Battery Life, Canon 5D

[John Swearingen]

I'll be shooting in Tibet, away from access to electricity, for about eight days at a stretch.  I'm trying to  figure out how many batteries I should carry to cover my shooting for those days.    

How quickly does the Canon 5D drain the battery while shooting?  What about backing up?  It seems that "battery/shot" would need to include battery usage in downloading from the flash each day.

Thanks!

[Ken Tanaka]

I'll be shooting in Tibet, away from access to electricity, for about eight days at a stretch.  I'm trying to  figure out how many batteries I should carry to cover my shooting for those days.   

How quickly does the Canon 5D drain the battery while shooting?  What about backing up?  It seems that "battery/shot" would need to include battery usage in downloading from the flash each day.

Thanks!
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=95290\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Sounds like quite a trip, John.

To your question, there's really no hard answer.  The 5D's 7.2v battery is not nearly as robust as the 1-bodies' 12v batteries, but it's also much lighter.  Its longevity depends on factors such as temperature (colder = shorter life) and operational drains (ex: image stabilizer usage, use of the camera's lcd).  As a policy I always have a spare battery handy when shooting with the 5D.  Being in a remote location I'd suggest a bandalero of batteries.

[Jack Flesher]

I've gotten nearly 500 frames on a single charge, but this was relatively quick shooting with virtually no chimping.  Shooting as I normally do with occasional histo checks and image reviews, it is more like 250 - 300 range, but YMMV...

[ARD]

I'll be shooting in Tibet, away from access to electricity, for about eight days at a stretch.  I'm trying to  figure out how many batteries I should carry to cover my shooting for those days.   

How quickly does the Canon 5D drain the battery while shooting?  What about backing up?  It seems that "battery/shot" would need to include battery usage in downloading from the flash each day.

Thanks!
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[a href=\"http://www.voltaicsystems.com/]Solar Bag[/url]

This might be worth considering

[gochugogi]

Shooting in the balmy tropics, I average about 400 frames per charge on my 5D. I rarely chimp as the LCD is too dim too see in Hawaii's sunlight.

[Jeremy Roussak]

Shooting in the balmy tropics, I average about 400 frames per charge on my 5D. I rarely chimp as the LCD is too dim too see in Hawaii's sunlight.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=95709\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Just for my information, what's the precise definition (and origin, if known) of "chimp"?

Jeremy

[John Swearingen]

Just for my information, what's the precise definition (and origin, if known) of "chimp"?

Jeremy
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=95738\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Jeremy,
The urban dictionary has several definitions, of which here are the first two...

1.     Chimp     
   see Dubya
The chimp tried to answer journalists questions today... what a laugh

2.    
   To review an image on the LCD screen of a digital camera after taking a photograph. In common usage among press photographers. The act was dubbed chimping after photographers were caught making monkey-like noises when they reviewed a good shot in their cameras.

1. The photographer chimped his double-play shots from the first base photo position.
2. The photographer was caught chimping on the sideline after a play and missed the interception shot.


John

[Maddog]

Why we're talking batteries, has anyone used the non-OEM batteries, like the ones on ebay. They cost about a 1/3 of what Canon asks for there batteries.
maddog