Battery life with Canon 500mm IS

[OBXGuide]

I searched the forums for this but the search engines keeps telling me I'm under the 4 word minimum, no matter how many words I use.....so....

I gave my new 500mm IS a workout this past week on a trip to NC Outer Banks and found my Canon batteries died very quickly in my 10D using the 500mm. I even tried using it without the stablizer, and it seemed to make no noticable difference. I used to shoot a whole day on one battery, but I easily used up all 3 in an hour on this trip. For those of you who use the 500mm IS, is this a common or expected outcome for battery life with this lens? Do I need to consider a battery pack/grip of some sort when I get a 40D (probably not too far in the future)?

Fred

[Keith Reeder]

Probably the four letter minimum, if your search includes "IS", Fred.

Got to say, I've never heard anyone complain about short battery life directly attributable to the 500mm IS - I was in the company of two such folk just yesterday, and they were commenting on how long their batteries were lasting (albeit not using the 10D) so this is a funny one.

There are many 500mm IS users on there though, so you'll get some advice based on direct experience soon enough...

[Clive Watson]

I've got a 40D and a 20D, not a 10D, plus a 600mm, not a 500mm, so this is not strictly comparable, but it does sound to me that the battery should be lasting a lot longer than that. On a birding holiday with the camera being used, or at least on, for several hours a day, I would expect a battery to last a couple of days at least.

[paul goode]

I think you have a problem there Fred. I haven't noticed a difference in battery life between my old Sigma 500mm and the canon 500mm.

Have you got another lens you can try and see if the same thing happens. Going through 3 batteries in an hour means something is pulling far too much current all the time. With the is switched on can you hear it clicking on and off or is it running all the time regardless of the switch position?

Paul

[citrinella]

I searched the forums for this but the search engines keeps telling me I'm under the 4 word minimum, no matter how many words I use.....so....

I gave my new 500mm IS a workout this past week on a trip to NC Outer Banks and found my Canon batteries died very quickly in my 10D using the 500mm. I even tried using it without the stablizer, and it seemed to make no noticable difference. I used to shoot a whole day on one battery, but I easily used up all 3 in an hour on this trip. For those of you who use the 500mm IS, is this a common or expected outcome for battery life with this lens? Do I need to consider a battery pack/grip of some sort when I get a 40D (probably not too far in the future)?

Fred

Sorry to hear of your problem Fred.

No trouble for me with a 500 on 30D.

Mike.

[postcardcv]

I'd agree with the others, there must be a problem in there somewhere as this is not normal. I've just bought a 40D which I'm using with a 500 f4 IS and so far have taken ~1300 shots on the first charge.

[GYRob]

never had a problem either and very rare i use more than 1 battery on my 5d and i take lots of shot,s .
Rob.

[Cashie]

I use a 500 f4 with a 30D body & I've not noticed any difference in battery life, it seems
to be lasting just as long as when I use my 100-400 zoom.

Sounds like you may have a duff battery, I am ussing 7day shop batteries two for a
tenner, a real bargain.

Paul.

[Malcolm Stewart]

...
I gave my new 500mm IS a workout this past week on a trip to NC Outer Banks and found my Canon batteries died very quickly in my 10D using the 500mm. ...

Do I need to consider a battery pack/grip of some sort when I get a 40D (probably not too far in the future)?

Fred

Hi Fred,

I have a mint condition and very recent manufacture EF 300 f2.8L IS and I think I've noticed the same thing, when using it with my 30D. (Not sure if the same thing happens with my 5D.) The problem has happened occasionally, and I've not been sure that my camera battery was fully charged, so I've simply changed batteries and carried on. With the 300 f2.8L IS, I can certainly sense when the IS is working, so using the battery more quickly hasn't surprised me. If you're using the original battery in your 10D it could be getting a bit old, and perhaps more susceptible to drop of voltage as the charge level drops. Might be worth trying a new, fully charged battery. (Memo to self - time to buy a new battery!)

[OBXGuide]

First off, thanks to everyone for their input. My batteries are original, got all 3 when I got the camera. I rarely use the camera except in the autumn, but I keep the batteries charged well. A year or more ago I had a problem with them dying very quickly, but traced that problem to not leaving them in the charger very long after the LED stopped blinking. I refreshed on the instructions and realized they needed to sit awhile longer for a complete charge - my bad. It's possible on this occasion that they were not as fully charged as I thought, but I don't know for sure. I haven't had the occasion since that trip to give the lens another workout, as the weather and my schedule have kept me from my planned follow-up trips.

As for the IS activating and deactivating, I can hear it doing it's thing, on and off, so I don't think it's hung in the on state. I have a 75-300 IS also, so I recognize the sounds they make. My first impulse was to get new batteries, but since I'm thinking of a new 40D, I decided to wait and be certain it takes the same battery as the 10D so I can interchange them.

For now, I think I will just set up the camera and lens, and just click off pix of nothing. It's not like it'll waste any film :) - and instead of worrying about the next shot and where the birds are, I'll just watch the battery LCD indicator and see what's going on.

Thanks again to everyone for their suggestions and experiences. If I isolate the problem, I'll post with what I've learned.

Fred