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M8. How many shots are you getting from a genuine battery?

Guest Ming Rider

By Guest Ming Rider
in Leica M8 / Leica M8.2

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Guest Ming Rider

Guest Ming Rider

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I ask as I'm only getting about 130 - 140 from a charge. The battery is used and came with the camera.

 

Incidentally, my previous M8 was pretty much the same and had a used battery.

 

I have preview turned off and probably 'chimp' about 50% of shots. Does using discreet shutter increase battery drain? The battery meter shows 2 blobs left when it dies.

 

It can be rather annoying sometimes when street shooting, as you just get into a rhythm and the camera dies and I only have one (poor me, sob sob).

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jaapv

jaapv

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About 400. It depends on how one uses the camera. Turn off autoreview- that is useless anyway, don't chimp too much and set the camera to auto-shutoff. Luigi has a very nice battery case that clips on to the camera strap to carry a spare battery.

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Shootist

Shootist

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I have gotten and still get close to 300 shot when taking those shots in one photo taking cession. My batteries are all about 3+ years old. But I down use auto review and don't chimp except to look and a series of images well after they have been taken.

 

Try draining the battery all the way by leaving it in the camera turned on, auto shutdown turned off, then do a full recharger

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Guest Ming Rider

Guest Ming Rider

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Thanks for all the replies guys.

 

300 certainly sounds good, so I'm gonna try the complete drain and see what happens. This is probably different to just shooting until it stops?

 

Cheers.

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Shootist

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Thanks for all the replies guys.

 

300 certainly sounds good, so I'm gonna try the complete drain and see what happens. This is probably different to just shooting until it stops?

 

Cheers.

 

Not sure. The one time I ran the battery down to a very low point I was on my second 2GB card and it was nearly full, first card was full (190 shots), and the last 4-8 shots I took did not get written to the card. Not sure if it was the cards fault or the low battery but from then on I always changed cards and batteries at the same time.

 

I would suspect it is similar but I think the camera would shut off faster, more battery power left, during shooting then just sitting there. When shooting the camera knows it need to fire the shutter and rewind the shutter along with writing the image to the card and if thinks it can't do that with the remaining power it will shut down. Just sitting there it should drain the battery further.

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Guest Ming Rider

Guest Ming Rider

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So I've done the complete drain, which took 4 1/2 hours just sitting there from a supposed full charge. No LCD on, no Auto Off.

 

For the first time the guage read No Blobs, completely empty, so charging now and fingers crossed.

 

And I thought L-ion batteries weren't supposed to have any memory effect ??:confused:

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wparsonsgisnet

wparsonsgisnet

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Ming, there's no "memory" effect, but the smarts in the battery do need to be calibrated.

 

I get 300-plus shots with review set to 3 seconds. I also replace the battery in the M8 when it reads 1/3 remaining. I have found that the M8 misbehaves when the battery has discharged by 2 segments.

 

Misbehaving includes continuous red light flashing, lost shots, and lockup.

 

Batteries are cheap (even Leica batteries) in comparison with lost shots. It's not like we are fishermen who can brag about the big one that got away.

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tbarker13

tbarker13

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A bit over 300 consistently.

 

......

 

Not that bad compared to 36 frames on a roll.

 

Well that's true enough. But not nearly as good as the 900 to 1000 I get with my D700. This is something I've never understood with the M8. The battery (and quirky issues around it) is one of the biggest weakness of what's really a very cool camera.I guess it's just the growing pains of it being Leica's first digital camera.

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Shootist

Shootist

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I have been told by many experts to NEVER let the battery drain all the juice. It will damage the battery. Stop shooting & replace the battery when there's only 1/3 of the power left & make sure you let the battery charge completely.

 

Letting the battery drain all the way until the camera shuts off is not draining the battery fully. All good Li-ion batteries have a low level cutoff point/voltage so they won't get damaged.

 

It has been a general practice with these Leica batteries to do this from time to time to reset the battery. Whether that is true I have no idea but I have done it many times over the last 3 years 10 months since getting my first M8 and I'm still using the same batteries, 4 of them, from when I first got the camera and they all still function like new, as I remember.

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Shootist

Shootist

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Well that's true enough. But not nearly as good as the 900 to 1000 I get with my D700. This is something I've never understood with the M8. The battery (and quirky issues around it) is one of the biggest weakness of what's really a very cool camera.I guess it's just the growing pains of it being Leica's first digital camera.

 

The M9 is no better. Since it uses the same battery. The Nikon batteries are much bigger and more then likely the electronics are more sophisticated then what is used in the M digitals.

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tbarker13

tbarker13

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The M9 is no better. Since it uses the same battery. The Nikon batteries are much bigger and more then likely the electronics are more sophisticated then what is used in the M digitals.

 

I was sort of afraid of that - regarding the M9 performance. Granted, the M8 battery is smaller than the D700, but it's really not that much of a difference. I'm guessing your comment about the sophistication is pretty much on target.

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jaapv

jaapv

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Well that's true enough. But not nearly as good as the 900 to 1000 I get with my D700. This is something I've never understood with the M8. The battery (and quirky issues around it) is one of the biggest weakness of what's really a very cool camera.I guess it's just the growing pains of it being Leica's first digital camera.
Sheesh - one has to change a roll of film after 36 shots. What kind of photography do you do that you cannot find time to change the battery after hundreds of shots?:confused:
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george +

george +

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The original question was: How many shots are you getting from a genuine battery?

 

We have answered that. Three-four hundred, sometimes more.

 

As to the Nikon EN-EL3e battery, it weighs 75 grams, about 2/3 more than the M8's 45 grams. And it can take more shots. It belongs to a bigger camera. So what?:confused:

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tbarker13

tbarker13

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Sheesh - one has to change a roll of film after 36 shots. What kind of photography do you do that you cannot find time to change the battery after hundreds of shots?:confused:

 

Well, Jaap, I guess I am using my camera enough that the limited power supply comes into play. Among other things, I shoot documentary photo projects that can require a great deal of shooting when I spend extended time with my subjects. I also shoot lengthy portrait sessions - some lasting 5-6 hours. I don't worry about frame counts. I worry about getting the pictures I want.

Now, I wonder what kind of photography you do that you never worry about power.

 

Forgive me for being annoyed with Leica's power system. But I am about to send off yet another M8 for work because there is something wrong with it. The thing randomly shuts down - at full power, 2/3 power, 1/3 power. I know you are a big fan of Leica. And that's awesome.

I just wish the experiences I've had with my three M8s matched yours. Each of mine has had problems - unlike any I have had with Nikon, Canon or Pentax DLSRs. And they all seem to be related to the battery/power system.

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