Six tricks to stretch your camera’s battery to unsuspected limits

Running out of battery and not having another on hand is one of the biggest frustrations for any photographer on a photographic outing. The famous symbol above is one of the worst nightmares when we are enjoying a good session and the camera warns us that we are finishing environmental chamber for battery test manufacturer.

But everything has a solution and nothing better than some tips and tricks to drain the batteries before they finally die. Let’s see them:

Leave the machine gun at home

The best way for someone to think about the photo they are going to take is to get the low battery symbol. From there, many begin to think about the photo instead of using the camera as a real machine gun.

Since the film went down in history, shooting left and right has become normal, and this way of taking photos, although it can make it easier for us to decide afterwards, is criminal for our batteries.

So start thinking about your photo and framing before you shoot, and we’ll dramatically extend your battery life.

The flash and automatic zoom, better not

Flashes are great consumers of battery power, mainly those built into the body that depend on the main battery, since external ones usually have their own batteries. If the battery has capacity for several photos, this amount will be reduced considerably if we use the flash of the camera, so try to use it as little as possible.

To do this, we can increase the sensitivity of the sensor. A high ISO will allow us to save the flash in circumstances that with lower sensitivities would not be necessary.

Regarding the automatic zoom, it must be taken into account that unlike in the SLR, in which we do it manually, the zoom in or out of the scene in most compact, is done through an electro-mechanical system that moves the lens and this, it pulls a lot on the battery, so don’t use it a lot if you don’t want to kill it fast.

Deactivate the automatisms

Every time you press the shutter button halfway to focus we are making the focus motor work, and therefore the battery. In addition, the longer the focal length and especially in zoom lenses, the more the focus motor will work and the more battery you will spend. Therefore, if you use a camera that allows manual focus, this is the time to use it.

Another feature present in many digital cameras, both SLR and compact, is image stabilization. A fantastic feature but whose stabilization motor consumes a lot of battery, so unless you absolutely need it, do not use it.

The protection systems and cleaning off dust sensor is also a feature that most SLR incorporated, and all systems use the battery. If your camera has one of these sensor anti-dust systems, disable it.

Screens off. Use the optical viewfinder

Disable the option to review the photo on the LCD screen, you will have time to review the photos at home. The LCD screen consumes a lot of battery, so try to use it as little as possible. Of course, it disables the live view systems “Live View” on the screen, which are real battery eats.

If you need to modify shooting values, try to do it through the viewfinder, the dedicated buttons or the secondary screen that many SLRs incorporate, since it consumes much less power. Using the optical viewfinder, both in SLR and compact that have it is always the best option if what we want is to save energy.

In any case, if you have to use the screen yes or yes, as in mobile phones, lower the brightness to a minimum.

Wireless connections, turned off

Both mobile phones, as well as the new compact and reflex ones, begin to incorporate wireless connections such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or have GPS geolocation for photos.

Obviously, they consume battery in abundance, so if we want to stretch our battery throughout a photographic output, it is best to turn off all kinds of unnecessary connections.

Set sleep and turn it off when you’re not using it

Many cameras give you the ability to set the time interval for the camera to go to sleep or even the time for it to turn off completely. Set the sleep time to the minimum possible, and try to turn off the camera when you are going to be without using it for more than 10-15 minutes.

It is also not a good idea to turn it off and on every time we take a photo, so try to be consistent with the use you are giving the camera to put it in suspension or turn it off permanently.