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

[tbarker13]

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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?

 

My apologies for expanding upon the discussion. Did not mean to confuse you.

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[wparsonsgisnet]

... The Nikon batteries are much bigger,,,

 

If we had a battery the size of the M9/8, just imagine how many shots we'd get. And it the battery in the car ran down ....

 

Tim, sorry for your pain. That sucks.

[george +]

I was not confused. Just perplexed as to why so many simple technical questions have to be expanded into some sort of Leica bashing.

 

Leica is what it is. A relatively simple system for people who like that. I do.

[Guest Ming Rider]

I apologise for posting a question on this forum and the obvious `hurt` it has caused.

 

For some reason, this tends to happen on `that other forum`. I once asked whether taking pictures of children in public was still acceptable in todays paranoid world. Over 5 pages in 2 days it turned into a personal, hate fuelled rant about Global Warming.

 

Anyway, I went out today and took 147 pictures and now show 1/3rd gone. Camera is still working, so fingers (and everything else) crossed.

 

Yes, I love my Leica and wrote a poem about it . . . no not really, that would be sad. Unless of course someone here did? In which case, your very cool and free to marry my sister.

 

Cheers . . .

[tbarker13]

I was not confused. Just perplexed as to why so many simple technical questions have to be expanded into some sort of Leica bashing.

 

Leica is what it is. A relatively simple system for people who like that. I do.

 

Sorry, I only mentioned "confused" because that emoticon you chose shows up as "confused" when quoted in text.

 

I don't mean to bash anything. I have been using Leicas since 1989, when I bought my first M3. I have more than 20 years of Leica love under my belt. But just because you love something, that doesn't mean you have to ignore it's shortcomings.

I can't apologize for wanting more from Leica. I'd love nothing more than to see Leica's digital cameras match its film cameras in terms of reputation and quality.

 

In retrospect, maybe I should have just stayed out of this thread, given my mood as I box up my camera for its lengthy trip back to Germany.

[jaapv]

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.

I don't worry about power as I always have a number of spare batteries with me, and always find time to swop batteries. As I travel in primitive areas I have eight batteries, actually. And four chargers...For your shooting I imagine a bottom plate with large battery capacity would be a godsend. It cannot be difficult to design and I cannot understand why Leica does not offer it as an accessory.

[tbarker13]

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I don't worry about power as I always have a number of spare batteries with me, and always find time to swop batteries. As I travel in primitive areas I have eight batteries, actually. And four chargers...For your shooting I imagine a bottom plate with large battery capacity would be a godsend. It cannot be difficult to design and I cannot understand why Leica does not offer it as an accessory.

 

Ya know, I have wondered the exact same thing. It would take me back to the days of having a motor winder on the bottom of my M6.

[george +]

Sorry, I only mentioned "confused" because that emoticon you chose shows up as "confused" when quoted in text.

 

I don't mean to bash anything. I have been using Leicas since 1989, when I bought my first M3. I have more than 20 years of Leica love under my belt. But just because you love something, that doesn't mean you have to ignore it's shortcomings.

I can't apologize for wanting more from Leica. I'd love nothing more than to see Leica's digital cameras match its film cameras in terms of reputation and quality.

 

In retrospect, maybe I should have just stayed out of this thread, given my mood as I box up my camera for its lengthy trip back to Germany.

 

Yes, I would like to see the same. Though I have been - keep my fingers crossed - lucky with my early November 06 M8. But I am on my third Digilux 2 and 2nd D Lux. But, as you pointed out, still on my first 1971 M5. And had only one M3 before that.

[george +]

Jaap and Tim,

 

funny you should mention a manual winder. I was having the same thoughts this morning.

 

The size of a motor winder or less. A few quick strokes and we could operate off the net. What a nice thought. Maybe someone will build one.

[Guest Ming Rider]

Now there's a cracking idea. You know the wind-up radios and mobile phone chargers?

 

Why not a similar device that attaches to your camera with a manual winding thumb lever like a film camera. Every time you take a shot, you 'wind on' and it puts a small charge in your battery, like the shoe battery charger?

[marknorton]

This thread (http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m8-forum/80260-anatomy-leica-m8s-power-consumption.html#post839380) which never achieved the popularity of my anatomy thread looks at M8 power consumption and what you can do to maximise battery life.

[tbarker13]

This thread (http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m8-forum/80260-anatomy-leica-m8s-power-consumption.html#post839380) which never achieved the popularity of my anatomy thread looks at M8 power consumption and what you can do to maximise battery life.

 

Fascinating work Mark. I think I'm doing everything I can to maximize power. But maybe I spend too much time with the shutter release in the half depressed position. Didn't realize that actually burns up power.

[Knomad]

Over 400, easily. I don't chimp much at all, preview is off, and I tend to shoot in discrete intervals and turn the camera off in between.

 

More than a few times I've gotten through a pair of two-hour model shoots in a day, and usually changed to the spare battery toward the end of the second shoot. Once I got all the way through a grueling six-hour catalog shoot with just the two batteries and had some juice left over.

[george +]

This thread (http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m8-forum/80260-anatomy-leica-m8s-power-consumption.html#post839380) which never achieved the popularity of my anatomy thread looks at M8 power consumption and what you can do to maximise battery life.

 

Excellent thread Mark. The battery(ies), maybe larger than what we have now, would have to be in the base with an extension to the contacts inside the body.

 

So, how many "rapidwinder" like pulls might it take per exposure?

[jaapv]

Jaap and Tim,

 

funny you should mention a manual winder. I was having the same thoughts this morning.

 

The size of a motor winder or less. A few quick strokes and we could operate off the net. What a nice thought. Maybe someone will build one.

Ummm.. I didn't....

[wparsonsgisnet]

I just read the thread that Mark refers to and it is a fantastic bit of work and information.

 

I commented in that thread that the battery-consuming activities also take clock time. So, the obverse observation is that for speed shooting, one must turn off the functions that take both time and power.

 

That is, use DNG only, no review, standard shutter. One must also use the fastest cards (Ultra II's work for both the M8 and M9).

 

With regard to battery packs,

 

1. I carry many batteries, and they don't weigh much.

2. Such a battery device would probably cost the same as the multiple batteries it replaces and also provide a single source of failure.

3. Again, I get 300-plus shots out of a battery.

 

From the graphs that Mark shows in the other thread on power consumption it appears Leica got this pretty right. That makes a lot of sense if the parts are "off the shelf."

 

And ... *&^%$#@! ... mumble, mumble .... why so little buffer. What's the matter with these guys? We've been complaining about this since 2006.