D1X battery life -- is this normal?

I've been getting what I consider, very few shots on the D1X before the indicator goes to low battery. On a fresh charge, I get no more than 40-50 shots before the camera starts to indicate low battery status. I can usually keep shooting for many more shots, up to 250, but the viewfinder lights always dim, so it's very annoying.

This happens no matter if I'm shooting JPG/RAW, or regardless of how much/how little I use the LCD screen. I get the same problem using either my Transcend 512MB CF or IBM 1GIG Microdrive. I don't use AF excessively either. I've refreshed the batteries, but feel like it's not good to do it often.

Can anyone give me any pointers if I'm doing anything wrong?

Thanks

Same story here. I have 3 batteries, each was formatted correctly and all of them does the same thing as what you described. I just keep swapping them out and sometimes putting them back second time(they recover somewhat after a while) It is annoying an I am disappointed but learned to live with it.

Julius

Jason B. Chan said:

I've been getting what I consider, very few shots on the D1X before
the indicator goes to low battery. On a fresh charge, I get no more
than 40-50 shots before the camera starts to indicate low battery
status. I can usually keep shooting for many more shots, up to 250,
but the viewfinder lights always dim, so it's very annoying.

This happens no matter if I'm shooting JPG/RAW, or regardless of
how much/how little I use the LCD screen. I get the same problem
using either my Transcend 512MB CF or IBM 1GIG Microdrive. I don't
use AF excessively either. I've refreshed the batteries, but feel
like it's not good to do it often.

Can anyone give me any pointers if I'm doing anything wrong?

Thanks

Click to expand...

Thanks Julius, I thought I was going nuts here. Funny enough, I was shooting around my place yesterday and shot no more than 30 frames before the battery went to low-status. Annoyed and lacking an extra battery, I returned home and saw the battery went back to full status. I was able to get maybe 5-6 frames before it went back to low. Not sure what to do.

Can't believe it's this bad, considering I'm in warm weather, don't use the LCD much and don't use AF that much either. I don't mind if it goes to low battery but still works fine for another 100-150 shots, but since the viewfinder info disappears the instant you stop depressing the shutter, it's very annoying.

Is it possible that we got a bad batch of batteries?

Julius said:

Same story here. I have 3 batteries, each was formatted correctly
and all of them does the same thing as what you described. I just
keep swapping them out and sometimes putting them back second
time(they recover somewhat after a while) It is annoying an I am
disappointed but learned to live with it.

Click to expand...

Jason B. Chan said:

shooting around my place yesterday and shot no more than 30 frames
before the battery went to low-status. Annoyed and lacking an extra
battery, I returned home and saw the battery went back to full
status. I was able to get maybe 5-6 frames before it went back to
low. Not sure what to do.

Click to expand...

Hi Jason,

1. Was the battery like this all the while? Or is this a recent development?

2. Have you checked your battery contacts?

Daniel

Hi Daniel,

The camera is 2nd hand, but still fairly new and from someone I know who takes tremendous care with photo equipment. The contacts look clean.

I've been using 3 different batteries and each give me similar results since I got the camera a few weeks ago. I'm going to try shooting without the autopreview feature and see how much that makes a difference. I've been shooting with it on at the 10 second setting.

Jason

Daniel Wee said:

Jason B. Chan said:

shooting around my place yesterday and shot no more than 30 frames
before the battery went to low-status. Annoyed and lacking an extra
battery, I returned home and saw the battery went back to full
status. I was able to get maybe 5-6 frames before it went back to
low. Not sure what to do.

Click to expand...

Hi Jason,

1. Was the battery like this all the while? Or is this a recent
development?

2. Have you checked your battery contacts?

Daniel

Click to expand...

Hi Jason

I have a D1X, and I'm always getting over 100 shots with fresh batteries before the warning , usually 200. I don't have the auto-preview turned on, but I nearly always look at shots after I've taken them.

If you have continuous af on then the batteries certainly don't last so long (as you'd expect).

I hope this helps (but guess that it doesn't).
kind regards
jono slack

Jason B. Chan said:

I've been getting what I consider, very few shots on the D1X before
the indicator goes to low battery. On a fresh charge, I get no more
than 40-50 shots before the camera starts to indicate low battery
status. I can usually keep shooting for many more shots, up to 250,
but the viewfinder lights always dim, so it's very annoying.

This happens no matter if I'm shooting JPG/RAW, or regardless of
how much/how little I use the LCD screen. I get the same problem
using either my Transcend 512MB CF or IBM 1GIG Microdrive. I don't
use AF excessively either. I've refreshed the batteries, but feel
like it's not good to do it often.

Can anyone give me any pointers if I'm doing anything wrong?

Thanks

Click to expand...

--
Jono Slack
http://www.slack.co.uk

If the camera is second hand, the batteries may be bad -- I've found with some NiMH batteries that if you don't use them for a long time, they tend to lose their ability to hold their charge. Previous owner may have not used some of the batteries for well over a month allowing it to develop some sort of a memory -- I find this happens with my camcorder batteries.

Have you thought about replacing the batteries.

I have a D1x and use 2 batteries. I get > 150 JPG FINE per battery before getting the low indicator and go to > 225+ until it is exhausted. AF and VR always on. Heavily review images on the LCD but without the autopreview on.

Although these are Ni-MH batteries (which aren't supposed to suffer from memory) the description that it shows a low indicator after a few shots then continues for up to 200 more shots is a classic battery memory indicator.

If this is the case it can be caused by using the battery just a little and tossing it back on the charger. Early on (when the battery is new, or relatively new) this will cause the battery to discharge quickly to a lower voltage - but continue to be useable for a normal life cycle at the lower voltage.
But - again - Ni-MH batteries aren't supposed to be suseptible to this....
or is that just marketing hype?

Unfortunately once memorized there is no "cure." You can mitigate it a bit my making sure you always use the battery to capacity before charging (that's also why you have the refresh button on your charger).

A full reconditioning can help - but this takes specialized equipment that discharges the batteries down well below what the refresh on your charger does - but still at a SAFE level (discharging the battery too far will simply and instantly kill it). This is done several times. It does tend to restore a more normal cycle - but also reduces the life of the battery. Your choice.

Now - thjere is another possible cause - but this seems too coindicidental for it to be all of your batteries...

If ONE cell in each cell pack is weak it can cause this as well. Normally this signals the impending end-of-life for the pack. It's quite normal for one cell t die first - then take the others down with it over time. If this is the case for you then you are on the downward curve - the autumn of your battery life...

No - the behaviour you see is not normal IMHO. A low battery indicator should tell you there are a FEW shots left so you can guage your activity accordingly. An indicator that lets you shoot more on low - than on hi is as useless as a urinal in a convent...

Des

Jason B. Chan said:

Can't believe it's this bad, considering I'm in warm weather, don't
use the LCD much and don't use AF that much either. I don't mind if
it goes to low battery but still works fine for another 100-150
shots, but since the viewfinder info disappears the instant you
stop depressing the shutter, it's very annoying.

Is it possible that we got a bad batch of batteries?

Julius said:

Same story here. I have 3 batteries, each was formatted correctly
and all of them does the same thing as what you described. I just
keep swapping them out and sometimes putting them back second
time(they recover somewhat after a while) It is annoying an I am
disappointed but learned to live with it.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
Leon Obers

Dan Desjardins said:

Although these are Ni-MH batteries (which aren't supposed to suffer
from memory)

Click to expand...

It's not a memory effect on Nimh batteries, it's usually that one or more of the battery's six cells is operating at less than full voltage. That can happen in any number of ways, including leaks, as you suggest. And when it does, that's when you use the Refresh button on the charger. If that doesn't fix the problem, then the battery is either nearing its rated limit of charges or has an internal leak/bad cell.

--
Thom Hogan
author, Nikon Field Guide
author, Nikon Flash Guide
author, Complete Guide to the Nikon D1, D1h, & D1x
http://www.bythom.com

Jason B. Chan said:

Is it possible that we got a bad batch of batteries?

Click to expand...

This I was also thinking about when I purchased a third spare battery. The two more early batteries I was never satisfied about it. About the same experiance as yours.

The third battery however has about 50-55% MORE capacity than the other two. The indicator show FULL for a very long time. I have called the Nikon service from my country, and afterwards I could send the two bad ones to check (didn't get them back yet --> only send to them a couple of days back).

I made a test with three batteries under ideal circumstances, using time lapse photography camera connected to PC and using Nikon Capture 2. Images taken every 15 seconds, plus written in TIFF. Taking pictures till camera stops.

Battery 1 --> at about 130 images, indicator shows half power
389 images total
+ 10 extra images when taken out battery and put back again
+ 3 extra images when taken out battery and put back again
(more long brake, before put back within camera).

Battery 2 --> at about 130 images, indicator shows half power
416 images total
+ 6 extra images when taken out battery and put back again
+ 7 extra images when taken out battery and put back again
(more long brake, before put back within camera).

Battery 3 --> at 500 images, indicator still shows FULL !!!
check at 600 images, indicator show half power
643 images total
+ 1 extra images when taken out battery and put back again
+ 3 extra images when taken out battery and put back again
(more long brake, before put back within camera).

--
Leon Obers

When I bought my D1x about 10 months ago I read some battery info that said to refresh a brand new battery 3 times before using it the first time. I did this and get very good battery life on each of two batteries. I also refresh every couple of weeks as a normal routine. I can easily photograph a complete wedding (300+ shots on each camera) using the LCD frequently (almost constantly) and making no effort to reduce autofocus or other energy saving efforts. This is done on 1 battery with another on backup which I have never had to swap out. I sometimes use a microdrive and sometimes solid state. I would call battery life excellent. I have never seen my battery indicator come on during a job. Hope this helps.

Jason B. Chan said:

I've been getting what I consider, very few shots on the D1X before
the indicator goes to low battery. On a fresh charge, I get no more
than 40-50 shots before the camera starts to indicate low battery
status. I can usually keep shooting for many more shots, up to 250,
but the viewfinder lights always dim, so it's very annoying.

This happens no matter if I'm shooting JPG/RAW, or regardless of
how much/how little I use the LCD screen. I get the same problem
using either my Transcend 512MB CF or IBM 1GIG Microdrive. I don't
use AF excessively either. I've refreshed the batteries, but feel
like it's not good to do it often.

Can anyone give me any pointers if I'm doing anything wrong?

Thanks

Click to expand...

Your batteries must have a problem. I shoot with a D1H and I always use continuous af and look at most shots on the LCD and I can shoot all day long before my battery shows half full. Last weekend I shot about 500 shots before it started to show half full. I dont know how many total because I have never one completely down. When they show half I put in a new one and recharge the half full one.

Hopefully I did not kill the battery that weekend though. I left my spare at home and still had two days left on a motorsports shoot, so I would charge the battery in my car from an ac/dc inverter, but never had enough time for it to go full, so I would charge as much as I could between races, go shoot, charge as much as I could, go shoot. Did this three times that day to make sure I didnt run dry, that night was able to give it full recharge and shot all day last day without it showing half. I hope I got away with one cause it still had good life the last day, guess we will see in the future.

--
Jim Sykes
http://www.motorsportvortex.com

It serve me well in 3 hours of continues shooting of 400+...I use RAW mode and AF, no preset preview.

GH

Jason B. Chan said:

I've been getting what I consider, very few shots on the D1X before
the indicator goes to low battery. On a fresh charge, I get no more
than 40-50 shots before the camera starts to indicate low battery
status. I can usually keep shooting for many more shots, up to 250,
but the viewfinder lights always dim, so it's very annoying.

This happens no matter if I'm shooting JPG/RAW, or regardless of
how much/how little I use the LCD screen. I get the same problem
using either my Transcend 512MB CF or IBM 1GIG Microdrive. I don't
use AF excessively either. I've refreshed the batteries, but feel
like it's not good to do it often.

Can anyone give me any pointers if I'm doing anything wrong?

Thanks

Click to expand...

--
姿彩生活新世紀 - Life Style 21
http://www.life-style-21.com/forums/
Nikon D1x, AF 28mm/f1.4D, AF 85mm/f1.4D, AFS 300mm/f4D

Jim Sykes said:

Your batteries must have a problem. I shoot with a D1H and I
always use continuous af and look at most shots on the LCD and I
can shoot all day long before my battery shows half full. Last
weekend I shot about 500 shots before it started to show half full.

Click to expand...

Keep in mind, that I am using a D1X. More high resolution, more big files, less capacity as using a D1H. Also keep in mind which filetype you are using. JPG isn't as exhausting batteries as TIF (18 Mb). Also connection to PC is using power.

I did the test specially using TIFF, to have less shots to take. It is only a comparison between my two older batteries (half year) and the third new. one. Within normal practice I only am not satisfied about the capacity from two older batteries.

--
Leon Obers

W Fenn said:

When I bought my D1x about 10 months ago I read some battery info
that said to refresh a brand new battery 3 times before using it
the first time.

Click to expand...

Wouldn't recommend. I did the same with two batteries of three. (do read my other reaction within this thread). These one do have the most worse capacity. Better to use it in normal condition within your camera, and after the battery is empty, push the refresh button. Recharge, use them again in your camera till empty and use refresh button. Totally three times.

--
Leon Obers

I went to a D1 dealer training school and the Nikon TSR's suggested the following with new batteries. They normally cycled a new battery every day for 5-6 days. After that they would normally cycle the battery once every 5-6 uses. They said it seemed to increase battery performance and overall life.
Steve H

Leon Obers said:

W Fenn said:

When I bought my D1x about 10 months ago I read some battery info
that said to refresh a brand new battery 3 times before using it
the first time.

Click to expand...

Wouldn't recommend. I did the same with two batteries of three. (do
read my other reaction within this thread). These one do have the
most worse capacity. Better to use it in normal condition within
your camera, and after the battery is empty, push the refresh
button. Recharge, use them again in your camera till empty and use
refresh button. Totally three times.

--
Leon Obers

Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing your test results above. I will try to do more scientific testing and see if I can come up with some accurate numbers. In the meantime, I have refreshed all three batteries and will see if that makes any difference.

What I find most interesting is with my camera at least, the 1/2 power indicator really means 1/2 power and I can still shoot a ton of frames (at least 100-150) until it the battery totally dies. From what I've heard and read, other people say 1/2 power means you barely have any frames left and you had better swap your batteries.

Leon Obers said:

Jim Sykes said:

Your batteries must have a problem. I shoot with a D1H and I
always use continuous af and look at most shots on the LCD and I
can shoot all day long before my battery shows half full. Last
weekend I shot about 500 shots before it started to show half full.

Click to expand...

Keep in mind, that I am using a D1X. More high resolution, more big
files, less capacity as using a D1H. Also keep in mind which
filetype you are using. JPG isn't as exhausting batteries as TIF
(18 Mb). Also connection to PC is using power.
I did the test specially using TIFF, to have less shots to take. It
is only a comparison between my two older batteries (half year) and
the third new. one. Within normal practice I only am not satisfied
about the capacity from two older batteries.

--
Leon Obers

Click to expand...

Wow, 400 frames is pretty darn good. In your experience, how much does autopreview affect battery life?

GoldenHammer said:

GH

Jason B. Chan said:

I've been getting what I consider, very few shots on the D1X before
the indicator goes to low battery. On a fresh charge, I get no more
than 40-50 shots before the camera starts to indicate low battery
status. I can usually keep shooting for many more shots, up to 250,
but the viewfinder lights always dim, so it's very annoying.

This happens no matter if I'm shooting JPG/RAW, or regardless of
how much/how little I use the LCD screen. I get the same problem
using either my Transcend 512MB CF or IBM 1GIG Microdrive. I don't
use AF excessively either. I've refreshed the batteries, but feel
like it's not good to do it often.

Can anyone give me any pointers if I'm doing anything wrong?

Thanks

Click to expand...

--
姿彩生活新世紀 - Life
Style 21
http://www.life-style-21.com/forums/
Nikon D1x, AF 28mm/f1.4D, AF 85mm/f1.4D, AFS 300mm/f4D

Click to expand...

It seems to me at something 300+... with preview on...

GH

Jason B. Chan said:

GoldenHammer said:

GH

Jason B. Chan said:

I've been getting what I consider, very few shots on the D1X before
the indicator goes to low battery. On a fresh charge, I get no more
than 40-50 shots before the camera starts to indicate low battery
status. I can usually keep shooting for many more shots, up to 250,
but the viewfinder lights always dim, so it's very annoying.

This happens no matter if I'm shooting JPG/RAW, or regardless of
how much/how little I use the LCD screen. I get the same problem
using either my Transcend 512MB CF or IBM 1GIG Microdrive. I don't
use AF excessively either. I've refreshed the batteries, but feel
like it's not good to do it often.

Can anyone give me any pointers if I'm doing anything wrong?

Thanks

Click to expand...

--
姿彩生活新世紀 - Life
Style 21
http://www.life-style-21.com/forums/
Nikon D1x, AF 28mm/f1.4D, AF 85mm/f1.4D, AFS 300mm/f4D

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
姿彩生活新世紀 - Life Style 21
http://www.life-style-21.com/forums/
Nikon D1x, AF 28mm/f1.4D, AF 85mm/f1.4D, AFS 300mm/f4D