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Power drain with IS turned on
- Thread starter DBK
- Start date
The IS will use some battery power when the IS is active - that is, when you press the shutter button halfway down, the IS will be active for 5 seconds, or until you take the shot. During that 5-second time, the IS will be drawing battery power.
I'd expect fewer total shots from a charge when using IS, but I haven't seen a very large reduction in my own use.
I'd expect fewer total shots from a charge when using IS, but I haven't seen a very large reduction in my own use.
Asher Kelman
OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
In practice, the number of shots from 1D series or even the 5D is so large that one can't see any difference although for sure it must use up some juice. However, I would imagine that moving a lens in and out to obtain focus takes much more energy!
I wouldnt worry about it. I just leave IS on.
Asher
I wouldnt worry about it. I just leave IS on.
Asher
scott kirkpatrick
Member
getting scientific about contributions to power drain
can be done, but it takes a little lab equipment, and sometimes the results just tell you you shouldn't have worried. You need an AC adapter (because the plug is often something that the manufacturer makes gratuitously different from any standard plug -- at least on my Olympus E-1 that is the case), a digitally-controlled power supply, and preferably some computer interface so that you can take data as your put your camera through its paces (with the battery removed, and the power supply providing constant voltage while the computer traces the current required).
I tried this with my E-1, to see if things like continuous autofocus or chimping were costing me shots per battery charge. For a summary of the results, see
http://www.cs.huji.ac.il/~kirk/Estimating_Power_Consumption.ppt
There were some interesting surprises. Turning on the LCD to examine past images turns off the image capture circuits, so the result is no change in power consumption. Setting to manual focus costs a little power, since now the focus-by-wire servos are continuously on, while in AF they are only on when the shutter is half-pressed. Writing a RAW file or a humongous TIFF takes more time and thus more power than writing tiny low quality JPEGs, but the effect is not very large. The conclusion is that the camera, when on, takes about 200 ma continuously, and you can reduce that to zero by turning it off. The battery capacity claims to give more than 5 hours of continuous use, so the real answer to "how many pictures can you get on one charged battery" is "how many pictures do you want to take in five hours of actual use."
I would imagine that Canon and Nikon know all the same tricks, and use them in roughly the same way.
scott
can be done, but it takes a little lab equipment, and sometimes the results just tell you you shouldn't have worried. You need an AC adapter (because the plug is often something that the manufacturer makes gratuitously different from any standard plug -- at least on my Olympus E-1 that is the case), a digitally-controlled power supply, and preferably some computer interface so that you can take data as your put your camera through its paces (with the battery removed, and the power supply providing constant voltage while the computer traces the current required).
I tried this with my E-1, to see if things like continuous autofocus or chimping were costing me shots per battery charge. For a summary of the results, see
http://www.cs.huji.ac.il/~kirk/Estimating_Power_Consumption.ppt
There were some interesting surprises. Turning on the LCD to examine past images turns off the image capture circuits, so the result is no change in power consumption. Setting to manual focus costs a little power, since now the focus-by-wire servos are continuously on, while in AF they are only on when the shutter is half-pressed. Writing a RAW file or a humongous TIFF takes more time and thus more power than writing tiny low quality JPEGs, but the effect is not very large. The conclusion is that the camera, when on, takes about 200 ma continuously, and you can reduce that to zero by turning it off. The battery capacity claims to give more than 5 hours of continuous use, so the real answer to "how many pictures can you get on one charged battery" is "how many pictures do you want to take in five hours of actual use."
I would imagine that Canon and Nikon know all the same tricks, and use them in roughly the same way.
scott
Bev Sampson
New member
Power drain from IS
Is there a drain on power if IS is left on when the camera is shut off?
Bev
Asher Kelman said:
Is there a drain on power if IS is left on when the camera is shut off?
Bev
Harvey Moore
New member
I don't know about power drain, but it was recommended to me to turn off IS before turning camera off, turn it back on after camera turned on.
This was in responce to a question I posed at fm early last year. I was getting erratic IS, meaning it sometimes would not activate.
Problem has not reoccurred since following this procedure.
Problem was with the 20D + 300 f4 IS, never had it with the 5D.
This was in responce to a question I posed at fm early last year. I was getting erratic IS, meaning it sometimes would not activate.
Problem has not reoccurred since following this procedure.
Problem was with the 20D + 300 f4 IS, never had it with the 5D.
Will Thompson
Well Known Member
Beverly Sampson said:
NO there is not!
When I had the 28-135IS and used the IS for dance events where I used the IS by pressing the shutter half way to help with showing blurred movements, I'd notice that the battery would show half full after one day with two batteries in the grip. Without the IS, a full day of shooting would still show a full charge at the end of the day.
So yes, it does take significant amount of juice to power that gyroscope in the IS lens.
So yes, it does take significant amount of juice to power that gyroscope in the IS lens.
Asher Kelman
OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Tom,
Why do you use the battery grip anyway? Is it for the balance or for the poser? I find the standard batteries are fine, but I'm interested in hearing your view on balance.
Asher
Why do you use the battery grip anyway? Is it for the balance or for the poser? I find the standard batteries are fine, but I'm interested in hearing your view on balance.
Asher
I had a grip for the 300D and the 350D. I prefer to shoot a lot in verticle mode, so I often get the grip. It does help balance the rig when I use the 70-200 f2.8 or the Bigma (sigma 50-500).
Right now I'm cameraless, but plan on getting a 30D and a grip. When I want a stealthy rig, I'll go without a grip and no lens hood. If I go to the zoo with a bigma or something like that, I'll get a grip.
I did an hour session of portriats for a friend and at the end of the session, my wrist hurt so much from having it bent to take verticle shots, I ordered the grip right after that. It's really the best of both worlds. If you have a heavy set up, such as a big lens and a flash, the bigger body helps to balance the setup. If you shoot alot in verticle mode, it's a must. If you use IS or have a big lens and use AI Servo that eats up a lot of juice, having twice as much juice by two batteries in the grip is nice.
For example, the XT would do about 400 shots with the OEM battery. By adding a Sterlingtek battery with more juice, it's worth about 600 shots, so both in the grip, you get about 1100 shot for a singel set of charged batteries.
Having a grip is literally the best of both worlds since you can remove it if you want to.
If you shoot mainly in landscape mode, the grip is not a hugh deal. If you shoot a lot in verticle mode, the grip really helps.
Right now I'm cameraless, but plan on getting a 30D and a grip. When I want a stealthy rig, I'll go without a grip and no lens hood. If I go to the zoo with a bigma or something like that, I'll get a grip.
I did an hour session of portriats for a friend and at the end of the session, my wrist hurt so much from having it bent to take verticle shots, I ordered the grip right after that. It's really the best of both worlds. If you have a heavy set up, such as a big lens and a flash, the bigger body helps to balance the setup. If you shoot alot in verticle mode, it's a must. If you use IS or have a big lens and use AI Servo that eats up a lot of juice, having twice as much juice by two batteries in the grip is nice.
For example, the XT would do about 400 shots with the OEM battery. By adding a Sterlingtek battery with more juice, it's worth about 600 shots, so both in the grip, you get about 1100 shot for a singel set of charged batteries.
Having a grip is literally the best of both worlds since you can remove it if you want to.
If you shoot mainly in landscape mode, the grip is not a hugh deal. If you shoot a lot in verticle mode, the grip really helps.
Erik DeBill
New member
Tom Yi said:
Interesting. I get well over 400 shots on a stock battery with my 20D, though I think this is highly temperature dependent. When it's 90+ I can take 600 shots or more. The one time I've tried using it when it was 32 degrees I ran out very very fast - < 100 shots, despite keeping my spare battery in an inside pocket for warmth.
I used to have a battery grip for my 300D, but haven't bothered since I got a 20D. It's heavier, so balances better on it's own, and since I'm trying to use a tripod more the wrist bending hasn't been such a problem (I use an L-bracket, so it's really quite convenient on the tripod).