OMD-EM5 battery stamina (1 Viewer)

[Tord]

Hi

I am curious about what battery stamina others are experiencing on the OMD.

Having concerns about the EVF and IS draining battery I used to turn the camera off in between pictures, but having missed opportunities due to this I plan to purchase extra batteries to have the camera on all the time except when on the move or when busy with other things preventing from photography.

I tested duruing the course of a few sessions at ambient temperature ~25 Celsius. With the original battery (1200mAh) I ended up with ~3.5 hours during which I took ~150 pictures, also used the camera for observation in between, deleted bad photos after checking sharpness. Camera was set to 1 minute to standby (wake up from standby is quite fast) and is IS engaged only when activating shutter release (an obvious one).

So I guess that with an extra battery a full day will be possible.

 

[cango]

A good day out for me usually is from about 5 to 12-13, 7 to 8 hours. 2, 2,5 batteries, sometimes three - if much action (movie, scope viewing, deleting, looking at photos) then yes 3 batteries.

Soon after I got the om-d I got me three third party batteries (ebay) for less than half the money one would pay for one original battery. Got me three more just recently for a trip later this year. If they are inferior than the original battery, then I haven't noticed.

 

[Adey Baker]

Just returned from holiday and I noticed that the batteries were not lasting as long as 'normal' probably because I, too, had it ready at most times. I suppose it's one of the penalties of having a 'compact'-sized camera (with much smaller-sized batteries than an average-sized DSLR) with an EVF.

The camera is a bit slow to 'wake up' compared to a DSLR so touching the shutter from time to time to keep it ready for instant use obviously doesn't help! Also, carrying the camera around the neck, with the rear of the camera against the chest can 'fool' the camera into switching to the EVF which is a higher resolution than the LCD screen so may use more power.

Certainly, the supplied charger isn't exactly lightening fast in charging these smaller batteries, so one has to remember to charge up as soon as possible.

 

[Tord]

A good day out for me usually is from about 5 to 12-13, 7 to 8 hours. 2, 2,5 batteries, sometimes three - if much action (movie, scope viewing, deleting, looking at photos) then yes 3 batteries.

Soon after I got the om-d I got me three third party batteries (ebay) for less than half the money one would pay for one original battery. Got me three more just recently for a trip later this year. If they are inferior than the original battery, then I haven't noticed.

Thanks for sharing your experience, I will order 2 extra batteries I believe.
/Tord

 

[JGobeil]

I use 3 batteries. The 2 purchased on eBay are just as good as the original. I also got a charger with the batteries to replace the stupid Olympus one that uses a long cord instead of being plugged into the wall.

On a recent trip, I shot about 700 pics in one day, using 2 batteries. I have the camera set to Half Way Rls with IS = on and I always use S-AF or MF, never C-AF. IS is always set to 1 and I almost never turn it off.

The camera is always ON and Power Off is set at 4h. I always use the viewfinder, never the LCD and auto switching between both is OFF.

Battery life is not as good as my prior DSLRs but I consider it OK. IMO, 3 batteries are a minimum to be on the safe side.

Oh, I never erase photos in the field, I prefer to do that at home. Also, I seldom look at taken pictures. The camera is set to display the photo for 1 second after the shot and that's enough for me most of the time.