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The Battery . . .

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I'm particularly happy to hear that you have had sufficient power left after the battery has been unused for a week or two -- that's really my threshold.

Do I understand you correctly -- you are able to leave the battery in the charger for extended periods without any problems?
Do you routinely refresh the batteries?
Thanks again for replying. The 1D mkII sounds more "doable" now.
Ken

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Paul Stout said:
The 1D battery is 10 AA nimh cells in series to provide about 12
volts.

Mine sets on the shelf for a week or two at a time before I go out
and take a few shots. For that, there has never been a problem.

The 1D charger is very nice and prevents most battery useability
problems. You can connect two batteries at the same time, it will
charge them sequentially, and it appears to keep them charged up
and ready to go when I need them.

I always have my two extra batteries plugged into the charger so
they are always ready to go. If I have a busy day of shooting
planned, all three batteries are cycled through the charger the day
before.

--
Photography on the Run
http://www.pbase.com/paul42
Click to expand...
--
http://www.ksgraphicart.com
 
Ken:

I've been using the 1D for over two years now. Comments and suggestions:

1. Battery life was never as good as the BP-511's of the D30. After 2+ years, I'm only getting a 100-150 images per battery. I'm shooting, reviewing, shooting, doing nothing, shooting, reviewing, etc. as opposed to shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot (if I did that, I could get several hundred photos on one battery).

2. The NiMH batteries seem to lose their charge faster than the BP-511's when sitting on the shelf.

3. I would suggest having a spare battery that is in the charger when you're shooting over the weekend. If your camera is sitting around during the week, why not take the battery out and top it off?

4. Another suggestion is to have three batteries. One in the charger, one in the camera, and the last one as a spare for the one in the camera.

Keep in mind that these comments are for the 1D, which is a battery hog compared to the 1Ds, which in turn is a battery hog compared to the 1D Mark II.

-adam

======
Ken C. Smith said:
I was very tempted to get a 1D when the price got down in the
$3,000 range. The only thing that stopped me was the battery.

I had three Olympus digital cameras that used AA NIMH batteries and
they drove me crazy. If they sat around for a week without being
used, the batteries would be nearly flat (and so would my spare
set). I found that I needed to charge them before use if any
appreciable time had passed between photos. It wasn't as bad in the
winter as it was in the summer (I live in an area that has summer
daytime highs into the 90's and low 100's for weeks on end and
NIMHs don't do well in heat). I eventually spent an obscene amount
of money to get the lithium battery grip for my E10 and that solved
the problem.

Because the D60 and 10D have lithium batteries I have enjoyed
several years of freedom from battery-concern.

Now comes the 1D mkII which has better focus, flash and metering
systems than I'm used to. The frame rate doesn't impact my work
much but I make lots of 24 X 30 and 24 X 36 inch prints and the
weaker AA filter and extra pixels seem like they would add up to
better detail in large prints. I can afford the camera, but can I
live with the NIMH batteries.

I know that the NIMHs in the 1D are massive compared to 4 AA cells
and that the number of images that I could take on a fully charged
batter is more than sufficient for my needs -- but does the
capacity of the battery help the shelf life between uses.

MY QUESTION: For those of you who have been using the 1D and 1Ds
(especially if you are in a warm climate), what has been your
experience with shelf-life for the NIHM batteries that you are
using?

Will appreciate any light that you can shed on the issue.

Ken Smith

--
http://www.ksgraphicart.com
Click to expand...
--
Adam Tow
Web: http://www.tow.com/
Tomorrow begins today.
 
Ken,

I used to own an E10, and remember well the battery situation, so I understand your concern.

I've owned a 1D for about a year, and as a weekend amateur photographer, I can say that if you have two batteries, you probably don't need to worry about running out of juice during a day's shoot.

But there are a lot of variables. Temperature is one; I've been shooting Bald Eagles on the wing this winter using IS and AI servo with the 500mm f/4 at zero or below temperatures, Fahrenheit. This circumstance is extreme, but by keeping the idle battery in my jacket and swapping one for the other as needed, I can shoot for quite a while. My toes and finges give up the ghost long before the batteries do.

There may be a penalty for waiting a week to use the 1D's batteries, but it has never been as noticeable as it was with the old E10.

Tom
Ken C. Smith said:
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\> Dana Jacobsen said:
Adam-T said:
the 1D is a bit of a battery hog when shooting leisure stuff (off
and on with lots of reviewing) but in a continous commercial shoot
they seem to last ages and the 1DS is very light on batteries
according to a mate who never needs to load the second..
Click to expand...
I had a D60 with portrait grip and switched to the 1Ds. The D60
batteries lasted almost twice as long, in my experience (two
BP-511s, which are still less weight and size than one NP-E3).
Obviously a different body being driven with a much simpler AF
system. The 1Ds isn't really bad for our use (I've done 1200 shots
on the two batteries in an all-day shoot with IS lenses on AI
Servo), but the battery isn't its high point. The 1D Mark II,
according to the Canon specs compared to my 1Ds manual, gets almost
double the number of shots that the 1Ds does -- 1200 vs. 600 at
20C. That can't hurt.

I can't answer the original question since we've probably never
gone a week without using the camera.
Click to expand...
--
http://www.ksgraphicart.com
Click to expand...
 
Ken C. Smith said:
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\> Paul Stout said:
The 1D battery is 10 AA nimh cells in series to provide about 12
volts.

Mine sets on the shelf for a week or two at a time before I go out
and take a few shots. For that, there has never been a problem.

The 1D charger is very nice and prevents most battery useability
problems. You can connect two batteries at the same time, it will
charge them sequentially, and it appears to keep them charged up
and ready to go when I need them.

I always have my two extra batteries plugged into the charger so
they are always ready to go. If I have a busy day of shooting
planned, all three batteries are cycled through the charger the day
before.

--
Photography on the Run
http://www.pbase.com/paul42
Click to expand...
--
http://www.ksgraphicart.com
Click to expand...
--
Photography on the Run
http://www.pbase.com/paul42
 
some folks get their 1D and their battery and start charging it. Then they put it into the refresher which discharges it way down and then recharges it again. They do this about 3 times and consider their battery "conditioned". Then, every so often, they "refresh" it just once.

What they fail to understand (and I had Chuck Westfall agree with me on this months ago) is they don't have to do that. They can start by charging it and then using it till it is dead. Then hit the refresh which will discharge what little remains and then recharge it. they can then go use it and repeat this 3 times to achieve the same "conditioning".

As far as regular refreshing goes, same thing. Just use it that time till it's dead and refresh it. This of course is made easier if you have more than one battery, so when you use it till dead, you can switch and continue shooting.

I hope this makes it a bit easier for some.

Bob
 
I am aware of different battery sources from my Radio Control Aerobatic helicopters. The servo control motors in these at the top end suck power out of batteries. I am often reading articles on benefits in this application of nicad, nimh or lithium.

The nimh fails on its power loss over time left standing for this purpose. nicad is easy to spot a duff one, as a good one maintains charge for a week or two with no problem. A poor nicad loses charge much like a fully functioning nimh - so is easy to spot. The nimh is good at delivering a steady voltage through the capacity, whereas nicad gets lower as it depletes. Although ultimately nicad can provide higher currents for longer than nimh. I have never encountered the memory effect that many talk of with nicad, and i frequently top them up to keep the battery in the peak voltage of its depletion curve.

regards,
kev
Ken C. Smith said:
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\> Kev - UK South Coast said:
regards,
kev
Ken C. Smith said:
Ken

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\>
Adam-T said:
the 1D is a bit of a battery hog when shooting leisure stuff (off
and on with lots of reviewing) but in a continous commercial shoot
they seem to last ages and the 1DS is very light on batteries
according to a mate who never needs to load the second..

I like the fact that the II takes the same Batts, it's consistent
and those £100 Lumps can be used in BOTH cameras - no need to
re-buy :)

--
Please ignore the Typos, I'm the world's worst Typist

Click to expand...
--
http://www.ksgraphicart.com
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--
http://www.ksgraphicart.com
Click to expand...
 
Yours is the second post to suggest a three battery approach and I think it makes good sense.

I notice that you are in the Bay Area -- I'm in Stockton where (as I noted in my original post) it gets hot in the summer. I have had great luck with the BP-511s, but if the 1D mkII meets my needs in other respects -- and it looks like they had me in mind when they put the specifications together -- I think I can put up with the battery.
Thank you for the solid information.
Ken

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Adam Tow said:
I've been using the 1D for over two years now. Comments and
suggestions:

1. Battery life was never as good as the BP-511's of the D30. After
2+ years, I'm only getting a 100-150 images per battery. I'm
shooting, reviewing, shooting, doing nothing, shooting, reviewing,
etc. as opposed to shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot (if I did
that, I could get several hundred photos on one battery).

2. The NiMH batteries seem to lose their charge faster than the
BP-511's when sitting on the shelf.

3. I would suggest having a spare battery that is in the charger
when you're shooting over the weekend. If your camera is sitting
around during the week, why not take the battery out and top it off?

4. Another suggestion is to have three batteries. One in the
charger, one in the camera, and the last one as a spare for the one
in the camera.

Keep in mind that these comments are for the 1D, which is a battery
hog compared to the 1Ds, which in turn is a battery hog compared to
the 1D Mark II.

-adam

======
Ken C. Smith said:
I was very tempted to get a 1D when the price got down in the
$3,000 range. The only thing that stopped me was the battery.

I had three Olympus digital cameras that used AA NIMH batteries and
they drove me crazy. If they sat around for a week without being
used, the batteries would be nearly flat (and so would my spare
set). I found that I needed to charge them before use if any
appreciable time had passed between photos. It wasn't as bad in the
winter as it was in the summer (I live in an area that has summer
daytime highs into the 90's and low 100's for weeks on end and
NIMHs don't do well in heat). I eventually spent an obscene amount
of money to get the lithium battery grip for my E10 and that solved
the problem.

Because the D60 and 10D have lithium batteries I have enjoyed
several years of freedom from battery-concern.

Now comes the 1D mkII which has better focus, flash and metering
systems than I'm used to. The frame rate doesn't impact my work
much but I make lots of 24 X 30 and 24 X 36 inch prints and the
weaker AA filter and extra pixels seem like they would add up to
better detail in large prints. I can afford the camera, but can I
live with the NIMH batteries.

I know that the NIMHs in the 1D are massive compared to 4 AA cells
and that the number of images that I could take on a fully charged
batter is more than sufficient for my needs -- but does the
capacity of the battery help the shelf life between uses.

MY QUESTION: For those of you who have been using the 1D and 1Ds
(especially if you are in a warm climate), what has been your
experience with shelf-life for the NIHM batteries that you are
using?

Will appreciate any light that you can shed on the issue.

Ken Smith

--
http://www.ksgraphicart.com
Click to expand...
--
Adam Tow
Web: http://www.tow.com/
Tomorrow begins today.
Click to expand...
--
http://www.ksgraphicart.com
 
Robert Burkhalter said:
some folks get their 1D and their battery and start charging it.
Then they put it into the refresher which discharges it way down
and then recharges it again. They do this about 3 times and
consider their battery "conditioned". Then, every so often, they
"refresh" it just once.

What they fail to understand (and I had Chuck Westfall agree with
me on this months ago) is they don't have to do that. They can
start by charging it and then using it till it is dead. Then hit
the refresh which will discharge what little remains and then
recharge it. they can then go use it and repeat this 3 times to
achieve the same "conditioning".

As far as regular refreshing goes, same thing. Just use it that
time till it's dead and refresh it. This of course is made easier
if you have more than one battery, so when you use it till dead,
you can switch and continue shooting.

I hope this makes it a bit easier for some.

Bob
Click to expand...
--
http://www.ksgraphicart.com
 
I have and use 3 batteries and find that I'm down to the third towards the end of the day sometimes. Although the cold weather helps/hurts in this regard.

Other than that I have no problems.

Jonathan
Ken C. Smith said:
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\> Adam Tow said:
I've been using the 1D for over two years now. Comments and
suggestions:

1. Battery life was never as good as the BP-511's of the D30. After
2+ years, I'm only getting a 100-150 images per battery. I'm
shooting, reviewing, shooting, doing nothing, shooting, reviewing,
etc. as opposed to shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot (if I did
that, I could get several hundred photos on one battery).

2. The NiMH batteries seem to lose their charge faster than the
BP-511's when sitting on the shelf.

3. I would suggest having a spare battery that is in the charger
when you're shooting over the weekend. If your camera is sitting
around during the week, why not take the battery out and top it off?

4. Another suggestion is to have three batteries. One in the
charger, one in the camera, and the last one as a spare for the one
in the camera.

Keep in mind that these comments are for the 1D, which is a battery
hog compared to the 1Ds, which in turn is a battery hog compared to
the 1D Mark II.

-adam

======
Ken C. Smith said:
I was very tempted to get a 1D when the price got down in the
$3,000 range. The only thing that stopped me was the battery.

I had three Olympus digital cameras that used AA NIMH batteries and
they drove me crazy. If they sat around for a week without being
used, the batteries would be nearly flat (and so would my spare
set). I found that I needed to charge them before use if any
appreciable time had passed between photos. It wasn't as bad in the
winter as it was in the summer (I live in an area that has summer
daytime highs into the 90's and low 100's for weeks on end and
NIMHs don't do well in heat). I eventually spent an obscene amount
of money to get the lithium battery grip for my E10 and that solved
the problem.

Because the D60 and 10D have lithium batteries I have enjoyed
several years of freedom from battery-concern.

Now comes the 1D mkII which has better focus, flash and metering
systems than I'm used to. The frame rate doesn't impact my work
much but I make lots of 24 X 30 and 24 X 36 inch prints and the
weaker AA filter and extra pixels seem like they would add up to
better detail in large prints. I can afford the camera, but can I
live with the NIMH batteries.

I know that the NIMHs in the 1D are massive compared to 4 AA cells
and that the number of images that I could take on a fully charged
batter is more than sufficient for my needs -- but does the
capacity of the battery help the shelf life between uses.

MY QUESTION: For those of you who have been using the 1D and 1Ds
(especially if you are in a warm climate), what has been your
experience with shelf-life for the NIHM batteries that you are
using?

Will appreciate any light that you can shed on the issue.

Ken Smith

--
http://www.ksgraphicart.com
Click to expand...
--
Adam Tow
Web: http://www.tow.com/
Tomorrow begins today.
Click to expand...
--
http://www.ksgraphicart.com
Click to expand...
--
Jonathan Lefcourt
2003 NYC-Central Park Winter Scenes
http://www.pbase.com/jlefcourt/nyc_central__park
 
I'm asking everyone I know to wait with their Mk II purchase. I want mine first! :)

I'll tell you when I got it, and then you can go ahead and get yours....

Seriously, good luck with yours.
 
If anyone would understand my concerns -- a former E10 owner would!

Living in a semi-arid portion of California, severe cold isn't much of a problem for me (winter lows rarely get below 28 degrees) however, heat is another matter and I have had several bad experiences with heat and NIMHs. I once got my camera bag out of the trunk of my car (it had been there for about an hour in 98 degree heat) and when I turned on the E10 I got two photos and ran out of juice -- put my second set of batteries in and got two more! That's when I bought the battery grip for the E10.

Thank you for responding -- I'm pretty sure I'll get the 1D mkII and use a three battery rotation.
Ken

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Tom Robbins said:
I used to own an E10, and remember well the battery situation, so I
understand your concern.

I've owned a 1D for about a year, and as a weekend amateur
photographer, I can say that if you have two batteries, you
probably don't need to worry about running out of juice during a
day's shoot.

But there are a lot of variables. Temperature is one; I've been
shooting Bald Eagles on the wing this winter using IS and AI servo
with the 500mm f/4 at zero or below temperatures, Fahrenheit. This
circumstance is extreme, but by keeping the idle battery in my
jacket and swapping one for the other as needed, I can shoot for
quite a while. My toes and finges give up the ghost long before the
batteries do.

There may be a penalty for waiting a week to use the 1D's
batteries, but it has never been as noticeable as it was with the
old E10.

Tom
Ken C. Smith said:
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\> Dana Jacobsen said:
Adam-T said:
the 1D is a bit of a battery hog when shooting leisure stuff (off
and on with lots of reviewing) but in a continous commercial shoot
they seem to last ages and the 1DS is very light on batteries
according to a mate who never needs to load the second..
Click to expand...
I had a D60 with portrait grip and switched to the 1Ds. The D60
batteries lasted almost twice as long, in my experience (two
BP-511s, which are still less weight and size than one NP-E3).
Obviously a different body being driven with a much simpler AF
system. The 1Ds isn't really bad for our use (I've done 1200 shots
on the two batteries in an all-day shoot with IS lenses on AI
Servo), but the battery isn't its high point. The 1D Mark II,
according to the Canon specs compared to my 1Ds manual, gets almost
double the number of shots that the 1Ds does -- 1200 vs. 600 at
20C. That can't hurt.

I can't answer the original question since we've probably never
gone a week without using the camera.
Click to expand...
--
http://www.ksgraphicart.com
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--
http://www.ksgraphicart.com
 
I floated a trial balloon with my wife and she didn't come unglued at the idea of me getting the 1D mkII (she would move up from her D60 to my 10D in the process) so I intend to make hay while the sun shines -- and the sun waits for no man.
Ken

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Robert Burkhalter said:
I'm asking everyone I know to wait with their Mk II purchase. I
want mine first! :)

I'll tell you when I got it, and then you can go ahead and get
yours....

Seriously, good luck with yours.
Click to expand...
--
http://www.ksgraphicart.com
 
I am really disappointed that no third-party manufacturer has designed a Li-Ion version. I'm curious to know why this is. Is it an engineerinng or power requirement thing or a intellectual property/design issue? Only the D1 &1D bodies still use NiMH. Li-Ion batteries last longer, have better capacities, and are less expensive. I remember that with camcorders, the jump from NiCd to NiMH was nearly seamless.

And slightly OT... What is it with pros not ever wanting to go a week or two without shooting?

Sheesh, don't you guys ever take vacations? Excluding exotic destinations of course, i need to take weeks-long at a time breaks from my cameras. I dare say that I'm a better photographer for it! Well, this is probably not the best site to say blasphemous stuff like this so I'd better quit...=)!

(runs for cover...)

-m
http://www.mauriceramirez.com
 
Ken C. Smith said:
I was very tempted to get a 1D when the price got down in the
$3,000 range. The only thing that stopped me was the battery.

I had three Olympus digital cameras that used AA NIMH batteries and
they drove me crazy. If they sat around for a week without being
used, the batteries would be nearly flat (and so would my spare
set). I found that I needed to charge them before use if any
appreciable time had passed between photos. It wasn't as bad in the
winter as it was in the summer (I live in an area that has summer
daytime highs into the 90's and low 100's for weeks on end and
NIMHs don't do well in heat). I eventually spent an obscene amount
of money to get the lithium battery grip for my E10 and that solved
the problem.

Because the D60 and 10D have lithium batteries I have enjoyed
several years of freedom from battery-concern.

Now comes the 1D mkII which has better focus, flash and metering
systems than I'm used to. The frame rate doesn't impact my work
much but I make lots of 24 X 30 and 24 X 36 inch prints and the
weaker AA filter and extra pixels seem like they would add up to
better detail in large prints. I can afford the camera, but can I
live with the NIMH batteries.

I know that the NIMHs in the 1D are massive compared to 4 AA cells
and that the number of images that I could take on a fully charged
batter is more than sufficient for my needs -- but does the
capacity of the battery help the shelf life between uses.

MY QUESTION: For those of you who have been using the 1D and 1Ds
(especially if you are in a warm climate), what has been your
experience with shelf-life for the NIHM batteries that you are
using?

Will appreciate any light that you can shed on the issue.

Ken Smith

--
http://www.ksgraphicart.com
Click to expand...
--I left my 1D for 5 weeks without using itand the battery still had a full charge today.
Chris Clark
 
...your desires (below) are unachievable. (The 1st half are doable; the 2nd half aren't.) I sometimes go a week or more without using my 1Ds. I never think to refresh the battery before using the camera, and the worst I've experienced is that while shooting, the battery will exhaust itself sooner than it would have had I refreshed the charge, but it never dies quickly.

Yes NiMHs 'sag' a little on the shelf, but I certainly am not annoyed with my 1Ds's battery performance.

BTW, 2 or even 3 extra 1D(n) batteries cost a LOT less than the E10's batterygrip, huh!?!?

If you want a 1D2, buy it. I believe you won't be disatisfied overall with its battery performance.
Ken C. Smith said:
If I can charge the battery up on a Friday night, take 100 photos
that weekend, put it on the shelf until the next weekend and take
100 more photos without the battery going flat in between the two
weekends -- and repeat for a couple of more weeks before I have to
re-charge (assuming, of course that I don't exceed the number of
shots that the battery can produce in a single shoot) -- I can live
with it. If it won't last three or four weeks on the shelf without
recharge...
Click to expand...
--
Obsessed landscape fotografer
http://community.webshots.com/user/jeffreybehr
 
I don't know enough about batteries to know what the problem is -- but it would be great if someone came out with a Lithium battery in the same form-factor as the current NIMH. Then owners could use their old NIMHs and replace them with Lithium as they needed to.

I checked out your web site (very nice work) and noticed that you are in San Francisco -- I'm over in Stockton where heat is a major factor in the summer.
Thanks for responding.
Ken

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
mauriceramirez said:
I am really disappointed that no third-party manufacturer has
designed a Li-Ion version. I'm curious to know why this is. Is it
an engineerinng or power requirement thing or a intellectual
property/design issue? Only the D1 &1D bodies still use NiMH.
Li-Ion batteries last longer, have better capacities, and are less
expensive. I remember that with camcorders, the jump from NiCd to
NiMH was nearly seamless.

And slightly OT... What is it with pros not ever wanting to go a
week or two without shooting?

Sheesh, don't you guys ever take vacations? Excluding exotic
destinations of course, i need to take weeks-long at a time breaks
from my cameras. I dare say that I'm a better photographer for it!
Well, this is probably not the best site to say blasphemous stuff
like this so I'd better quit...=)!

(runs for cover...)

-m
http://www.mauriceramirez.com
Click to expand...
--
http://www.ksgraphicart.com
 
Jeffrey Behr said:
Yes NiMHs 'sag' a little on the shelf, but I certainly am not
annoyed with my 1Ds's battery performance.

BTW, 2 or even 3 extra 1D(n) batteries cost a LOT less than the
E10's batterygrip, huh!?!?

If you want a 1D2, buy it. I believe you won't be disatisfied
overall with its battery performance.
Ken C. Smith said:
If I can charge the battery up on a Friday night, take 100 photos
that weekend, put it on the shelf until the next weekend and take
100 more photos without the battery going flat in between the two
weekends -- and repeat for a couple of more weeks before I have to
re-charge (assuming, of course that I don't exceed the number of
shots that the battery can produce in a single shoot) -- I can live
with it. If it won't last three or four weeks on the shelf without
recharge...
Click to expand...
--
Obsessed landscape fotografer
http://community.webshots.com/user/jeffreybehr
Click to expand...
--
http://www.ksgraphicart.com
 
Chris Clark said:
Ken C. Smith said:
I was very tempted to get a 1D when the price got down in the
$3,000 range. The only thing that stopped me was the battery.

I had three Olympus digital cameras that used AA NIMH batteries and
they drove me crazy. If they sat around for a week without being
used, the batteries would be nearly flat (and so would my spare
set). I found that I needed to charge them before use if any
appreciable time had passed between photos. It wasn't as bad in the
winter as it was in the summer (I live in an area that has summer
daytime highs into the 90's and low 100's for weeks on end and
NIMHs don't do well in heat). I eventually spent an obscene amount
of money to get the lithium battery grip for my E10 and that solved
the problem.

Because the D60 and 10D have lithium batteries I have enjoyed
several years of freedom from battery-concern.

Now comes the 1D mkII which has better focus, flash and metering
systems than I'm used to. The frame rate doesn't impact my work
much but I make lots of 24 X 30 and 24 X 36 inch prints and the
weaker AA filter and extra pixels seem like they would add up to
better detail in large prints. I can afford the camera, but can I
live with the NIMH batteries.

I know that the NIMHs in the 1D are massive compared to 4 AA cells
and that the number of images that I could take on a fully charged
batter is more than sufficient for my needs -- but does the
capacity of the battery help the shelf life between uses.

MY QUESTION: For those of you who have been using the 1D and 1Ds
(especially if you are in a warm climate), what has been your
experience with shelf-life for the NIHM batteries that you are
using?

Will appreciate any light that you can shed on the issue.

Ken Smith

--
http://www.ksgraphicart.com
Click to expand...
--I left my 1D for 5 weeks without using itand the battery still
had a full charge today.
Chris Clark
Click to expand...
--
http://www.ksgraphicart.com
 
Ken C. Smith said:
MY QUESTION: For those of you who have been using the 1D and 1Ds
(especially if you are in a warm climate), what has been your
experience with shelf-life for the NIHM batteries that you are
using?
Click to expand...
..... about the same, except that I tend to find a week does not seem to adversly effect performance, but they do suffer in the same manner if not as severly.
 
There are several problems with a Li-Ion third party battery for the 1D. The current requirements for the 1D are too high for Li-Ion type batteries. Their capacitiy is higher, but they are more limited when it comes to peak current draw.

The other problem is that it would also require an all new charger and a good smart charger is a fairly significant cost item. The charging circuit for Li-Ion batteries is not compatible with that for Ni-Mh. All sorts of problems would show up if you plugged the wrong battery into the wrong charger - potentially law suit types of problems.
mauriceramirez said:
I am really disappointed that no third-party manufacturer has
designed a Li-Ion version. I'm curious to know why this is. Is it
an engineerinng or power requirement thing or a intellectual
property/design issue? Only the D1 &1D bodies still use NiMH.
Li-Ion batteries last longer, have better capacities, and are less
expensive. I remember that with camcorders, the jump from NiCd to
NiMH was nearly seamless.

And slightly OT... What is it with pros not ever wanting to go a
week or two without shooting?

Sheesh, don't you guys ever take vacations? Excluding exotic
destinations of course, i need to take weeks-long at a time breaks
from my cameras. I dare say that I'm a better photographer for it!
Well, this is probably not the best site to say blasphemous stuff
like this so I'd better quit...=)!

(runs for cover...)

-m
http://www.mauriceramirez.com
Click to expand...
--
Photography on the Run
http://www.pbase.com/paul42
 
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