E-M1 battery life

[mxlin]

I took two Olympus OEM batteries along with my E-M1 to a recent 3-day trip to NYC. To my surprise, by the end of second day, both batteries were completely drained with only 225 frames and about 10-minutes of video on the SD card. Luckily B&H was nearby and the rest is history.

Just wondering if this is considered as normal life for the batteries (manufacturing date - 9/2012 and 8/2013)? DP Review says 330 shots per charge but not sure if it was in the real world. Perhaps I should have left rear LCD screen off at all time? Please share your experiences. Thanks!

 

[Replytoken]

I have found it best to measure by time instead of shots, and I tune my camera to not use power for things I am not using. If I am shooting an event, I find it easy to get a few hundred shots in a moderate amount of time with power to spare. Chimp a lot, use wifi, and run both the EVF & LCD and YMMV.

--Ken

 

[OzRay]

It all depends on how you use the camera. I did a recent all day shot and was able to take over 1400 shots and a couple of videos, and when I got home, I still had a fair amount of charge left in the battery (it didn't take all that long to fully charge). During that day, I rarely used the LCD, which is fully turned off when not in use, and I always turned the camera off when I wasn't shooting and also let the camera go to sleep within one minute of no use.

 

[AussiePhil]

I've had 600+ shots with Live view running nearly full time over a 3hr period, fairly certain that battery life is tied to both total time and shots.

I've got the rear screen set to dim after 8 seconds.

 

[drd1135]

Luckily B&H was nearby and the rest is history.

You went into B&H with a credit card and only got batteries? That's dangerous territory, man, Houses have been mortgaged by lesser men. We who are about to charge salute you.

 

[RKTodd]

It all depends on how you use the camera. I did a recent all day shot and was able to take over 1400 shots and a couple of videos, and when I got home, I still had a fair amount of charge left in the battery (it didn't take all that long to fully charge). During that day, I rarely used the LCD, which is fully turned off when not in use, and I always turned the camera off when I wasn't shooting and also let the camera go to sleep within one minute of no use.

Would you please share all your battery saving settings. Is there a scenario where the LCD can look off but not really turned off?

 

[arch stanton]

Would you please share all your battery saving settings. Is there a scenario where the LCD can look off but not really turned off?

I've had 900 out of an e-m5 in an afternoon at a wedding - the big difference is motor drive.
A 5-frame burst doesn't use much more power than a single shot.
Around 300 is more normal over a few days, I just change over to a spare after ~200 shots and I rarely see a battery warning.

 

[RKTodd]

I've had 900 out of an e-m5 in an afternoon at a wedding - the big difference is motor drive.
A 5-frame burst doesn't use much more power than a single shot.
Around 300 is more normal over a few days, I just change over to a spare after ~200 shots and I rarely see a battery warning.

I have been able to shoot and entire wedding (10 hours) with two EM-1's with grips and two batteries loaded. Still had battery power in both bodies. Don't remember the total number of shots right now.

Never was much of a burst mode shooter; well, for weddings anyway.

 

[Aqualung]

Also the continuous AF mode...if that's on it will really drain your battery.

 

[mxlin]

You went into B&H with a credit card and only got batteries? That's dangerous territory, man, Houses have been mortgaged by lesser men. We who are about to charge salute you.

...I went in with some cash and got a charger. No harm no foul.

 

[janneman]

I don t know about the E-M1, but with my E-M5, the time the camera is switched on seems to be far more important than any camera setting or any number of pictures taken. I roughly get between 2 and 3 hours of camera on from a full charged battery. When I switch to high speed sequence, that might be well over 1000 shots, when I use it for my microscope (fully on all the time) it might be just 50 shots...

 

[OzRay]

Would you please share all your battery saving settings. Is there a scenario where the LCD can look off but not really turned off?

There's nothing special about my battery settings, but I have turned the rear LCD fully off and only use the EVF. The normal setting (apart from eye detect) doesn't fully turn off the LCD (you can see that it's only dimmed), but there's a setting that completely turns off the LCD (I'd have to search for it again), which I only use it for the SCP and occasional review. I was also shooting bursts mainly on that exercise, so I think that also made a difference.

 

[Growltiger]

There's nothing special about my battery settings, but I have turned the rear LCD fully off and only use the EVF. The normal setting (apart from eye detect) doesn't fully turn off the LCD (you can see that it's only dimmed), but there's a setting that completely turns off the LCD (I'd have to search for it again), which I only use it for the SCP and occasional review. I was also shooting bursts mainly on that exercise, so I think that also made a difference.

OzRay, if there really is a setting that turns off the LCD completely and saves power, please tell us. I can't see it in the manual.

 

[OzRay]

OzRay, if there really is a setting that turns off the LCD completely and saves power, please tell us. I can't see it in the manual.

I'll have to do some checking, but try this. Press the Live view button on the left of the EVF so that you see the live view. Then hold the Live View button down for a few seconds until a menu pops up and using the arrow keys, disable the eye sensor.

If that doesn't do it, follow up with the following. Go into the Spanner and turn Record View off.

Let me know if that works, so I don't have to do more ferreting around.

 

[beameup]

The LCD really drains the battery... which is why I always have 3.

 

[RKTodd]

The only time I use the LCD is the occasional image preview, and to change setting via the SCP. I hate trying to make setting changes using the EVF. I think it's mainly because I shoot left eyed.

Based on what OzRay has said, I think my cameras are set as battery efficient as I can make them.

Thanks!

 

[OzRay]

I'm left eyed when it comes to cameras as well and don't mind using the EVF, and because I have buttons assigned to various function such as focus point and area, I don't have to take my eye from the viewfinder to make adjustments.

 

[Zee]

...

If that doesn't do it, follow up with the following. Go into the Spanner and turn Record View off.

Let me know if that works, so I don't have to do more ferreting around.

This is a new setting to me - I'll give that a try and see if it improves anything. May do a Google and see what it's purpose actually is...

Z...

 

[Growltiger]

I'll have to do some checking, but try this. Press the Live view button on the left of the EVF so that you see the live view. Then hold the Live View button down for a few seconds until a menu pops up and using the arrow keys, disable the eye sensor.

If that doesn't do it, follow up with the following. Go into the Spanner and turn Record View off.

Let me know if that works, so I don't have to do more ferreting around.

Yes you are right, disabling the sensor means that the LCD is totally off when the viewfinder is on.

What is frustrating is that when the eye sensor is on, but the info button has been pressed so that the LCD is completely black, the LCD is still left on, wasting power. Go into a dark room to confirm this. It seems as if this could be fixed in firmware? In fact there could be an option to always switch off the LCD if the viewfinder has been activated. This would save a lot of power, and I can't see why it would cause any inconvenience.

 

[RKTodd]

I'm left eyed when it comes to cameras as well and don't mind using the EVF, and because I have buttons assigned to various function such as focus point and area, I don't have to take my eye from the viewfinder to make adjustments.

But you DO loose the ability to use the touch feature of the SCP. It's just so fast and easy to touch and rotate a wheel to make changes. This is the one thing I can't shake from my Nikon/Canon shooting. They don't have touch screens but I'm used to using that LCD to make certain changes.

I'll keep trying the EVF.

Thanks Ray!