Z8 Battery life

[aringer]

I am new to mirrorless. I have a D500 and a D4 and I was holding out to buying the Z9 until yesterday. After watching Steve's review, I placed the order for a Z8. I was surprised to read you can only take 340 - 370 shots, I can take that many on a walk and when I go on a trip, I'll take a couple of thousand in a day. The D5 battery lasted me a lot more than 340 shots. Am I missing something or will I need to carry 3-4 batteries with me now? Thanks

 

[Steve]

Never trust CIPA numbers. They use a weird testing method that doesn't reflect real-world shooting. With mirrorless cameras, it's more about how long your using the EVF / LCD than it is the pure number of shots. I'll have some numbers eventually - but I know it's over 340 (I shot more than that yesterday and didn't put a dent the battery charge).

 

[aringer]

Never trust CIPA numbers. They use a weird testing method that doesn't reflect real-world shooting. With mirrorless cameras, it's more about how long your using the EVF / LCD than it is the pure number of shots. I'll have some numbers eventually - but I know it's over 340 (I shot more than that yesterday and didn't put a dent the battery charge).

Thanks, I figured it waould be a "technically speaking" kind of number. I look forward to your review in the field.

 

[dupcak]

Thanks, I figured it waould be a "technically speaking" kind of number. I look forward to your review in the field.

As Steve and others have said - CIPA numbers are not real life numbers, however battery life will be less than a DSLR given the same shooting style. So before you go out on your first photo shoot I'd get at least one extra battery and keep and eye on the meter.

 

[Krümelkraft]

You can get significantly more or less shots, depending on how much you use the EVF. Or, in other words, depending on the ratio of shots/viewfinder time.
People reported more than 5.000 shots with one Z9 battery when they did a lot of bursts, so I would expect at least 2.000 shots under such conditions (36Wh vs. 16Wh batteries).
EVF is what is drawing a lot of power. Power consumption is the Achilles heel of mirrorless cameras, IMO.

If you are taking that many pictures, you should consider a Z9 or being prepared to carry some spare batteries.

 

[aringer]

As Steve and others have said - CIPA numbers are not real life numbers, however battery life will be less than a DSLR given the same shooting style. So before you go out on your first photo shoot I'd get at least one extra battery and keep and eye on the meter.

Thanks, I did order an extra battery with the camera.

 

[aringer]

You can get significantly more or less shots, depending on how much you use the EVF. Or, in other words, depending on the ratio of shots/viewfinder time.
People reported more than 5.000 shots with one Z9 battery when they did a lot of bursts, so I would expect at least 2.000 shots under such conditions (36Wh vs. 16Wh batteries).
EVF is what is drawing a lot of power. Power consumption is the Achilles heel of mirrorless cameras, IMO.

If you are taking that many pictures, you should consider a Z9 or being prepared to carry some spare batteries.

Thanks, looks like I have some research to do on EVFs

 

[agrumpyoldsod]

CIPA battery life is more of a measure of how long the camera can be active for -- in the test a shot is taken every 30 seconds and the camera turned off and back on after 10 shots -- see below for details

Batteries

The EN-EL15C battery is 7.0v, rated at 2280mAh and 16 Wh; whereas the EN-EL18d is 10.8V rated at 3300mAh and 36Wh which when comparing Wh means the EN-EL15c provides 44% of the energy that an EN-EL18d does. Both the EN-EL15 a and b are rated at 14 Wh.

The NEW MB-N12 V-battery grip "ONLY" takes TWO EN-EL15 batteries, one of which can be hot swapped in use and this grip also has a USB-C Power Delivery port. An EN-EL18 battery simply will not fit into this grip. Watch Ricci Talk's video on this grip for details. As noted 2 EN-EL15c batteries provide 88% of the Wh of an EN-EL18d - but hot swapping does provide more options to keep shooting while maintaining charge. As Ricci indicated tests need to be done to see how quickly the primary battery runs down while the 2nd battery is rundown hot swapped time and time again -- ultimately this will limit the time the z8 can be run UNLESS it is power via some form of Power Delivery -- which is exactly what I would to for a very long timelapse. Obviously with the new Direct Power USB-C port one can simply plug the camera into a Power Bank, d-tap a v battery or plug it into the mains -- no need for dummy batteries plugged into the mains/power banks to feed power in via an open battery chamber.

CIPA Battery Rating -- "The Z8's CIPA ratings are 340 shots per charge, if you use the rear LCD, and 330 if you use the viewfinder." HOWEVER, the CIPA battery life test involves turning the camera on and taking a shot every 30 seconds.They leave the camera on between every image, turn it off after every ten shots, and repeat it. This is not remotely real world shooting for most of us. The rating is more like one could run the camera turned on and in use for about 165 minutes or 2.75 hours, before needing to replace the battery.
Most users tend to turn the camera off between shooting set ups so actual battery life is much longer.

 

[Calson]

The shots per battery with the Sony A1, which also uses a 2280mAh battery, would be a good ballpark value. With my D850 I used the battery grip with the EN-EL18 battery and could shoot for 2-3 days with no worries.