Awesome Tips to Extend Your Camera’s Battery Consumption
You could compare running low on battery power during an important photoshoot to say, driving through Death Valley in summer and seeing the car’s fuel needle dangerously close to “E”. It’s the kind of nightmare you just don’t really want to give too much thought for worry over losing sleep at night.
So let’s not worry about losing sleep (or any other bad dream for that matter). We shall focus on taking every possible step to altogether avoid this predicament.
Personally, even if I’m not purposefully going out to shoot anything intentional, I always have a spare camera battery in my small bag because…I do. There’s almost no reason not to?
While heading out to shoot for a client or on a landscape/city location, it’s more important than ever to carry spares. But, things happen, they could get lost/damaged or you find no way of charging. This is why you need to ensure you know how to conserve that vital battery power.
Image by JÉSHOOTS
These Seven Top Tips will Help you Extend Your Camera’s Battery Power.
1. Turn Off Your Camera’s WiFi Connections
There’s no need to have your camera’s built-in WiFi searching for networks in the background aimlessly. Have this switched on ONLY when you need it and you’re actually transferring data.
2. Your LCD Screen is Munching Power
Dim your screen brightness. This is a great tip for reducing battery power consumption. Okay, not every single camera has this option but the ones that do have this feature, use it.
Aside from dimming your LCD screen’s brightness, reducing the length of time it stays on to preview your images should also be reduced – you’re looking at them in detail when in post anyhow.
So keep the chimping to a minimum – a quick check, then back to work. Live View Mode also is a bit of a drain on battery consumption so this is another way to extend you camera’s battery life.
Using Live View can be REALLY helpful, especially when shooting from above or in the studio, but aside from these situations, don’t keep it running for too long.
Image by Pexels
3. Storing Your Camera’s Battery at Room Temperature
Batteries liked to be stored in conditions us humans do too.Too hot or too cold can really begin to limit your battery’s useful life, so to extend your camera’s battery power, ensure you’ve thought twice about when you store your gear
4. Use a Faster Memory Card and Only Delete Photos When Absolutely Necessary
If you’re busy deleting images, you’re at risk of missing a shot (yes, this does depend on what you’re shooting etc) but more importantly, while we’re discussing battery power, it uses up more battery than you might think – so leave this until you’re at your computer.
If you can’t because your memory card is full, then consider buying a larger storage capacity or carry a spare. Additionally, consider a faster memory card too so that transfer rates slightly increase in speed.
This may seem insignificant for a short time taking only perhaps 100 photos, but an entire day, it can drain some serious juice. And lastly, always format your memory card on your camera too – so that it’s in sync with the camera.
Image at Pexels
5. Turn off automatic sensor cleaning – Get yourself a blower instead
Some photographers will actually repeatedly turn their cameras on and off to clean the sensor and it uses significant power when done so frequently. Get a blower or a sensor cleaning brush and do it yourself – especially before you even set foot out the front door.
6. Autofocus is Kept on Continuous Focus
Avoid this if you can. Unless you’re shooting sports or wildlife (or just constantly moving objects in general). Because autofocus is controlled by tiny motors buzzing around internally, it means that it’s using battery life like no other – especially in continuous mode!
I’d recommend trying to get used to the single point autofocus mode – it saves battery, but more importantly it’s good to practice this as it forces you to consider framing and composition through your viewfinder too.
Image by Ton W
7. Lastly, a Battery Grip
Have you considered investing in one of these for extended power? Though technically it doesn’t extend your camera’s battery power, it can save the day when you’re nearing the end of your current battery in your camera. Aside from this, a grip carries many other benefits too!
Also, periodically keep an eye on the overall health of your batteries and replace batteries that are dying faster than they should be – this should really be your first check.
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