M8 batteries suprised me a lot

[reven]

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After I heared so many bad thing about them, I was really supprised today. ( Things like 200-300 shots than it dead..)

 

I was on a walk here in London and in total shot around 450 pictures, with LCD review on. After all the Battery is shows still 50%, so I'm really happy and I think I will cancel 1 of the 4 separate batteries.

 

I never tried to empty the battery at all. I don't believe in it ;-)... I didn't do it on my Canons and it worked fine. I just but it in the charger after I get home and than a few minutes before I leave.

 

Just wanted to let you know.

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[larry]

Christopher,

 

My battery also seems to hold its charge very well. It's probably more typical that they perform as advertised than die quickly.

 

Larry

[4season]

When I picked up my M8, I went out shooting immediately (and I do mean immediately, as in assembling the camera at the store) and used whatever residual charge was in the new battery, plus maybe 40 minutes charging time from the car's cigarette lighter. That got me 2 bars of power which lasted for 130+ shots, and was still good for more by the time I called it quits.

[scott kirkpatrick]

I'm getting easily 2GB of shooting on a half battery charge (by the camera's meter). If the M8 is like other digital cameras, power consumption can be nearly constant when it's on, since when you have the display running you can turn off the exposure metering and quiesce the asics that are waiting to manage the image data stream. And vice versa. So battery power translates into on-time. If you shoot often you will get more pictures on a charged battery, if my theory is appropriate here. Anyway, I don't shoot that fast, so I am happy if I get 350-400 shots on a battery.

 

scott

[Peter Branch]

My experience is that the battery charge indicator changes only very slowly for the first pictures taken after it is recharged but, with my camera at least, once it gets down to 50% there are only about 50 shots left and then it dies. I guess this is a feature of these battery indicators as it seems to mirror the behaviour of other devices I own. A spare battery, fully charged, seems like a very good idea to me, but the one I have on order has not arrived yet.

[jaapv]

A good example not to believe every internet frenzy. Yes the batteries are excellent and hold between 300 and 600 shots, depending on style of shooting. SHphoto will deliver spare batteries within days. (two in my case.(both batteries and days))

[wparsonsgisnet]

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I did a big shoot this weekend and the battery performed like a workhorse.

 

I shot in a studio setting, with constant chimp-mode on and continual review of shots with paging of images -- FOR 6 HOURS! I shot amost 900 pictures.

 

Now -- the battery took this abuse for about 3 hours, about 500 pix, before showing only one segment in the meter.

 

I also had a laptop at the shoot, and the dancers were looking at the much bigger shots using the wonderful ACDSee program that came with the D2. It's really handy. So I got to back up the SD cards, and the dancers got to check out the poses and action.

 

When the barrery indicator showed only one segment, I started charging it during the laptop cycles. This got me the extra time, tho I don't think I was going to make it to 900 shots.

 

In summary, I wish some of the extra batteries I have ordered would arrive, but this battery really hangs in there!

[george +]

Yes, the batteries work just fine. In fact better than the ones in any other digital camera I had before. Even if I did not use autofocus or flash on them.

[Woody Campbell]

I'm getting 300-400 shots from mine, which corresponds to the capacity of a 4 gig card so I can take the bottom off and replace both at the same time. Very convenient.

 

When your additional batteries finally arrive (I just received two) you will find that there is no little case or cap for them.

 

This suggests a minor problem: with my Canon gear I keep caps on the batteries (secured with a rubber band) when they are charged, and toss them in my bag capless when they are discharged. This is a failsafe means of identifying which batteries are charged and which are dead. I do the same thing with AAs and the little MAHA plastic cases, which hold four AAs.

 

Suggestions for identifying charged Leica batteries?

[xrogers]

It looks to me like the contacts are well protected, so I don't worry about not having a case. I use a separate pocket in my case for dead batteries, but sometimes mix things up. I really like your rubber band idea, I'll just use it without the case (and suggest you do the same). A battery with a rubber band is charged, one without is dead.

 

Clyde Rogers

[wparsonsgisnet]

... Suggestions for identifying charged Leica batteries?

 

Woody, I number all my rechargable batteries, using a silver metallic marker (batteries are black).

 

For the Leica, it is intended that they will be numbered 1, 2, and 3 (some day ........ ). I always shoot in ascending order and thus will know which ones are dead. This has worked fine for all my video work for several years, now.

 

I admit I am less anxious about getting backup batteries than I was thru Sunday. Nevertheless, I will be much more comfortable with backups. I had 2 batteries for the D2, but the 6-second write time was so inhibiting that I never used more than 1 in a shoot.

 

If I had been unable to recharge yesterday, I believe I would have been into the 3rd battery.