I generally run the battery until the camera shuts off.
I had a nightmare the other day though when out hiking for a sunrise shoot…
… saw the moon setting as the sun was rising and went to shoot, battery was flashing red, so probably 2-5% left! Managed to grab a few shots, then when the camera shut down, went to my bag and no spare batteries! I had packed them, but decided the change backpacks and forgot to shift them over to it as well.
So annoying, but I managed to grab more shots in a painstakingly frustrating way afterwards. Start camera, frame up before shutdown in the next few seconds, repeat that again for focus assist then switch to manual focus (to lock it in and avoid AF using juice again), repeat again for levelling horizon, repeat again for grad placement, repeat again for final check, repeat again to shoot. Sometimes the shutter wouldn’t fire, so tried until it recorded the frame!
I did this for around 20 shots, keeping the battery in my pocket to heat it up a bit and preserve some power between different scenes as I ascended / descended the peak. It finally gave in when I stopped for a shot when driving home.
Lesson learned about double checking batteries. If anything it allowed me to appreciate what I was seeing on my hike, which was good!
I’ve not had such a bad schoolboy error since lifting my unzipped bag in 2006 and seeing two lenses rolling towards a stream. I rescued the better lens with a dive that Manuel Neuer would be proud of. The kit lens bobbed around then sank. Remarkably, it survived after drying out and worked flawlessly until I got rid of it over a decade later
I had a nightmare the other day though when out hiking for a sunrise shoot…
… saw the moon setting as the sun was rising and went to shoot, battery was flashing red, so probably 2-5% left! Managed to grab a few shots, then when the camera shut down, went to my bag and no spare batteries! I had packed them, but decided the change backpacks and forgot to shift them over to it as well.
So annoying, but I managed to grab more shots in a painstakingly frustrating way afterwards. Start camera, frame up before shutdown in the next few seconds, repeat that again for focus assist then switch to manual focus (to lock it in and avoid AF using juice again), repeat again for levelling horizon, repeat again for grad placement, repeat again for final check, repeat again to shoot. Sometimes the shutter wouldn’t fire, so tried until it recorded the frame!
I did this for around 20 shots, keeping the battery in my pocket to heat it up a bit and preserve some power between different scenes as I ascended / descended the peak. It finally gave in when I stopped for a shot when driving home.
Lesson learned about double checking batteries. If anything it allowed me to appreciate what I was seeing on my hike, which was good!
I’ve not had such a bad schoolboy error since lifting my unzipped bag in 2006 and seeing two lenses rolling towards a stream. I rescued the better lens with a dive that Manuel Neuer would be proud of. The kit lens bobbed around then sank. Remarkably, it survived after drying out and worked flawlessly until I got rid of it over a decade later
