DSLR power saving tips. (1 Viewer)

StuartReeves

Local rarity

• Jul 10, 2007

• #1

I’ll be trekking in India for the first three weeks of August and I’ll be taking my Nikon D70 along for the ride, albeit for souvenir shots more than serious photography. However, for much of the time I will be a long way from the nearest mains electricity. Now my D70 has good battery life, and I am intending to take a couple of spare batteries with me, but I’m wondering if there are ways to save on power use and prolong the battery life. For instance, would turning off the image preview save much power? Or using manual focus as much as possible maybe? Any tips gratefully received.

Cheers,

Stuart

 

Jos Stratford

Eastern Exile

Staff member

• Jul 10, 2007

• #2

StuartReeves said:

For instance, would turning off the image preview save much power?

Click to expand...

I believe so, at least that's the theory I use when not looking at images after I have taken them! Don't half the tea shops on the treks have electricity these days?

 

SalopPhil

Well-known member

• Jul 10, 2007

• #3

Might be worth running some searches on Google to find a solar charger that you can use. I doubt you'd be short of solar energy to use! Could be easier than changing camera settings.

Enjoy the trip.

 

StuartReeves

Local rarity

• Jul 10, 2007

• #4

The solar charger idea is an interesting one. Google led me to a portable one that costs about the same as a camera battery so if it has the right connecter I'll certainly go for that option.

Jos, I'll be under canvas most of the time, and I don't think there's many tents with mains electricty yet...

 

hollis_f

Well-known member

• Jul 11, 2007

• #5

Yup, using the LCD is a real electron muncher. Another thing that increases power consumption is use of a VR lens. So, if you've got one of them I'd recommend not keeping your finger on the shutter for too long.

 

Jos Stratford

Eastern Exile

Staff member

• Jul 11, 2007

• #6

StuartReeves said:

Jos, I'll be under canvas most of the time, and I don't think there's many tents with mains electricty yet...

Click to expand...

When you're trekking past a tea shop, stop in for a long tea and apple pie, it is the Himalaya after all, and ask to plug in your charger - they don't usually object and that half hour of charge will keep you going til the next tea stop

 

M

Matt_RTH

Well-known member

• Jul 11, 2007

• #7

Turn off autopreview.

AF in standard and not continuous mode (not good for birds in flight).

Some cams have low power LCD mode.

Consider setting auto-power off time to be lower.

Never, ever leave without a backup battery anyway!

Don't trust the batt meter. After more than like half rated shots per charge, recharge anyway if at end of day.

Limit use of flash.

Use card reader for moving images from card to computer, rather than camera itself.



BTW, never found AF to have an appreciable impact on batt life.