorkeling and not made anymore, to use from the rafts. I have 4 batteries for it and they are small. May charge them from a brick in the canyon. Photos with my iPhone to get GPS coordinates would be nice, but one more device to charge. I have a Garmin Fenix 7 GPS watch to wear that can partially charge itself with solar. My guess is that I can make that last for 12 days, using expedition mode, and get a track that will allow me a good idea where we were for various photos (if I sync the various clocks on my camera).

 

[Johan Schmidt]

A big drain is reviewing images. Perhaps things like switching off the monitor review after each shot will help. Switch off GPS and use iPhone to record GPS data and enter that into LR. Use airplane mode like you already do.
But with rafting, you don't want all your eggs in one basket - have redundancy by spreading batteries between bag/s and on person.

 

[agdoherty]

Interesting point. I wonder what the difference is.

I’d like the resolution of a Z9/Z7II/Z7, so I was not thinking of taking my Z6II. I could take a Z7II and Z7 if they use less power. I’d want a second body, both for back up and possibly to have two lenses mounted on bodies at the same time.

Two issues with the Z7II/Z7 combo. The Z7 only has one card slot. Since we won’t be using laptops on this trip, I’ve been planning to use the second card slot (which the Z9 and Z7II have) for backup.

Also, since I have both EN EL 18d and EN EL 15 batteries, taking a Z9 and Z7II might maximize the power capacity I have along with me.

i took a z7 to the brooks range for 9 days, and was able to take photos the whole time with 1 backup battery, and a 20k mah power bank for camera, phone, gps etc. Recharged everything around around day 5-6. However, i was hiking/backpacking, so only took about 400-500 pictures with the z7, all handheld. So that's 2 batteries drained, and both recharged once over 9 days for about 500 images to give you an idea of the battery usage. On top of that it rained every day, so my total count was likely reduced because of the weather, but the camera held up to being lightly rained on! i was worried about backup due to only one card slot, but things worked out fine. if it were me i'd take a z9 every time, except for when i'm hiking long distances and also have to carry all my food/shelter for 5-7 days. that's when the smaller bodies are really nice, in my opinion.

 

[BillW]

i took a z7 to the brooks range for 9 days, and was able to take photos the whole time with 1 backup battery, and a 20k mah power bank for camera, phone, gps etc. Recharged everything around around day 5-6. However, i was hiking/backpacking, so only took about 400-500 pictures with the z7, all handheld. So that's 2 batteries drained, and both recharged once over 9 days for about 500 images to give you an idea of the battery usage. On top of that it rained every day, so my total count was likely reduced because of the weather, but the camera held up to being lightly rained on! i was worried about backup due to only one card slot, but things worked out fine. if it were me i'd take a z9 every time, except for when i'm hiking long distances and also have to carry all my food/shelter for 5-7 days. that's when the smaller bodies are really nice, in my opinion.

Thank you. Given hiking will be limited trips from our landing sites, I will have more flexibility on weight. Plan to take both the Z9 and Z7II, as I’d like a back up. Both have dual card slots, so I can run one as a backup. And will be able to take a number of batteries and a power bank. Have plenty of time to more testing before I go.

 

[BillW]

i am unclear on that. i tend to disable all the power savings and just manually turn on and off the camera because i'm shooting action, and works better with my shooting workflow.

Did a test of the Z9 and its standby timer today. The camera is in airplane mode and the GPS is off (I was shooting with it yesterday -- bald eagles along the Mississippi in Minnesota). Turned the Z9 on with the standby timer set to 30 seconds. Have looked at it once or twice an hour now for a bit over 4 hours. The battery percentage has not changed even 1%. So I think that the camera is using very little power when the standby timer kicks in. I generally leave the camera in airplane mode and, if power is an issue, I will likely not use GPS. But plan to test that too.

[Edited to fix a couple of typos.]

 

[BillW]

I am testing the Anker PowerCore+ 26800 PD 45W (97 WH capacity) and its ability to charge an EN EL 18d (36 WH capacity). It's the battery recommended by Nikon for hte Z9.

With the Anker battery fully charged to 100%, I attached it with a USB-C cable to an MH-33. Put on an EN EL 18d battery that had been used down to 14% (as shown by the Z9 battery menu). The Anker charged the EN EL 18d back to 100% (both as shown by the green lights on the MH-33 and by the Z9 battery menu) and went from displaying 100% power (10 small lights) to 70% power (7 small lights). So relatively efficient, it would seem, although I do not have a digital readout of the remaining power on the Anker.

I suspect that this means I could charge a second EN EL 18d back from 10-20% to full with the Anker. I will wait a couple of days and try another battery on it.