Author Topic: Nikon Z6/7 mirrorless system (Read 365322 times)

Øivind Tøien · « **Reply #675 on:** March 05, 2019, 12:29:58 »

For the Yukon Quest finish I captured 657 frames and the D500 reported 50% battery charge left while still cold (-7°C), 60% after rewarming, most captures short bursts at 10 frames per sec. So at room temperature I would have expected to get 1657 frames if the battery was run to 0%.

Tonight I captured 422 frames at the Ice Alaska (ice carving) festival and the D500 reported 7% battery charge left while still cold (perhaps -10°C at the start, -16°C at the end), 17% after rewarming. Most exposures were on tripod at ISO 100, several seconds long, reviewed almost every frame and I used live view for perhaps 1/4 to 1/3 of the frames - sometimes forgot to turn off live view when moving between sites, actively shooting for a total of > 4 hours. Standby timer mostly on 6 sec. or 30 sec.

In other words, this is just as expected from our above experiences.

[Edited in battery charge after rewarming and corrected the number of frames. Also flight mode was on and no wifi etc active. (in response to Frank's question below).]

Frank Fremerey · « **Reply #676 on:** March 05, 2019, 13:23:39 »

Does *flight mode* add to battery performance? Mobile phones tend to drain batteries faster with WiFi and other connections switched on.

Birna Rørslett · « **Reply #677 on:** March 05, 2019, 13:42:13 »

I have wi-fi etc. off.

Frank Fremerey · « **Reply #678 on:** March 05, 2019, 13:55:13 »

Quote from: Birna Rørslett on March 05, 2019, 13:42:13

I have wi-fi etc. off.

thank you...

tommiejeep · « **Reply #679 on:** March 05, 2019, 14:03:58 »

Frank, there are probably quite a few settings which impact on Battery life with Nikon MILC bodies. I have not yet bought a Z6 but having used the Olympus EM-1, Pen F and Sony a7rii I really know about battery life being bad, particularly if you start using WiFi for transferring or tethering. My son and I are using tethering cables. For the Oly bodies I carry 3 or 4 batteries for a long day and same for Sony a7rii. The a7iii has a much better battery so 2 works. I would have to check my settings but there are quite a few on the Sony bodies which impact on batter life. WiFi and Airplane mode are just two. Certain things such as pre-AF also use more power. I have not seen anyone make a list for the Z6/Z7. I often shoot long events so normally keep the cameras on and awake so battery drain is bad. Coming from D3S I really have to pay attention

.

Fortunately I have a stack of batteries for the Z6 from other bodies.
Cheers,
Tom

Frank Fremerey · « **Reply #680 on:** March 05, 2019, 14:14:31 »

Thank you, Tom. Øivind took a lot of effort to systematically test battery performance. Greatly appreciated. With my DSLRs the usual battery life is in the thousands, with my X100T only a few hundreds. I carry extra batteries for both, just in case....

BEZ · « **Reply #681 on:** March 05, 2019, 14:26:33 »

Quote from: Anthony on March 05, 2019, 11:20:50

As the batteries are small and light, it is trivial to carry spares on occasions when I expect to do a lot of shooting.

True Anthony but I need a least four battery's for a days shooting (I keep the camera constantly awake, not just on). When I don't have a camera bag I put them in my pocket. Annoyingly this seems to be a recipe for me losing them. It is starting to add up and be an expensive issue. I don't ever remember losing a Nikon battery.

Cheers

Anthony · « **Reply #682 on:** March 05, 2019, 15:16:07 »

Quote from: BEZ on March 05, 2019, 14:26:33

True Anthony but I need a least four battery's for a days shooting (I keep the camera constantly awake, not just on). When I don't have a camera bag I put them in my pocket. Annoyingly this seems to be a recipe for me losing them. It is starting to add up and be an expensive issue. I don't ever remember losing a Nikon battery.

Cheers

I use Think Tank battery holders (I have a 2 and a 4 size) for my batteries. They are very practical. Used batteries go back with the terminal showing. https://www.wilkinson.co.uk/think-tank-dslr-battery-holder-4-pouch/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIw-mlwJfr4AIV753tCh0u8wnOEAQYASABEgLKZ_D_BwE

I turn the camera off when not actually shooting. I think that significantly improves battery life.

Nikfuson · « **Reply #683 on:** March 05, 2019, 20:24:49 »

Time for another photo in this thread.
This one's from South Bank (London).
The 50/1.8S is not perfect...a pack of "seagulls" in the reflections in the water to the lower right. But still a very nice lens.

ianwatson · « **Reply #684 on:** March 05, 2019, 20:55:17 »

Quote from: gryphon1911 on March 04, 2019, 19:47:38

Now for the Z6. It killed it too. I'm honestly starting to get a little PO'd with the internet Youtubers and bloggers. They trashed the hell out of this camera for AF performance. While I will concede that it is not at a D5/D500 level...I'm getting as good an AF performance out of this thing as I was my D700/D750 for the boxing I shot, images attached below.

Thank you for this, Andrew. This thread has been slowly inclining me towards a Z6 but the assorted criticism of the AF elsewhere had been giving me pause. My mind, if not my wallet, can now be at ease.

BEZ · « **Reply #685 on:** March 05, 2019, 20:59:06 »

Quote from: Anthony on March 05, 2019, 15:16:07

I use Think Tank battery holders (I have a 2 and a 4 size) for my batteries. They are very practical. Used batteries go back with the terminal showing. https://www.wilkinson.co.uk/think-tank-dslr-battery-holder-4-pouch/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIw-mlwJfr4AIV753tCh0u8wnOEAQYASABEgLKZ_D_BwE

I turn the camera off when not actually shooting. I think that significantly improves battery life.

Anthony,
Thank you for the link, the pouch should be useful when I don't have a camera bag.

For my style of shooting I constantly tap the shutter to wake up the camera. There is nothing worse than missing the shot because the camera is asleep. Unfortunately the battery only lasts a couple of hours even though I constantly use the OVF. I don't have this problem using my Nikon's, but may if I buy a Z camera?

gryphon1911 · « **Reply #686 on:** March 05, 2019, 22:20:05 »

Quote from: Ian Watson on March 05, 2019, 20:55:17

Thank you for this, Andrew. This thread has been slowly inclining me towards a Z6 but the assorted criticism of the AF elsewhere had been giving me pause. My mind, if not my wallet, can now be at ease.

Glad to be of some assistance. I'm just glad that there are forums like this were we can share true long term usage and experience and not "held the camera for 5 minutes and shot a model in dim bar lights" or "I don't usually shoot in AF-C, but I'm going to do that test, claim to be an expert".