Battery issues

[wlaidlaw]

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I find sitting around fiddling with button customisation, settings and saving/changing profiles seems to eat through the battery quite quickly. 

 

Wilson

[scott kirkpatrick]

I charged to two steady lights (only about 3 hours) before first use, and my first 20 or so shots seemed to take about 1/3 of battery capacity.  Of course, that included a lot of time staring dumbfounded at the menus.  Subsequently, with a few overnight charges, I'm getting the 200+ capacity (est.) that others see.  And I'm still staring at the menus, and trying different configurations.  Only manual focus.

 

scott

[wlaidlaw]

Just received my second spare battery, which now sitting on charge. I am always very careful about putting any lithium battery in a pocket, where it could short out on keys, coins etc, go on fire and spoil your whole day. Given the price of these Leica batteries (£95 in the UK), you would have hoped that Leica might be a little less stingy than the flimsy Ziplok bag they give you as a carry case. Even a small plastic box would be far superior and when bought from China, would probably cost less than 50¢ per unit. It is including things like a small carry box, that leads to a "feelgood" factor when buying the world's most expensive lithium battery. 

 

Wilson

[ramarren]

Yeah, I laughed when I saw the ziplog battery bag. It's functional, sure, but a thin cloth or chamois bag would have been much nicer. I've got an unused, thin chamois bag around somewhere ... I'll made one slip-cover per battery from it. 

[LocalHero1953]

My new R-M and M-L adapters both came in neat cloth bags. The M-L adapter at least will live on my camera, so the spare battery now wears its clothes.

[wlaidlaw]

My new R-M and M-L adapters both came in neat cloth bags. The M-L adapter at least will live on my camera, so the spare battery now wears its clothes.

Good thought Paul. My M-T sits on a Nocti in my Billy 225. So I can have one spare sitting in the charger and one in the M to T bag. I have nice little Luigi cases for my M8/9 and M240 batteries but he is not doing one yet for the SL. I am not going to suggest that yet to him, as I want him to get on with my strap first and then I have suggested he look at a leather version of the Case Logic hand grip strap, which although very effective is far from an elegant looking device. 

 

Wilson

[ramarren]

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Looking for something else, I think I found a perfect case for two SL batteries ... an old leather cell phone case from the 1990s I used to carry with my first-generation iPod. It's just big enough to fit two batteries side by side and has stretchy sides so they don't rattle around. 

[Peter Walker]

Good thought Paul. My M-T sits on a Nocti in my Billy 225. So I can have one spare sitting in the charger and one in the M to T bag. I have nice little Luigi cases for my M8/9 and M240 batteries but he is not doing one yet for the SL. I am not going to suggest that yet to him, as I want him to get on with my strap first and then I have suggested he look at a leather version of the Case Logic hand grip strap, which although very effective is far from an elegant looking device.

 

Wilson

Yes, I'd buy a Luigi hand strap if it followed the basic Case Logic design. Made from leather, not only would it look better but it would be slightly more firm and would eventually mold itself to your hand.

[wlaidlaw]

Yes, I'd buy a Luigi hand strap if it followed the basic Case Logic design. Made from leather, not only would it look better but it would be slightly more firm and would eventually mold itself to your hand.

Peter,

 

The Case Logic, although a clever design, is a bit flimsy. A stiffer leather design that you could slip your hand through, rather than having to pull the floppy Case Logic back over your hand as I do at present, would be ideal. I think Luigi must be busy doing his Christmas shopping at the moment,  as he has not replied to my query as to progress on my SL strap. 

 

Wilson

[Peter Walker]

Peter,

 

The Case Logic, although a clever design, is a bit flimsy. A stiffer leather design that you could slip your hand through, rather than having to pull the floppy Case Logic back over your hand as I do at present, would be ideal. I think Luigi must be busy doing his Christmas shopping at the moment, as he has not replied to my query as to progress on my SL strap.

 

Wilson

The more-expensive SpiderPro is a better-shaped and more-firm handstrap than the Case Logic but its weakness is the way it connects to the camera. The top connection is thin and can get twisted and the bottom connection doesn't work well with my RRS tripod plate.

 

The Case Logic has a good simple connection strap system but, yes, it does require that final step of pulling the strap back onto your hand.

 

I keep swapping between the two but will probably settle on the Case Logic until something better comes along.

 

Regards

Peter

[wlaidlaw]

I have just ordered an RRS-ish bottom plate to use with the Case Logic, as it did not fit very well with the Manfrotto RC2 QR plate. To go with that I have bought a iShoot Arca compatible tilt head for my Manfrotto Carbon Monopod, which I also use as a walking pole on rough ground, as it has the combo spike/rubber foot. I will take the Manfrotto RC2 tilt head off that and put it on my Manfrotto Neotech Monopod to sell. Although the Neotech is very clever, with its squeeze trigger extension mechanism, it is also very heavy. It would suit a professional sports photographer to use with the Canon Bazooka lenses. 

 

Wilson

[Peter Walker]

I have just ordered an RRS-ish bottom plate to use with the Case Logic, as it did not fit very well with the Manfrotto RC2 QR plate. To go with that I have bought a iShoot Arca compatible tilt head for my Manfrotto Carbon Monopod, which I also use as a walking pole on rough ground, as it has the combo spike/rubber foot. I will take the Manfrotto RC2 tilt head off that and put it on my Manfrotto Neotech Monopod to sell. Although the Neotech is very clever, with its squeeze trigger extension mechanism, it is also very heavy. It would suit a professional sports photographer to use with the Canon Bazooka lenses. 

 

Wilson

 

  

 

Last night i took took the SL out for a night walk in a park that has great views of the city of Singapore.  Colorful city lights reflected on water.  Haven't had time to LR them yet but I'm confident some will be great.

 

Anyway, the point is that it was the first time I used the SL on my relatively new RRS tripod with the RRS universal plate (connected to the Case Logic handstrap).  The setup was a delight to use.  Easy to setup and quick to pack away.  Very light but also very stable.  The RRS plate works well with the handstrap and neatly aligns to the bottom of the SL, with a lip to stop any twisting movement.

 

RRS is aptly named!

[wlaidlaw]

Peter,

 

My iShoot RRS-ish plate is nothing like as nice as a real RRS, with a bit projecting behind the camera and no alignment lip. Is it the BP-CS you are using? I might get one sent to my daughter in Baltimore, as they are about half the price in the USA and she can then post it on to me at a low declared value. 

 

Wilson

[Peter Walker]

Yes, it is the BP-CS.  Fits perfectly.  I like the RRS engineering.  For example, there's no protrusions or sharp edges to catch on the lip of the camera bag.  There tripods are the best: very light but sturdy.

 

I use a service called ComGateway, based in Portland, to ship locally within the US.  They consolidate packages and ship internationally at a very reasonable DHL rate.

 

Regards

Peter

[scott kirkpatrick]

I see we have more Internet arbitrageurs here. My "USPS authorized remailer" is in Houston TX.  It's great to have them collect stuff and remail it to me abroad, but this usually costs $100-200, so when possible, I try to meet new gear in the US on a trip for other purposes, so that the shipment can be done for $10-20.  There are times when the dollar varies by enough against the Euro, GBP or Loonie ($CDN) that buying in those countries and collecting in the US offers a big savings.  

 

Happy holiday shopping!

 

scott

 

P.S.  Is Singapore from the heights as dramatic as HongKong from above?  Please share...

[wlaidlaw]

If I buy a new BP-CS, I will buy direct from RRS for $47. The same plate in Europe (Netherlands, as no UK dealer for plates but only for heads) is €80 + €15 P&P to the UK. 

 

Wilson

[Overgaard]

Just received my second spare battery, which now sitting on charge. I am always very careful about putting any lithium battery in a pocket, where it could short out on keys, coins etc, go on fire and spoil your whole day. Given the price of these Leica batteries (£95 in the UK), you would have hoped that Leica might be a little less stingy than the flimsy Ziplok bag they give you as a carry case. Even a small plastic box would be far superior and when bought from China, would probably cost less than 50¢ per unit. It is including things like a small carry box, that leads to a "feelgood" factor when buying the world's most expensive lithium battery. 

 

Wilson

It would be an idea to design batteries to they had a cover for the contacts when in the pocket. Maybe a device what cover the batteries when inserted.

[wlaidlaw]

It would be an idea to design batteries to they had a cover for the contacts when in the pocket. Maybe a device what cover the batteries when inserted.

I am not sure that KISS (Keep It Simple Simon) would not apply to that idea. Another thing to go wrong/break etc. Just a cheap plastic box would do for me. 

 

Wilson

[adamdewilde]

My battery life is poor. 250 shots MAX till the battery is drained. Most of the time less.

In comparison, on a job I almost get 2k out of my Q.. So it's safe to say I know how to handle an EVF camera to maximise battery life. 

Though to be fair, I haven't used the camera on a job yet, just casual shooting. So it is slightly different in the way I use the camera.

 

Also, the charger takes a lot longer then one hour. But I don't know where it's stated that it only takes an hour to charge as read above.

 

No spare batteries to purchase. So I can't tell if it's the camera, charger or battery. 

I'm going to get another SL in a month or so (no hurry). So I suppose if the battery life is still shitty by then (even with a secondary battery to test). Then I'll test the charger and other camera.

 

Oh and I've had that camera several weeks now, it should be worked in by now. 

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[J S H]

My battery life is poor. 250 shots MAX till the battery is drained. Most of the time less.

In comparison, on a job I almost get 2k out of my Q.. So it's safe to say I know how to handle an EVF camera to maximise battery life. 

Though to be fair, I haven't used the camera on a job yet, just casual shooting. So it is slightly different in the way I use the camera.

 

Also, the charger takes a lot longer then one hour. But I don't know where it's stated that it only takes an hour to charge as read above.

 

No spare batteries to purchase. So I can't tell if it's the camera, charger or battery. 

I'm going to get another SL in a month or so (no hurry). So I suppose if the battery life is still shitty by then (even with a secondary battery to test). Then I'll test the charger and other camera.

 

Oh and I've had that camera several weeks now, it should be worked in by now. 

I think you might have an under-performing battery. I used my SL for a timelapse shoot in Utah yesterday and I was very impressed with the battery life. It was cold - well below freezing, and I shot over 1,000 images in a 2 hour period. The exposure time for each image was 2 seconds, along with an additional 2 seconds of noise reduction. The LCD screen was on the entire time, and the battery still showed 2 bars after the shoot (and charged back up to full in 30-45 minutes). The good news is that batteries are now becoming easier to find, so you should be able to pick up another one without too much effort.