Battery Consumption on Z9

[fotogrob]

Coming from a D500 and D850, I knew battery consumption was going to be greater in my first mirrorless camera.
I find myself taking an extra battery when I'm in the field (something I rarely had to think about with a DSLR even when I shot 1500+ in a day). With the Z9, I seem to get less than 500-600 on a full charge. I'd be interested in hearing other members experience regarding # of shots/100% charge.

Other than turning of wifi and bluetooth, are there other energy saving tips that I can turn off if not needed in the menus? Thanks

 

[BrianMM]

I've been getting excellent battery life and keep location data on, energy saving off and network connections and bluetooth all off when not required.

Unfortunately I have not done a quantitive test of battery life test so cannot give you a definitive answer, Anyway, I primarily use the viewfinder (auto switch) and I can typically shoot a couple of thousand (RAW only) stills (primarily High Efficiency*) and still have charge left in the battery.

To date I have not been doing much video shooting but that will change in the near future.

 

[RichF]

Coming from a D500 and D850, I knew battery consumption was going to be greater in my first mirrorless camera.
I find myself taking an extra battery when I'm in the field (something I rarely had to think about with a DSLR even when I shot 1500+ in a day). With the Z9, I seem to get less than 500-600 on a full charge. I'd be interested in hearing other members experience regarding # of shots/100% charge.

Other than turning of wifi and bluetooth, are there other energy saving tips that I can turn off if not needed in the menus? Thanks

with the Z9 I commonly get 5000+ shots (projected 100% battery use - I will recharge at the end of the day). I turn off image review, seldom chimp except to occasionally check exposure. I leave the GPS on but that does not seem to impact battery consumption.

Do you have a genuine Nikon battery?
How are your review timing sets?
Which screen to do you use? I think that the EVF is more battery friendly
Do you do a lot of focus tracking w/o shooting? W long lens and VR that will huft battery life.

Something is very wrong if you are only getting 500 shots.

 

[fotogrob]

with the Z9 I commonly get 5000+ shots (projected 100% battery use - I will recharge at the end of the day). I turn off image review, seldom chimp except to occasionally check exposure. I leave the GPS on but that does not seem to impact battery consumption.

Do you have a genuine Nikon battery?
How are your review timing sets?
Which screen to do you use? I think that the EVF is more battery friendly
Do you do a lot of focus tracking w/o shooting? W long lens and VR that will huft battery life.

Something is very wrong if you are only getting 500 shots.

I have one Nikon battery and a Wasabi 18D. No difference between the two. I do have image review on and I do chimp more often than I should. I prefer the EVF but but the LCD comes on. I will find the menu item to turn off playback on the LCD. I do use VR on my 500PF. I posted this to get ideas. I appreciate your suggestions.

 

[fotogrob]

I've been getting excellent battery life and keep location data on, energy saving off and network connections and bluetooth all off when not required.

Unfortunately I have not done a quantitive test of battery life test so cannot give you a definitive answer, Anyway, I primarily use the viewfinder (auto switch) and I can typically shoot a couple of thousand (RAW only) stills (primarily High Efficiency*) and still have charge left in the battery.

To date I have not been doing much video shooting but that will change in the near future.

Brian, thanks for the reply. I think I have the EVF auto on. I need to check. I shoot only HE* only.

 

[Warren D]

I just shot 1600 shots over 2 days, 3 hrs per day and had 70% left. I have no complaints about battery life. I have my EVF at 120 which uses more power.

 

[fotogrob]

with the Z9 I commonly get 5000+ shots (projected 100% battery use - I will recharge at the end of the day). I turn off image review, seldom chimp except to occasionally check exposure. I leave the GPS on but that does not seem to impact battery consumption.

Do you have a genuine Nikon battery?
How are your review timing sets?
Which screen to do you use? I think that the EVF is more battery friendly
Do you do a lot of focus tracking w/o shooting? W long lens and VR that will huft battery life.

Something is very wrong if you are only getting 500 shots.

 

[fotogrob]

By review timing Rich, are you referring to c3 Power off delays.
May I ask what are your settings for Playback, Menu, Picture Review and Standby Timer?

 

[RichF]

By review timing Rich, are you referring to c3 Power off delays.
May I ask what are your settings for Playback, Menu, Picture Review and Standby Timer?

Playback 10s
Menus 1m
Picture Review 4s
Standby TImer 5m

I often turn the camera off when I am not actively using it.

Also I have found that tracking with VR on, will drain the battery.

Do you have more than one battery? You battery may be defective

 

[abc123brian]

I haven’t calculated how many shots per charge I’m getting but I’ve not used a full battery in a day yet. Shooting boxing, I did manage 7401 shots and the battery said 30% remaining. That was a few hours shooting using the rear lcd.

 

[Strodav]

I bought a spare battery when I picked up my Z9 and have never used it. In a typical birding shoot, I take 800 to 1200 images over several hours. After downloading the images into my computer I don't think I've ever seen the battery below 1/2.

 

[Butlerkid]

I easily get thousands of images in a day, and frequently use the rear LCD. Something is wrong if one only gets 500 shots or so.

 

[Ken Miracle]

On a very long day of birding with a lot of time tracking birds and using the z9/800pf as a spotting scope with GPS on I have on a couple of occassions needed to change batteries. I did as noted above change my stand by timer down to 5 minutes as Rich has it and that helped a lot and have not had and after that have filled up 128GB card and gone into overflow on a long day of shooting without turning the camera off and still had a bit of battery left.

 

[Roy]

Coming from a D500 and D850, I knew battery consumption was going to be greater in my first mirrorless camera.
I find myself taking an extra battery when I'm in the field (something I rarely had to think about with a DSLR even when I shot 1500+ in a day). With the Z9, I seem to get less than 500-600 on a full charge. I'd be interested in hearing other members experience regarding # of shots/100% charge.

Other than turning of wifi and bluetooth, are there other energy saving tips that I can turn off if not needed in the menus? Thanks

I've had good battery life from my Z9 - nearly s good as my D5 or D850.
When I used a Z6 or Sony A7 I had terrible battery problems.
There have been many fake Nikon batteries in the past - worth checking...

 

[Steve]

One thing to consider when comparing battery notes: It's not about the sheer number of images, but rather how much you're using the EVF / viewfinder and how much you're shooting. Especially with mirrorless, It's possible to drain the battery without ever taking a shot

For me, the Z9 can get through most days on a single charge, although heaver shooting days or days with longer waits while looking though the viewfinder often mean I have to swap out batteries at some point.

 

[Charles Loy]

I shot a polo match yesterday, the battery symbol turned red on my 3rd photo. I made another 260 on red, then it died. Don't recall how many I can expose on a full battery, but it's a plenty

 

[John Navitsky]

think about more as power on time than number of shots. think a battery will last you 5-6 hours powered on, regardless of the number of shots.

 

[EricBowles]

Take a look at how you are using power.

Viewing for extended periods through the EVF will have a big impact on battery life - especially if you are continually touching the shutter to wake the camera or prevent it from sleeping. It can be necessary but there is an impact.
Flipping back and forth between EVF and LCD hurts battery life. Each time you wake the LCD or EVF takes more power than continuous use. If you are constantly flipping back and forth - especially with Auto - it consumes a lot more battery. I found my shirt was causing it to wake and draining battery life as it switched between EVF and LCD. I normally use EVF only.
AF hunting can cause a lot of battery drain. This is not common and most people manage hunting, but it should be avoided.
Prolonged use of the rear LCD consumes battery, so if you are using the LCD to watch a subject for minutes at a time, battery life will be poor.
Be sure you are using Airplane Mode - On.
Turn off Auto Playback - you can see the image before pressing the shutter button. If you need to check focus regularly, set a Fn button to zoom so you can zoom before the shot is take as well as on playback.

Multi-shot bursts take almost no additional power. A 20 shot burst takes little power beyond a single frame.

 

[Steve]

think about more as power on time than number of shots. think a battery will last you 5-6 hours powered on, regardless of the number of shots.

I timed it the other day against the a1. I shot 10X per hours, about 120 frames every six minutes. Camera was on, tape over the eye sensor and no standby. 120FPS viewfinder, no GPS, and VR was off. No AF operations on either camera.

The Z9 lasted 4 hours and 20 minutes. (Before someone asks, the a1 with both batteries in the grip under the same conditions went 5 hours and 45 minutes, or 2 hours and 52 minutes per battery).

 

[John Navitsky]

I timed it the other day against the a1. I shot 10X per hours, about 120 frames every six minutes. Camera was on, tape over the eye sensor and no standby. 120FPS viewfinder, no GPS, and VR was off. No AF operations on either camera.

The Z9 lasted 4 hours and 20 minutes. (Before someone asks, the a1 with both batteries in the grip under the same conditions went 5 hours and 45 minutes, or 2 hours and 52 minutes per battery).

yah, it will vary based on how you use it of course. doing event shooting i typically can shoot for about six hours, ~8k images, but i do power off in lulls

 

[Steve]

yah, it will vary based on how you use it of course. doing event shooting i typically can shoot for about six hours, ~8k images, but i do power off in lulls

For sure. Also, the EVF goes dark when your eye pulls back too - that helps

The test I ran just gives an idea of how long actual, eye-to-the-viewfinder shooting will last (and does a good job comparing battery life to the a1, which I get asked quite a bit).

 

[Calson]

I have not problems when shooting stills but with video battery life is very short and I need to find an external battery pack, something with more capacity than the Anker power banks.

"Each time you wake the LCD or EVF takes more power than continuous use" really? I cannot see why this would be the case.

I would expect that the lens being used would be a factor as its autofocus and VR mechanisms are powered by the camera's battery.

 

[fotogrob]

think about more as power on time than number of shots. think a battery will last you 5-6 hours powered on, regardless of the number of shots.

I also think the hours of power rather the # of shots is the better indicator. I'm usually a short burst shooter every 15-30 minutes. I'm good if the battery lasts a day. I carry a spare just in case there's an immense amount of action.

 

[Roy]

I also think the hours of power rather the # of shots is the better indicator. I'm usually a short burst shooter every 15-30 minutes. I'm good if the battery lasts a day. I carry a spare just in case there's an immense amount of action.

For a rule of thumb i've found most mirrorless use their batteries up in 25% the time of a DSLR.
I've had to use battery grips on all of them except the Z9 so as not to get short of battery during a shoot...

 

[Ken Miracle]

One thing to consider when comparing battery notes: It's not about the sheer number of images, but rather how much you're using the EVF / viewfinder and how much you're shooting. Especially with mirrorless, It's possible to drain the battery without ever taking a shot

For me, the Z9 can get through most days on a single charge, although heaver shooting days or days with longer waits while looking though the viewfinder often mean I have to swap out batteries at some point.

yup ... as noted above a lot of my battery drain comes from using Z9/800 PF combo as spotting scope