Georg Herbet
Leading Member
How many shots per battery charge are you D1x users getting?
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D1X battery life
- Thread starter Georg Herbet
- Start date
....................... this is my favourite subject but I've bored people to death a zillion times already. The EN-4 is a pathetic little battery and almost totally useless on a D1x, it does not perform well, yielding as little as 50 or so shots to about 150 for 90% for owners. A few will reject this but I’ve tracked this a lot in a few forums.
An external battery is a must for the D1x and I find it destroys the handling so is a putz. The EN-4 has no shelf life whatsoever for a D1x, charge it today and tomorrow it’s down so much, according to the D1x, as to give even a more pathetic service tour.
I’ve almost totally given up on the EN-4 except for shooting in the rain and storms so I guess I have not answered your question, sorry.
So here goes: I'll run the D1x for about an hour to two hours at the most or to about 80 shots spread over the day, I can never go a day without changing the battery and if I take only a dozen shots then that’s the service tour of that battery for that day.
I did do the “sitting in front of the telly with a fresh-just-off-the-charger battery” routine and got over 1,450 JPEGs FINE in about a 90 mins to a 2-hour period. But that did not translate into anything remotely like this for field use, which is intermittent with a lot of metering, focussing, LCD viewing and all the usual trappings that a busy camera has to do. When quizzed, those getting more than a meagre 150 shots from a D1x were doing very little of this.
I know, for instance, at a fashion show I can take about 180 ~ 250 JPEG, again in about a 1&1/2 hour spread but this is with a battery charged that same evening and taken off the charger going out the door and directly to the show.
What's a photographer without a camera?
An external battery is a must for the D1x and I find it destroys the handling so is a putz. The EN-4 has no shelf life whatsoever for a D1x, charge it today and tomorrow it’s down so much, according to the D1x, as to give even a more pathetic service tour.
I’ve almost totally given up on the EN-4 except for shooting in the rain and storms so I guess I have not answered your question, sorry.
So here goes: I'll run the D1x for about an hour to two hours at the most or to about 80 shots spread over the day, I can never go a day without changing the battery and if I take only a dozen shots then that’s the service tour of that battery for that day.
I did do the “sitting in front of the telly with a fresh-just-off-the-charger battery” routine and got over 1,450 JPEGs FINE in about a 90 mins to a 2-hour period. But that did not translate into anything remotely like this for field use, which is intermittent with a lot of metering, focussing, LCD viewing and all the usual trappings that a busy camera has to do. When quizzed, those getting more than a meagre 150 shots from a D1x were doing very little of this.
I know, for instance, at a fashion show I can take about 180 ~ 250 JPEG, again in about a 1&1/2 hour spread but this is with a battery charged that same evening and taken off the charger going out the door and directly to the show.
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What's a photographer without a camera?
Georg Herbet
Leading Member
Yipes. I was afraid of that. I sold my D1X a few months ago and miss it now, due to its studio performance, which the D100 is not filling the shoes of, and I was toying with the idea of picking up another x, but I think now I'll wait.
My battery life did not seem as bad as yours, but the reports I'm hearing put performance all over the board.
My battery life did not seem as bad as yours, but the reports I'm hearing put performance all over the board.
Trent Mulkern
Senior Member
It depends obviously on the format photo taken and how often you use the LCD. For me > 250 NEFs typically. The only battery worse than the D1X EN4 is the Kodak battery.
Ger Bee's experience is probably atypical, but then I probably don't shoot as many photos as he does. My EN4s will probably last a week in camera, but then I always refresh before I go out. The Kodak batteries won't last a day before a recharge is necessary.
Regards,
Trent
Ger Bee's experience is probably atypical, but then I probably don't shoot as many photos as he does. My EN4s will probably last a week in camera, but then I always refresh before I go out. The Kodak batteries won't last a day before a recharge is necessary.
Regards,
Trent
Jono Slack
Forum Pro
Funny you should ask
Last battery (over a week, the weather is rubbish here)
180 shots (including VR on the 80-400 for most of them).
I often get over 200 shots though
Batteries over a year old (10,000 photos).
I'm happy.
kind regards
jono
Jono Slack
http://www.slack.co.uk
Last battery (over a week, the weather is rubbish here)
180 shots (including VR on the 80-400 for most of them).
I often get over 200 shots though
Batteries over a year old (10,000 photos).
I'm happy.
kind regards
jono
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Jono Slack
http://www.slack.co.uk
Jim Doyle
Forum Enthusiast
Same here....though in studio I often hook it to the AC adapter...
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jdoyle
Georg Herbet
Leading Member
What are the chances of Nikon sticking with this EN-4 in the next pro camera release? Pure speculation, I know, but battery life has been an ongoing issue with the x and h. Would think it would be high on their list of "things to change."
Dan Heimbach
Well-known member
I always get between 400 and 600 shots per charge per battery. That includes reviewing each shot with the LCD and auto focusing with my 80-200 2.8 AF-s and 300 2.8 AF-s or 17-35 2.8 Af-s. My D1x does this day in and day out. I have 2 batterys and they each have over 8,000 shots on them. They work as good today as when I got them in May 2002.
Dan
Dan
Georg Herbet
Leading Member
Now I'm really confused.
Paul Duggan
New member
I've found that the colder it is the worse the battery performs. I shoot outdoors a lot and live in Massachusetts. So when winter comes, the battery that gave me 250 captures in summer, is now only going to give 30 to 50 captures.
Glenn Barnett
Member
I just got my D1X last month and I am getting hundreds of shots on a single charge shooting NEF files. I haven't experienced any issues yet except in the cold, where the battery definitely did not perfom well. Mine does have the new firmware.
Glenn
Glenn
Georg Herbet
Leading Member
So from what I'm hearing and what I've experience, I learn this:
D1X batteries can vary wildly in their life expectancy and performance.
Yet:
One pays the same amount for a D1X battery that performs well and one that performs poorly.
And
There are no rebates and not even any service available for crappy batteries.
D1X batteries can vary wildly in their life expectancy and performance.
Yet:
One pays the same amount for a D1X battery that performs well and one that performs poorly.
And
There are no rebates and not even any service available for crappy batteries.
.................. and won two replacement batteries, better but not by as much as I'd have expected --- hence my deeply bitter disappointment.
Bjorn Rorslett
Leading Member
Before the 5.01/buffer upgrade, between 40 and 120 per charge.
After this upgrade, between 20 and 40 per charge. I experienced intermittent "black" frames.
I complained quite loud to my Nikon technician and yesterday he did a not-yet released upgrade (by him called a downgrade) on my D1H and D1X. Afterwards, I get more than 900 NEFs per charge. This on batteries which were nearly two years old and I was about to throw away.
Craig Robinson
Senior Member
Thank you, sir. It's about time they addressed this issue. The D1x body costs altogether too much to be saddled with this inefficiency. We'd all like to have that upgrade. I get 150 to 200 NEF's out of mine as things stand now.
Craig
Craig
Frank57344
Well-known member
Bjorn Rorslett
Leading Member
This is NOT a firmware upgrade and your firmware version will not change. Also, this is NOT an official release from Nikon and I probably was selected as a test pilot because my Nikon repair shop knows me (and my gear) quite well.
My Nikon technician designated this a "downgrade of the MMPU" which translates into something radical is done with the CPU on the main print board. In fact, the damn thing was so new that he had to consult a Nikon, Japan, representative by phone while he worked on my first camera. If anything went wrong, my camera would be ruined. However, these nice Nikon guys here in Norway would just have handed over a new camera, no questions asked. I like to have relationships with such nice people.
L
Leon Obers
Guest
Wow, that is great news.
Please keep in touch or do write to your website about the details if more information is available. Thanks.
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Leon Obers
L
Leon Obers
Guest
Maybe there is placed a diode to push the voltage 0.6 Volt more high??
(thought about myself to place it within an old battery).
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Leon Obers
Georg Herbet
Leading Member
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