You have probably been outdoors for a photography session when the camera’s battery dies. Such a situation can be a nightmare, and no professional photographer would wish to be in the situation. However, as a human being, you can forget to charge your Digital Camera Battery or fail to carry a backup. Fortunately, there are different tips you should master that can help you extend the lifespan of your camera battery.
Remember that the few tricks and tweaks cannot make the battery to last forever. However, they can help you get a few extra minutes. Thus, it is vital to know the functions of your camera that drain your battery power.
Turn Off Lights
You can conserve energy by turning off the live view functionality and pop-up flash. In addition, you can focus manually instead of using the camera’s autofocus setting. However, these are important features you use, but they consume massive amount of energy. If the battery life keeps fading, then you can turn them off.
Another option is turning off some functions, such as image review function. Although it is an important feature that allows you to capture the image as required, it is not important. Other than consuming a lot of power, it can slow your camera.
Auto Shut Off
This is an important feature you can use to increase the camera battery life. Ideally, this is like the computer sleep mode functionality. It is advisable to set the auto power feature to the minimum time duration. In this way, the camera hibernates into the energy-saving mode. When you want to use the camera, you only press the shutter button, and your camera gets back to life.
Turn Off Sounds
The truth is that sounds that help you navigate through the menu system do not improve your user experience. Most photographers leave them on because they are not harmful. However, when you are out taking videos and photos, this feature can drain your battery life. Hence, it is advisable to put it off. Another option is turning off the focus beep that can affect your workflow, especially when you want to shoot candid images.
Avoid Image Stabilization
Although this trick cannot save you a lot of power, by turning it off, you can have adequate power to last you for a few extra minutes. That is because it turns off other power-draining functions. Thus, it is advisable to get a tripod for your camera. With the tripod, you do not need an image stabilization feature. Thus, you can switch it off and enjoy extended camera battery life.
Although some methods can help you conserve a lot of battery life, some methods are quite risky. Therefore, using the right techniques can help you get additional shots before the battery dies. For instance, if you minimize the brightness of the LCD screen, the images you get can appear under-exposed. Another option is to shoot JPEGs instead of raw files and then minimizing resolution to help save the battery power. Unfortunately, this can produce less sharp images.