Jump to content

Battery usage Leica M-D


atufte

Recommended Posts

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Hi

 

I have used my Leica M-D for several weeks now, and the first thing I did when I got it was to upgrade

the firmware to the latest, for the auto powersave feature, but still after doing this I feel it's using more battery than my standard M262 (with Display)

 

How can this be...?

 

Hope someone could shed some light on this "issue"...

 

I was told I could shoot about 800 exposures on one charge, but the most I've gotten this far is about 300,

and what's strange, I think it's draining with just slight usage over let's say 3 days, I have about 30% battery

power left (with just 50 exposures or so)

 

After all, I've shoot about 700 exposures on a single charge with my standard M262 (screen turned off)

 

But even though it's eating batteries I really enjoy this camera a lot, by far my favourite Leica M to date (and I've had almost every model to date, in fact all of them except M246)

 

The Leica M-D makes photography exciting again, just like shooting my film M's just without the hassel of developing/scanning/removing dust... pure joy :-)

 

All the best

 

Alex

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Alex

 

if you don't keep your camera switched on all the time by constantly waking it up again, 300 frames on one battery do not sound right at all. I was in Geneva for three days and shot around 350 frames with one single battery. When returning to Zurich, the battery was still at around 55% charge, if I remember correctly.

As a side note: My first M-D did not read the 6-bit-Code well and was replaced by the Leica Store in no time (thumbs up for the Zurich Leica Store). I would talk to Customer Service or your Store on that matter.

 

Cheers

Ivo

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Well, mine has been complety charged and used about 4 times only...

Do you think it will dramatically improve? We are talking about people claiming 800 shots and Im getting around 250-300.

Just want to know if the 800 is a common figure among other M-D users....

Link to post
Share on other sites

Did you all updated to the latest Firmware? There was a defect in the 1.0 one, which did not send the camera to sleep when kept switched on. My first one had the patched version installed, however, the replacement camera did not. This is an obvious source of battery drain. As stated earlier, my M-D (both, original and replacement) would capture in the ballpark of 700-800 shots. No Wifi-SD card installed, both updated to latest Firmware. Would like to know from Alex how it worked out with his body.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I noticed the low exposure count per charge with both my M-P and my M-D when they were new. Later on, they both get a very reasonable number number of exposures per charge.

 

A good bit of the answer is that when you first unpack and install a charged battery in these cameras, the in-camera condenser (used to store power for the clock and user settings when the battery is out of the camera being charged) has to be properly conditioned and charged. This is started as soon as you install a charged battery and operates continuously as long as the battery is in the camera, regardless of the position of the power switch. As far as I can tell, it takes a couple of weeks for this process to work all the way through and fully reform and charge the condenser. Once this process has completed, the condenser stores a whole lot of energy which is not drawn down very much, so 'topping' it off generally consumes only a little bit more power out of the battery. And of course, like any digital camera, the M-D has a clock in it that is operating constantly regardless of whether it's on or off. That clock does consume some small amount of power.

 

My camera's current behavior is that I can just about fill a 16G card of eposures (about 500 DNGs) with one battery charge, on average, if I'm shooting a few exposures most days and not letting the camera sit too much (the clock drain...). If I go out for a heavy shooting session, I can get to about 700-800 exposures on a freshly charged battery. For example, I charged the battery the same time I formatted the 16G card (a week or two ago) and right now I have about 60% charge left and about 363 exposures remaining. I expect it will be down to 10% charge left at the time I hit 450-500 exposures if I use it more in the next week or two. Then I'll charge the battery and reformat the card again.

Edited by ramarren
  • Like 5
Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for the answer ramarren,

I fully charged the camera this evening and shot just 15 pics during the day. By night battery was 85%.

During night I intendedly didnt switch it off and It wenr down to 75%.

Is it possible that the firmware didnt installed properly? Any way to check other than re-try? Is this normal...

Its kind of frustrating getting a 75% battery after 15 shots.

Link to post
Share on other sites

What version of the firmware is installed? You can find out by checking in the EXIF template in Lightroom's Metadata panel on one of your exposures.

 

My M-D, purchased last July, had the updated firmware installed when I received it so I'm a little surprised that you needed to install an update on a new camera purchased recently.

 

I always turn mine off when I put it away regardless. There are too many ways that the shutter release could be tapped and the meter activated inadvertently.

Edited by ramarren
Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks again ramarren,

 

Camara seems to have the latest 1.004 firmware.

Camera was standing in my table night.... was 'awaked three or four times just to check if battery was draining. It finally went from 85 before bedtime to 65 this morning…. seems not going to sleep :)

Link to post
Share on other sites

There is a manual with the camera:

 

If the camera is out of use for an extended period or is stored in a case, always turn it off  at the main switch. This prevents any power consumption, including that which continues to occur in standby mode after the exposure meter is turned off  automatically and the display is extinguished

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Thank you jaapv,

 

Leaving it on deliberately was just a test.

I had a M9P and I have the camera ON all the time I am travelling and with the expectation of taking a photograph.. otherwise, even with this more evolved start up time can fail to be fast enough when you what to take a fast shot.

While I am wrinting this the camera lost another 5% in a time that it is not an extended period of no usage.... I asume (maybe wrongly) that leaving the camera ON all the time while I walk the streets during a full morning is something the camera should not loose half its battery for...

Is this a normal behaviour? If it is, I will have to change my habits and get used to switch it off and also  take an extra two batteries. But i would be quite surprising as I didnt have to do that when using the M9P with a screen and a smaller battery...

 

Anyways, the camera is a real joy to use... just a bit frustrated with the battery performance.

Edited by Syrjames
Link to post
Share on other sites

Looks like the correct, current firmware. 

 

Mine's been in its bag, off, since I posted yesterday morning. It was at 60%. I just checked now: it's at 55%. So it reads that it lost 5% in 24 hours with the power off, running the clock essentially. I still think that when I take it out and do some shooting, it will run me up close to 500 exposures overall: that's what it's been doing. It might not make it. 

 

When I take mine out to go shooting, I leave it on for the duration of the session. I usually make 10-20 shots in a two hour morning walk when I'm carrying it and that can consume about 5-10% on the battery level readout. But I don't really worry about it much, I just use it and charge the battery when it's down near 10%. 

 

If you find that walking about with the camera on, making occasional exposures, for two hours depletes the battery by 50%, it is possible that you have a bad battery or that the camera is drawing excessive power. That's the point that I'd send it in to Leica to have it inspected and fixed, if need be. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks ramarren,

I have contacted Leica Explaining the issue and just got a second battery. Lets see if its a battery issue, otherwise I will send the camera to Leica (although I hope its not needed, I had my M9P sensor replaced and took two months; I now feel I cannot be without the camera even for a week haha).

This is trully a great camera. I am hoping to get all the battery possible just to be out shooting confidently and not distracted by battery.

BTW I by any chance you are curious to see the pics I took about these days you cant stalk my www.instagram.com/syrjames (sorry I havent uploaded them anywere else).

Thank you all for the kind help. Will keep you posted!

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi

 

After using this camera for a while I have started to understand it more, and with my "new" findings I get ok battery performance. I say ok, because I still feel my other camera, the M262 gives me better battery life, which seem strange...at least in my mind. A camera with a screen/menu etc etc should use more battery than a camera with no screen/no nothing.

 

But what I have found is. When the M-D is turned "on" it has no power saving feature

and the light meter will hunt for a reading for the full 10 minutes before the power save feature in the last firmware kicks in, on the M262 the light meter will turn off after 1 min or so, and I think the "light meter hunting" is the power drain in the M-D.

 

My workaround is, I shoot, then turn off the camera, and back on when I'm shooting again. This is just a matter of habit, and of course sometimes i forget, and when i do, it goes down around 5% each time between the power save feature (10 min) but when i do remember I can go a whole day shooting and still have 70-80% and the end of the day. But I always carry an extra battery just in case, at least when I'm travelling.

 

Let's tell Leica about this and hope they release a better firmware update regarding this issue.

 

For even more M-D shots you can stalk my instagram aswell :-)

 

https://www.instagram.com/atuftewe/

 

Best Regards

 

Alexander Tufte Wetherilt

Edited by atufte
  • Like 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

This was Leica official answer after some emails exchange:

Maybe if WE ask them in bigger number (assuming you agree) they will answer the request... Can't be a very difficult firmware to write.

 

Good afternoon,

 

thanks for your announcements concerning the topic battery performance with LEICA M-D (262). I agree with your thought that 10 minutes is too long before going in sleep-mode. I have passed your reasonable tips to the appropriate Product-Manager. Maybe with one of the next firmware versions this topic will be altered. Thanks gain for your message. Enjoy your weekend.

  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

I got my M-D at Christmas, charged it once until last weekend when I charged it again for only the second time. It had just gone to BC after more than 3 months and exactly 1572 exposures. I had read everything I could possibly find on the M-D before buying one and the battery and firmware update was a common theme. I purposely measured this and resisted the urge to charge the battery sooner so I could test its limits. It will be interesting to see if this changes over time. My M-D came with the latest firmware preinstalled.

 

I use Fujis for commercial work and have them permanently set in high power mode. I have trained myself to always turn them off when by my side. In this mode they are ready to shoot from turning on at my hip, by the time I raise them to eye level. This sort of works with the M-D but it has no high power mode so it's not always ready but I find most of it time it is. So working this way there was still another 150 odd shots left the battery on BC. If Leica could implement a high power mode in a firmware update it would be ideal in my opinion.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

What version of the firmware is installed? You can find out by checking in the EXIF template in Lightroom's Metadata panel on one of your exposures.

 

My M-D, purchased last July, had the updated firmware installed when I received it so I'm a little surprised that you needed to install an update on a new camera purchased recently.

 

I always turn mine off when I put it away regardless. There are too many ways that the shutter release could be tapped and the meter activated inadvertently.

I am looking at the EXIF data in Lightroom and not seeing firmware listed.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...