R5 battery life?

docsmith

CR Pro
Sep 17, 2010
1,223
1,109
I am very consistently 1,200 to 1,800 shots per charge on the LP-6ENH batteries on the R5 at the lower, 60, refresh rate on the EVF.

Usage has been pets, backyard birds, astro and a few landscapes. I shoot mostly through the EVF. I am also using playback a fair amount, and was even seeing results in this range when playing with the menus. On my 5DIV, I was very typically 300-800 shots. So I have been pleasantly surprised by the battery life of the R5. But, I am also wondering if there is somehow an issue with my 5DIV as the battery drains to nothing in a few days when not in use.
 
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AlanF

Desperately seeking birds
CR Pro
Aug 16, 2012
12,342
22,517
I suspect some of us are getting a large number of shots per charge is because we are firing fast bursts, and it costs much less energy per shot than when just doing single shots. But, in practice I am discarding most and choosing just the best. So, in reality, the number of useful shots per charge is much less.
 
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JPAZ

If only I knew what I was doing.....
CR Pro
Sep 8, 2012
1,164
641
Southwest USA
Over the past week, with an older LPE-6N, I've done 318 shots (155 with an RF 24-105 f/4 and 163 with an RF 70-200 f/2.8). IS has always been on. I'm not much of a "crimper" and usually turn the power off when I am not actively taking images. FWIW, the viewfinder shows 2 bars. I am betting that a newer battery, and the LPE-6NH can do better.
 
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Kiton

Too deep in Canon to list! :o
Jun 13, 2015
214
184
I shot an NHL hockey game last night, started with a freshly charged E6NH battery, finished the game on the same battery.

2167 frames
camera on and booted up for most 3 hours with the pregame ceremony. Maybe 3.5 with the pregame warmup skate too.

People say the new battery is not much better than the older versions, I find they are noticeably better. I do VERY little video, stills only.
I don't bother running tests, just tracking about the time and frames per charge.
I have nothing to complain about with the batteries........I could really bitch about some other Canon issues......but not the battery.
 

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BadBird

R5 1st 6 mos: CRAP AF; now backup to OM-1s, M1X
Feb 5, 2021
15
9
Last week at the NWR, shooting steadily from 08:00 to 15:15 with battery grip and two freshly recharged LP-E6NH batteries, using 100-500 or 800 f11, GPS on externally (no wifi), and nothing disabled to save power: 650 CRAW shots taken (some deleted in camera), batteries finished day at 13% to 15% remaining, significantly lower than the pairs of E6Ns in my 7D or 5Ds used on similar shoots. When shooting intermittently from truck or while hiking, camera remained powered up (but EVF does time out - Display Off 1 min; Viewfinder Off 3 min; Power Off 5 min). I use the viewfinder more than the display due to sun glare, and occasionally for manual focusing. Note that I spent LOTS of time running AF while trying to acquire birds in brush, grass, trees, or while scanning in flocks of gulls/terns/geese/ducks for anything unusual (back button = Spot AF, * button = Animal Eye AF). IMHO, animal eye is almost useless except birds out in the open, or birds in flight against the sky.

When driving between shooting locations I normally turn the power off as I dismount it from the LensSack and set it on the backpack in the passenger seat. I never turned off my 7D or 5D like this, because the internal GPS needed to remain powered up to update. The R5 has to use the external GP-E2, which I leave powered up all day on its own AA battery.

I am satisfied if I can get a day of steady shooting out of a pair of batteries, and I have a spare set with me at all times. I think a third pair might even be wise.
 
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Mar 25, 2011
16,848
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I leave Wi-fi and Bluetooth turned on while its on my desk, I automatically transfer photos wirelessly via FTP tp my computer when there are just a few, (40 or less). Wi- still running when the camera is off. My battery will be totally run down in a very few days, so I leave the camera plugged into the charger. If I turn off the radio's, I can take a lot of individual photos (no high speed shots, just one at a time) I can shoot about 1000-1500 over 4-5 hours and have some battery left. I carry a spare, but seldom need to use it.

I see no significant difference from my 2 year old LP-E6N as far as battery capacity.
 
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puffo25

EOS R5 - Fine art landscape, travel,astro and pano
Jul 18, 2017
163
55
58
italy
Hi. I am lost about third parties batteries since of course I want to reach the H+ mode and 12fp/20fp speed.

I have found a Patona Platinum battery LP-E6NH 2250mAh 7,2V and a generic brand (DSTE), LP-E6N with 7,4V and 2600mAh. Question: which of the 2 batteries might provide best performances for the R5 and to get H+ and 12fp/20fp shutting speed?
 
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Hi. I am lost about third parties batteries since of course I want to reach the H+ mode and 12fp/20fp speed.

I have found a Patona Platinum battery LP-E6NH 2250mAh 7,2V and a generic brand (DSTE), LP-E6N with 7,4V and 2600mAh. Question: which of the 2 batteries might provide best performances for the R5 and to get H+ and 12fp/20fp shutting speed?


Puffo, we just updated the battery story to include 4 third-party batteries. You can see that here...

... but we didn't know about Patona (DSTE isn't an NH-class battery, so we deliberately didn't include). It turns out we can't get that here in the U.S. Even the various stores in Europe that sell it won't deliver to the US (including the various Amazons). If anyone knows how to get one of those to US, please let me know. We do have a couple other brands that came out of the woodwork that we'll be testing to include in the bunch.

To answer your specific question about which might provide the best performance relative to 12 FPS, it was clear that the Canon was about 2x as good for that particular goal. The Canon version was only 10-15 percent better in terms of raw power output, but it allowed 12 FPS all the way down to the battery reaching 35 percent, where the other batteries stopped typically around 75 percent.
 
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puffo25

EOS R5 - Fine art landscape, travel,astro and pano
Jul 18, 2017
163
55
58
italy
Puffo, we just updated the battery story to include 4 third-party batteries. You can see that here...

... but we didn't know about Patona (DSTE isn't an NH-class battery, so we deliberately didn't include). It turns out we can't get that here in the U.S. Even the various stores in Europe that sell it won't deliver to the US (including the various Amazons). If anyone knows how to get one of those to US, please let me know. We do have a couple other brands that came out of the woodwork that we'll be testing to include in the bunch.

To answer your specific question about which might provide the best performance relative to 12 FPS, it was clear that the Canon was about 2x as good for that particular goal. The Canon version was only 10-15 percent better in terms of raw power output, but it allowed 12 FPS all the way down to the battery reaching 35 percent, where the other batteries stopped typically around 75 percent.
Thanks @[email protected] ! Your feedback is very much appreciated and I have also visited your web site that provide great hints also about other tests and topics related to the Canon R5.

So by looking your feedback on the third part batteries vs the original Canon LP-E6NH, it seams that no matter what tech. specifications say on the third parties, in order to achieve best results with the R5 (ie. H+/real and constant 12 images/sec.) I must indeed buy only original Canon batteries. Correct?

Also, I own an original canon LP-E6. Question: am I able to get H+ 12 pictures/sec also with this battery?

...And, how can I test the real shutter continous speed for my R5?

About the battery charger, do you think any third party is working as good as the original Canon charger?

Thanks in advance if you will reply to me.
 
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Puffo, I'm very happy you found the site useful. The summary above of the battery article was not quite completely correct. You *CAN* get H+/12 FPS with third party batteries that represent themselves as "NH" class batteries. The Neewer ones are probably the better of the third-party lot. The only downsides with them are that they have about 10-15 percent less juice than the Canon ones, and that they go for about half as long before your 12 FPS turns into 9 FPS (about 30 percent of the battery can be used at the higher setting with the third-party ones, versus about 65 percent of the battery with the Canon one).

One warning: there are batteries being sold as "NH" batteries on Amazon and eBay, like the Duracell one we bought last week, but when they arrive, they're clearly marked as just an "N" battery, and of course will not provide 12 FPS.

As far as the question about the charger, we don't really have the test equipment to judge the differences. They're similar enough in effect that my impression is that they're all doing the same thing. I do know that there is more subtle logic that chargers can use to make the batteries last longer over time, often at the expense of taking longer to charge. For this reason, I tend to be biased toward the Canon chargers or certain third-party ones that are made by companies specializing in battery stuff, like Dolgin.

One of our contributors does have a battery device that shows power draw, and I suppose we could test to see how much logic is used by each charger, but I don't think we'd be qualified to know what was optimal. When you mix in third party batteries, it gets pretty complicated, as they likely use slightly different battery chemistries, so the optimal charger behavior would likely be slightly differently. That said, I doubt the third party manufacturers are spending a lot of time subtly matching charger programming to their battery chemistries. They're more likely sourcing chargers to the cheapest bidder. You can see how all of this becomes cloudy, and therefore not a productive area of inquiry for us.
 
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puffo25

EOS R5 - Fine art landscape, travel,astro and pano
Jul 18, 2017
163
55
58
italy
Puffo, I'm very happy you found the site useful. The summary above of the battery article was not quite completely correct. You *CAN* get H+/12 FPS with third party batteries that represent themselves as "NH" class batteries. The Neewer ones are probably the better of the third-party lot. The only downsides with them are that they have about 10-15 percent less juice than the Canon ones, and that they go for about half as long before your 12 FPS turns into 9 FPS (about 30 percent of the battery can be used at the higher setting with the third-party ones, versus about 65 percent of the battery with the Canon one).

One warning: there are batteries being sold as "NH" batteries on Amazon and eBay, like the Duracell one we bought last week, but when they arrive, they're clearly marked as just an "N" battery, and of course will not provide 12 FPS.

As far as the question about the charger, we don't really have the test equipment to judge the differences. They're similar enough in effect that my impression is that they're all doing the same thing. I do know that there is more subtle logic that chargers can use to make the batteries last longer over time, often at the expense of taking longer to charge. For this reason, I tend to be biased toward the Canon chargers or certain third-party ones that are made by companies specializing in battery stuff, like Dolgin.

One of our contributors does have a battery device that shows power draw, and I suppose we could test to see how much logic is used by each charger, but I don't think we'd be qualified to know what was optimal. When you mix in third party batteries, it gets pretty complicated, as they likely use slightly different battery chemistries, so the optimal charger behavior would likely be slightly differently. That said, I doubt the third party manufacturers are spending a lot of time subtly matching charger programming to their battery chemistries. They're more likely sourcing chargers to the cheapest bidder. You can see how all of this becomes cloudy, and therefore not a productive area of inquiry for us.
Thanks. I will test what I got so far. I got for my R5 2 (supposed to be genuine) Canon NH batteries and also 2 German made Patona NH. Those Patona are actually sold as premium battery, meaning they should not loose capacity even on very severe weather. I hope that paying more for a higher battery standards/specs might result also on a more perfomence battery overall. I will keep you posted. I have to find the time to test them and I will report to you.

Out of the blue: any news on when Canon will release the new firmware update for the R5? Canonrumors predictions was wrong...:-(
 
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Bought the two-pack of the Neewer LP-E6NH batteries - $30 on Amazon. Slow-charged them using my Canon charger (I am leery of quick chargers). Took three batteries out into the field (the third being the OEM Canon LP-E6NH) with my R5 and 100-500. In the first hour, the first Neewer battery took 241 shots before going red. Virtually the results with the second Neewer. The Canon kept shooting over the weekend. In each instance, the R5 was on airplane mode.

I will recharge the Neewers and try it again. Not sure what they are putting into the Canon batteries but the results are longer lasting.
 
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