Everyone wants a camera battery that lasts forever, but every photographer has encountered the problem of a battery running out of juice when it’s needed the most. Today I’ll be explaining how to extend the battery life of your camera, so that you can always capture those precious moments.
The Start Load
When you start your camera, the starting load is considerably more than what it takes to capture an actual photograph.
Some people take photographs at regular intervals, but have a habit of switching off their camera when they feel that they won’t be using it for a few seconds. This practice decreases the battery life significantly, and should be avoided.
The Lens Movement
Many of us use point and shoot cameras for our day-to-day photography, and the most battery consuming thing in these types of cameras is their optical zoom lenses. Since these lenses use mechanical parts to expand and contract, every time you do so, it eats up significant amount of your battery charge.
Try not to experiment too much with zooming when you’re running low on battery.
Standby Mode
Almost all cameras out there have a standby mode as an in-built function. This puts your camera in a state of “sleep” if it senses that the device hasn’t been used for a while. This is not remotely similar to turning off your camera and turning it back on, and the standby mode saves a lot of battery power.
The LCD Screen
Another battery life drainer is the LCD screen on the back of your camera. These screens need energy to light them up, and are usually turned on whether or not you’re taking a photograph. This can be a huge drain on battery life, and isn’t always necessary if your camera also has a viewfinder.
The catch for this trick is to dim or turn off your LCD when not in use. The setting can be easily found in your camera’s menu or settings page.
Using Flash Sparingly
Flash acts as sonic boom, crunching through your battery life. From time to time, you always see someone using flash to photograph a subject 100 meters away from them (at a concert, for instance). Let me tell you – in this situation, using flash will not increase the exposure of your subject in any way, and the only thing you’re doing is wasting your valuable battery power on flash.
Use flash, but wisely and only when necessary.
Conclusion
Although there’s nothing better than a spare battery, there are a number of ways to ensure you don’t drain power necessarily. Use your camera’s standby mode, turn off the flash when it won’t improve an image, avoid zooming unnecessarily, and consider using the viewfinder rather than a bright LCD screen!
Do you have any of your own tips for improving battery life? We’d love to hear them in the comments!