How many batteries

[Jack56]

Dear all,

I've got a Canon Mark5dIII. At the moment I have two original Canon Batteries.
In Summer I hope to visit an island for a day and I think I will shoot a lot (raw). Do you think two batteries will do or is it better to buy another one?
how many batteries have you got?
Thanks for reading my question.

 

[slclick]

I have been limping along with one original and two Wasabi (almost 3 years old) branded but as of late the Wasabi's won't get to full charge (rapid blinking just doesn't stop) so I plunked down for a new LP-E6N for the 5D3. I shoot a lot in cold temps and needed the insurance. So I guess my answer is 4 but could be 2 any day. fwiw the Wasabi's have held up better than any other 3rd party battery I've tried. Ymmv.

 

[Eldar]

I go to weird places with my gear. I carry one extra (original) battery for each camera (1-series and 5-series). I have never run out, being in Africa, Norwegian mountains or anywhere else. As an extra security I have a transportable solar panel, which, depending on the amount of sun, is an extra security.

My experience with third party batteries and chargers are 100% negative.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I have two. I noticed one was reading 1 bar on recharge performance today, so I may buy one or two more. I have not seen a issue with battery life. I'll be using the camera for a very large number of photos for several hours tonight, so I'll see how long it lasts. I'm charging the backup now.

The batteries are pretty old now, so the cost per year is almost nothing.

 

[kaihp]

Your answer depends quite a lot on how you're going to use the batteries. When I shoot motorcyclist training on a track, I tend to shoot a lot of pictures without reviewing them. In this way, I have done 2000-2500 shots per battery.

If you use live-view or review your shots a lot, then the shots/battery charge will go down a lot.

For the record, I have two Canon and two 3rd party batteries for my 5D3.

 

[Joe M]

My last set of cameras for shooting weddings was a pair of 5D3s and Canon batteries. I shot for the entire day, raw+tiny jpeg with some chimping when changing conditions, but never with live-view, on a single battery and never did it get below a quarter charge, usually between a quarter and half. I did of course always have a second battery for each camera but only in case of failure. They never got used but of course I rotated them for the next shoot. As well, I almost entirely shot the day with IS lenses which of course take their toll. Personally, I would be quite comfortable spending a day somewhere with a pair of batteries. Enjoy your day wherever it is you're going!

 

[elkatro]

3 batteries : 1 in use, 1 is ready to be used, the other 1 will be recharged whenever possible

 

[rpt]

3 batteries : 1 in use, 1 is ready to be used, the other 1 will be recharged whenever possible

+1

Exactly my logic. I have a 5D3 and a 7D2 and I have five - just to be safe. My first two are getting older so I want to be sure I have sufficient when I am out and unable to charge them.

 

[Roo]

As some others have said you should need no more than 2 and in most cases you'll get through the day with one depending on how you shoot. While I regularly get 1500+ shots out of a day shooting sports, I've done a few all day landscape shoots with it including one where I shot from sunrise to past sunset 5am to 9pm and only needed change the battery right at the end.

 

[geekpower]

on a recent 10 day trip i got 1000 shots out of 2 batteries (in a grip), but that was under pretty much the worst case scenario. i was previewing a lot during the day, checking for flash balance in bright sun, with the screen brightness turned up a lot, and at night i was taking lots of super long exposures, plus i was uploading pics to my laptop over usb every day or two.

 

[JPAZ]

I use a 5Diii and shoot RAW to the CF slot and JPEG to the SD slot simultaneously. I usually use my IS and have back-button focus set up. While I have gone for 2 or 3 days on one battery, my travel often takes me to places where I will not be able to charge anything for days at a time. This has led me to carry 4 batteries with me - one in the camera and 3 others that I cycle through. When the meter says I am down to about 25%, I replace the battery with a fresh one.

Why am I so paranoid? I had an older camera and ran the battery dead while using it. I would up with a card corruption issue because it likely ran out of gas while writing or reading data. Another time in the back country, I was down to my last bit of battery and would up "rationing" my exposures. To me, an extra battery is well worth it.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I used one of my original 5D MK III batteries with 1 bar recharge performance tonight. I took 7064 shots plus several that I deleted. The battery screen said 66% remaining, so I probably could have taken 1500 or even 1600 on a really old LP-E6 battery.

 

[kaihp]

I used one of my original 5D MK III batteries with 1 bar recharge performance tonight. I took 70064 shots plus several that I deleted.

Seventy thousand pictures, and on a single battery

I guess that carries its own curse: that you have to review, select and rate them all ;D

 

[Mikehit]

With my 7D2 I would always have the one in the camera plus two spares - the one in the camera may be part charged so not last the day plus on spare plus one for paranoia (I started this because I sometimes forget to charge a dead battery after a day's shoot).

 

[Ozarker]

When I first started shooting digital I shot hundreds of photos everyday.

Now when I go out to shoot it is max 100 or so. Most times even less. It isn't that I've lost interest. Instead, I think I try to make each shot count. I think about the shot instead of just hoping for good luck.

2 batteries, only because one might fail.

 

[takesome1]

I would think two would be fine unless you plan on using live view extensively or shooting well over 1000 shots.

Usually the number of batteries I take is determined by other factors such as how many the airline allow or my ability to charge the batteries on location.

FYI I usually carry three and seldom use more than one on a busy day.

 

[AlanF]

I have two. I noticed one was reading 1 bar on recharge performance today, so I may buy one or two more. I have not seen a issue with battery life. I'll be using the camera for a very large number of photos for several hours tonight, so I'll see how long it lasts. I'm charging the backup now.

The batteries are pretty old now, so the cost per year is almost nothing.

The 2 oldest of my 6 LP6(N)s have a red bar but hold their charges just as well as the ones with 3 green bars. As I use my camera plus long telephoto as a spotting scope between shots, I have to take two LP6(N)s as I sometimes get as low as 300 shots per charge on a 7DII or 5DIV, although my old 5DIII was better. As mentioned, a spare is always advisable in case of a failure.

 

[IglooEater]

No idea about the 5D iii, but in a day with the 60D I've filled a 32gb card and not run out of battery a couple of times. That's about 1200 shots. If it sits around a lot, i use live view a lot, and I do a lot of chimping, it'll drop below 500.

 

[Dylan777]

I'm shooting with mirrorless, all day shooting I tend to pack total of 3 (1 in camera, 2 spare). Even with mirrorless, I have not yet reach for #3 yet.

It's safe to have more battery, since is not that big and heavy.

 

[FTb-n]

If you aren't shooting video, I think 2 batteries is plenty. Of course, this depends upon the condition of the batteries how many shots between charges and whether you can charge every night. The most that I shoot in one event is about 3,000 RAW images and I've never used more than 50% of the battery. I have never needed to use a spare, but it's nice to have in case of some failure other than depleting the main battery.

Always keep the spare in your "to go" bag, whatever that might be. In the off chance that you rush out and leave the main battery in the charger, you will have the spare.