Power Hungry M11

[Keith (M)]

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Prior to purchasing my M11 I read numerous test reports including the one by the esteemed Jono Slack, in which he wrote:-

"on the M11 I've not ever exhausted a battery in a day's shooting, even with the power saving switched off, and using the EVF full time."

Taking delivery last Friday (30th Oct), once the battery had been fully charged I of course set about exploring menus, taking test shots, trying out the Visoflex 2 - all the usual new camera activities.  I had to recharge the battery yesterday, took it out today with the battery showing 90%.  Camera is set to take dng & jpg. Returned home after taking seventy frames, mostly using LV/Visoflex2 and was very disappointed to see the level had dropped to 40%.  Transferred the 70 files to my MacBook using the USB lead and it lost another 5%.  

Yes, I am aware new batteries can take a some time to reach full performance but such power consumption is at complete variance with everything I had read.  Will now re-charge it again and monitor consumption over the next few days - hopefully resulting in performance as described by Jono.

[elmars]

Leica cannot perform magic. Jono's statement about the battery life is based on almost exclusive rangefinder use with only occasional checking of the images via the display.

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[geotrupede]

It does not seem familiar to what I experience here but there may be several reasons.

My typical use:

power off as per menu, every 3 minutes I think and with display off after 30s. no viso, no review of images. no auto. no lens selector active. basically all manual and rangefinder, with some screen activity here and there to check. Usually 1 frame at a time but fast sequence at times.  500 - 600 shots and no less than 60% in battery use. DNG only. Save on 1 card. No wifi. 

------------

most recently, using visoflex every shot, approx 200 / 300 shots and down to 70% or so. No review and off if not is use, no auto. DNG only. Save on 1 card. No wifi. Screen HUD with nothing. No perspective correction, no focusing outline and focus aid only on request (as opposed to link to focus of lens)

-----------

so far all good here, but who knows, maybe some settings are more power intense? I would try switching all gizmos off and check , then bring them one by one back and see. I have seen a review online on youtube complaining of the battery life, which it is not my experience but I am sure it is the case. She does weddings, not sure of the details of her camera usage style but you can imagine to chimp a lot to check (given the paid assignment pressure), use of wifi, perhaps fast sequences, etc etc. Basically pro use...

g>

 

 

 

PS I should also add: display on auto brightness and viso to 50% brightness.

Edited October 3, 2022 by geotrupede

[geotrupede]

Here: she is clearly not happy about battery. Maybe your same usage profile? She describes in detail use of fotos app, etc.

 

Edited October 3, 2022 by geotrupede
relink and text edits

[Photoworks]

Did you turn off per-AF? that can be a power drainer... LOL

 

Few Days ago I was working and shooting all day, intense day, I got in 1690 images on the M11 battery before changing battery.
The second camera was. the SL2, well I got 700 ~ images before changing battery.

 

I am sure it all depends on how you use it.
When you are new with a camera you look at the screen often and change menus and try everything out, that will discharge the camera.

When you connect the camera to the compare recharge should start if you have USB charging on.

[jakontil]

Or may be when compared to M10 with EVF, the M11 is way longer lasting 

i have the evf and only for occasional use, compared to when using evf on m10, the battery significantly better on m11 with merely the same usage

last sunday went out shooting , got about 350ish frames, transferred those photos to laptop, mind you during the process instead of being recharged, it is actually consuming battery, and after all finished still 85%

so i guess ur usage is quite fine with having the whole time with evf and got 40% at the end of the day 

[jakontil]

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5 hours ago, geotrupede said:

Here: she is clearly not happy about battery. Maybe your same usage profile? She describes in detail use of fotos app, etc.

 

I commented and she replied when she published the video, she was actually used to M240 battery and while testing it, she was on EVF all the time 

[chasdfg]

9 hours ago, Keith (M) said:

Prior to purchasing my M11 I read numerous test reports including the one by the esteemed Jono Slack, in which he wrote:-

"on the M11 I've not ever exhausted a battery in a day's shooting, even with the power saving switched off, and using the EVF full time."

Taking delivery last Friday (30th Oct), once the battery had been fully charged I of course set about exploring menus, taking test shots, trying out the Visoflex 2 - all the usual new camera activities.  I had to recharge the battery yesterday, took it out today with the battery showing 90%.  Camera is set to take dng & jpg. Returned home after taking seventy frames, mostly using LV/Visoflex2 and was very disappointed to see the level had dropped to 40%.  Transferred the 70 files to my MacBook using the USB lead and it lost another 5%.  

Yes, I am aware new batteries can take a some time to reach full performance but such power consumption is at complete variance with everything I had read.  Will now re-charge it again and monitor consumption over the next few days - hopefully resulting in performance as described by Jono.

I felt the same way when I got my M11. I was half expecting astonishingly better battery life than my M10 series camera experiences, but didn't feel it was radically better. This said, based on similar use for M10 cameras vs M11, it is a fair bit better despite not feeling that way based on first impressions. On a day out, with power saving turned off, I find it draining just over 10% per hour (so you'd still need a spare batt if you're doing a full day out or need to turn the camera off or recharge it when out). 

Now I have power saving turned on (5mins) and I can go 1 or 2 weeks without the battery dipping below 35% depending on how much I shoot (mainly rangefinder, sometimes LV, and I don't shoot a lot relativelt speaking though my camera is with me most of the time -> maybe 100 to 200 shots every 2 weeks). I believe my 2 batteries are better cycled now as well so that can play a role.

I think much depends on your style of shooting as well. The camera would appear to show great battery life if you shoot 300 pics in 2 hours vs 300 pics over a full day (also depends on power settings). Doesn't explain why your battery life appears so poor if your 70 shots were taken in a short span of time though.

Edited October 4, 2022 by chasdfg

[PeterGA]

@Keith (M) : Recommended procedure for breaking in new batteries is to go through a full charge to empty cycle - three times. My experience with the M11 is that use of EVF drains batery much faster - but still performance is much beter than all previous models of M. Typically I dont use EVF and in typical use- I easily get 500+ shots with a lot of use of the LCD. I dont use FOTOS - any wireless/bluetooth connection drains batteries fast - so I won't comment. My second battery I boiught is almost redundant tbh - certainly unecessary for a few hours / all day walk around shooting...

 

As an aside: the other side of the coin re batteries is that make sure that any battery does not discharge over time to empty - I have had to replace quite a few during COVID lockdowns when I didnt use my cameras - and I have heard from dealers who have had new in box stock Lithium batteries go dead because too long to charge.

 

atb

Pete

[jonoslack]

18 hours ago, Keith (M) said:

Prior to purchasing my M11 I read numerous test reports including the one by the esteemed Jono Slack, in which he wrote:-

"on the M11 I've not ever exhausted a battery in a day's shooting, even with the power saving switched off, and using the EVF full time."

Taking delivery last Friday (30th Oct), once the battery had been fully charged I of course set about exploring menus, taking test shots, trying out the Visoflex 2 - all the usual new camera activities.  I had to recharge the battery yesterday, took it out today with the battery showing 90%.  Camera is set to take dng & jpg. Returned home after taking seventy frames, mostly using LV/Visoflex2 and was very disappointed to see the level had dropped to 40%.  Transferred the 70 files to my MacBook using the USB lead and it lost another 5%.  

Yes, I am aware new batteries can take a some time to reach full performance but such power consumption is at complete variance with everything I had read.  Will now re-charge it again and monitor consumption over the next few days - hopefully resulting in performance as described by Jono.

Hi There Keith

Clearly it's to do with the way one shoots - I noticed the wedding video - I got 1250 shots at a wedding with the EVF plugged in all the time (but not used all the time) Mind you, for some wedding photographers that might be the 3.1/2 hours that's mentioned in the video above, for me it was about 6 hours. I have Power saving switched to 'OFF' but screen saving on 30 seconds. I do wonder whether waking from sleep and going back again takes up a lot of battery life? It would be interesting to put it on 2 minutes then shoot every 2mins and 10 seconds for a few hours and compare it with power saving set to OFF (but I've got better things to do!).

I stand by my remark though - I still haven't had to change a battery in a whole days shooting.

Hopefully it'll seem better to you later

best

Jono

Edited October 4, 2022 by jonoslack

[SiggiGun]

vor 6 Minuten schrieb jonoslack:

Hi There Keith

Clearly it's to do with the way one shoots - I noticed the wedding video - I got 1250 shots at a wedding with the EVF plugged in all the time (but not used all the time). I have Power saving switched to 'OFF' but screen saving on 30 seconds. I do wonder whether waking from sleep and going back again takes up a lot of battery life? It would be interesting to put it on 2 minutes then shoot every 2mins and 10 seconds for a few hours and compare it with power saving set to OFF (but I've got better things to do!).

I stand by my remark though - I still haven't had to change a battery in a whole days shooting.

Hopefully it'll seem better to you later

best

Jono

WiFi is a big battery client 

[jonoslack]

6 minutes ago, SiggiGun said:

WiFi is a big battery client 

Yes indeed - I leave it off when I'm shooting . . . at least until Fotos supports Geotagging

[Keith (M)]

52 minutes ago, jonoslack said:

 

I stand by my remark though - I still haven't had to change a battery in a whole days shooting.

Hopefully it'll seem better to you later

best

Jono

Hi Jono,

It was disconcerting yesterday to see the battery drop from 90% to 40% after seventy exposures (mostly with Visoflex2).  Power and LCD settings were at factory default.  My style of photography (as yesterday) is very much that of the amateur (some might say dilettante), just wandering around a location taking photos as things catch my eye - so heavy and or power user I am not - hence the concern about rate of battery consumption.  Anyway, if the rain holds off I shall venture forth this afternoon with a freshly charged battery but this time sans LV/EVF/WiFi so that I can check rate of consumption for basic camera use (i.e. a baseline figure).

My thanks to all for replies, suggestions & advice.

[jonoslack]

5 minutes ago, Keith (M) said:

Hi Jono,

It was disconcerting yesterday to see the battery drop from 90% to 40% after seventy exposures (mostly with Visoflex2).  Power and LCD settings were at factory default.  My style of photography (as yesterday) is very much that of the amateur (some might say dilettante), just wandering around a location taking photos as things catch my eye - so heavy and or power user I am not - hence the concern about rate of battery consumption.  Anyway, if the rain holds off I shall venture forth this afternoon with a freshly charged battery but this time sans LV/EVF/WiFi so that I can check rate of consumption for basic camera use (i.e. a baseline figure).

My thanks to all for replies, suggestions & advice.

Hi There Keith

I shoot quite slowly (except at events). My feeling with the M11 is that the battery life doesn't relate much to the number of shots - more to the time it's switched on and possibly to do with the number of times it sleeps and wakes. How long did it take you to take the 70 images?

Incidentally - most of my shooting is "wandering around a location taking photos as things catch my eye" as well (3 weeks in Crete recently was all just that - and still I never changed a battery during a days walking).

It's easy to get 1000 shots if you fire away quickly (like at a wedding for instance). 

One thing I found quite irritating was the long startup time, and the noise opening the shutter - to get rid of that I've actually turned power saving off (with screen off set to 30 seconds). I do wonder whether that might actually be more efficient for the sort of use we put the camera to (certainly less irritating as you don't have to wait for it to wake up).

I can understand your initial disappointment, but I think you'll find that it'll be more than enough as it settles down (the USB-C charging is quite quick too!)

All the best

[SiggiGun]

vor 56 Minuten schrieb jonoslack:

Hi There Keith

I shoot quite slowly (except at events). My feeling with the M11 is that the battery life doesn't relate much to the number of shots - more to the time it's switched on and possibly to do with the number of times it sleeps and wakes. How long did it take you to take the 70 images?

Incidentally - most of my shooting is "wandering around a location taking photos as things catch my eye" as well (3 weeks in Crete recently was all just that - and still I never changed a battery during a days walking).

It's easy to get 1000 shots if you fire away quickly (like at a wedding for instance). 

One thing I found quite irritating was the long startup time, and the noise opening the shutter - to get rid of that I've actually turned power saving off (with screen off set to 30 seconds). I do wonder whether that might actually be more efficient for the sort of use we put the camera to (certainly less irritating as you don't have to wait for it to wake up).

I can understand your initial disappointment, but I think you'll find that it'll be more than enough as it settles down (the USB-C charging is quite quick too!)

All the best

I agree with Jono. I am still surprised by the power of the M11 battery. It can't be excluded that your battery has a defect. What you explained goes in this direction.

[Keith (M)]

Well, 90 minutes of wandering around town taking 90 frames (each dng + jpg), no use of LV/EVF/WiFi & power + LCD settings at default resulted in a battery level of 80%.  On a pro-rata basis that would (in theory) result in a 450 frame capacity.  Not too bad I suppose but considerably less than expected.  Next step is to refit the Visoflex2 and sally forth once again (but given the state of my legs after today's little jaunt I might just resort to aimlessly clicking the shutter at random intervals whilst sitting comfortably processing today's images!)  I will also disable the auto power-off function as suggested.  

The camera (plus Visoflex2) was only received on Friday so I am keen to try and discern if there are any underlying problems, whether it be body or battery.

[M11 for me]

Just based on that discussion I wonder what is the best setting at all: I must say first that I never had any feeling that the M11 is Power Hungry as we read in the title to this thread. I never looked at these power settings I must say. But I did now:

There is (I) a camera standby (factory setting 2 mins according to the instruction manual). Then there is (II) the monitor standby (factory setting 30s). These 2 things and both are activated. Now there is the question what uses most energy: If I set the standby to 10 mins (which is maximum or else even fully "off") and the Monitor to 30 seconds: Would that not be optimal considering the monitor resp. the EVF uses most energy and not the rest of the camera? I see that with the setting "Standby OFF" then the monitor (EVF) switches off and when pressing the release button the the camera is immediately active without any delay. 

That is what I did now (standby 10 mins and Monitor 30 seconds)). I will see what the effect will be.

We would need some guidance from Leica. Its very difficult to measure by myself what leads to the best results.

Edited October 4, 2022 by M11 for me

[jonoslack]

25 minutes ago, M11 for me said:

Just based on that discussion I wonder what is the best setting at all: I must say first that I never had any feeling that the M11 is Power Hungry as we read in the title to this thread. I never looked at these power settings I must say. But I did now:

There is (I) a camera standby (factory setting 2 mins according to the instruction manual). Then there is (II) the monitor standby (factory setting 30s). These 2 things and both are activated. Now there is the question what uses most energy: If I set the standby to 10 mins (which is maximum or else even fully "off") and the Monitor to 30 seconds: Would that not be optimal considering the monitor resp. the EVF uses most energy and not the rest of the camera? I see that with the setting "Standby OFF" then the monitor (EVF) switches off and when pressing the release button the the camera is immediately active without any delay. 

That is what I did now (standby 10 mins and Monitor 30 seconds)). I will see what the effect will be.

We would need some guidance from Leica. Its very difficult to measure by myself what leads to the best results.

Hard to find guidance from Leica because there are so many variables.

But I turn Standby OFF and monitor to 30 seconds - that way it starts instantly which is just right. I have a suspicion that starting and stopping might use quite a lot of energy, whilst leaving it on does less (the problem is when you put it in your bag overnight turned on). There was quite a move for Leica to introduce a 1 hour standby option, so hopefully that will happen.

best

 

[elmars]

The camera needs most power for just being on. If I remember right it is about under 10 % per hour. Everybody can try this out by himself. Taking photos takes not much power, I would say it is nearly neglectable. Diplay and EVF are the next big power consuming parts.

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[Al Brown]

If it is of any help, here is a real time comparison: I just shot a fashion calendar in the custom shop (12 motives, 874 images including BTS) in the perid of 8 hours all on one battery (chimping and showing to client & model included) of the M10-R which has worse batteries capacity than the M11. I did switch off the Leica during styling & location changes.

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