# 5DS R battery life



## AlanF (Apr 16, 2016)

I am not using the 5DS R efficiently for battery life - lot's of viewing though the telephoto and then firing off a shot or two. Even so, my current average of only 300 shots per charge does seem low. Anyone else have this problem?


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## IglooEater (Apr 16, 2016)

+1 the question. I'd like to hear from folks who have it. The 5ds is interesting to me, but 300 shots per battery would be a complete deal killer for me.


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## neuroanatomist (Apr 16, 2016)

No experience with the 5DsR, but certainly usage pattern affects battery life. The CIPA rating is 700 VF shots, 220 live view shots. 

My 1D X is rated for 1120 shots. Shooting with the 24-70/70-200, lots of short 3-5 shot bursts, limited chimping, I get well over 2500 shots. With the 600 II, lots of looking (IS on and frequent focusing), occasional shooting, checking histogram, I get less than 700-800 shots. 

So, I suspect what you're seeing is consistent with the usage pattern you describe.


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## East Wind Photography (Apr 16, 2016)

AlanF said:


> I am not using the 5DS R efficiently for battery life - lot's of viewing though the telephoto and then firing off a shot or two. Even so, my current average of only 300 shots per charge does seem low. Anyone else have this problem?



I use the 5ds r with the canon grip and two batteries. I have no issues with over 1000 shots and still 50% battery left. Most of that is straight shooting with limited screen use.

Are you using the canon battery? If you go into battery info menu, what does the camera say for its charge efficiency? 1-3 green blocks.

Its not a very efficient camera. My thoughts are the extra data writing at 50mp has a performance impact.


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## Grant Atkinson (Apr 16, 2016)

Hi AlanF
I made a note of my last 5DSR battery performance, and it was something like this: Capacity remaining 28 percent, after 678 shots taken. I used the EF 100-400ii lens, with lots of action photography so shooting in short bursts, and in full sunlight, with large average file sizes. I was using the 6N battery. Only a little viewing of the rear screen, and less than 3 minutes of Live View shooting.
I have also shot quite a lot with the EF 500L f4 IS, and the 24-70F4L IS, and got similar performance, so usually a properly charged battery good for 700 shots at least. My feeling is that lots of viewing the images on the back LCD might eat up battery power. I also shoot RAW only, and have other unnecessary image jpg processing steps turned off, like in-camera NR, Highlight Priority, Auto Lighting, and lens corrections...I think they degrade buffer/continuous shooting performance as well as the battery.
Hope that helps
Cheers
Grant


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## bholliman (Apr 16, 2016)

I don't have hard data, but am getting well over 600 shots with my 6N's in my 5DsR. Less when I'm doing a lot of live view shooting.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Apr 16, 2016)

Some individual cameras do struggle with battery life. If multiple of your batteries do this, I'd tend to think there is a issue in the camera with the DC-DC converter card. That is a uncommon issue, but I see it often enough to where I'd list it as a possibility.

Unless you are using live view, 300 shots is not enough.

If you only have one battery, I'd suspect the battery first.

I can easily shoot 2000 - 2500 shots with my 5D MK III over two days before the battery gets toward the low end. That's with a 3 year old battery and the LCD review for 2 sec after each shot. I have two batteries that I rotate. When I'm using liveview and my eye-fi card, I get very few on a charge, I've never counted but its in the low 100's.


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## surapon (Apr 16, 2016)

AlanF said:


> I am not using the 5DS R efficiently for battery life - lot's of viewing though the telephoto and then firing off a shot or two. Even so, my current average of only 300 shots per charge does seem low. Anyone else have this problem?



Dear friend Mr. AlanF.
I have this awesome 5DS R. since 10/5/2015, and shoot average 1,000 per month for this camera. Yes, I have Battery grip that have 2 Battery and I can shoot 1200 Photos for both of batteries. BUT , I have learn from the PRO/ Canon PRO. :
1) minimum use live view for shooting.
2) Turn Off all of the following function, when we do not need them= 
a) Anti- Flicker
b) interval timer
c) Electronic Leveler
d) Long Exposure Noise Reduction.
Good Luck , Sir.
Surapon


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## steven kessel (Apr 17, 2016)

I have a 5DS-R and yes, it eats battery compared to my 5Diii. But, I can still get several hundred images out of a charge and that includes a lot of viewing of images. Basically, I have to recharge the battery after every 2 sessions as compared to recharging the battery on my 5Diii about once every 3 or 4 sessions. That's a small price to pay for the much bigger files that this camera generates and for the immeasurably enhanced detail that I get with it. I'm totally satisfied with battery life with my 5DS-R.


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## Zeidora (Apr 17, 2016)

Another 5DsR with grip. Goes quicker through batteries than 5D2 with grip, but plenty for a day of shooting even with lots of live views. I notice that the battery seems to drain faster when NOT using the camera, so there seems to be some "vampire" degradation going on. Two new Canon LP6N in the the grip.
No problem doing 1000 frames when z-stacking a bunch of specimens. Occasionally, if a start a session with rather low batteries, I take one out to charge, shoot with the other, and switch once the first is dead. Very limited interruption in my workflow.


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## Skatol (Apr 17, 2016)

I was out today and shot about 300 frames with the 5DsR and 600 F/4 non IS. I have the Canon grip and both batteries are down to about 50%. These are after market Watson's left over from my Mark III. I used Live View quite a bit for manual focusing and verifying exposure. I also kept the shutter release half pressed to keep the camera ready in anticipation for the action. I think (hope) that the Canon batteries would perform better.


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## AlanF (Apr 17, 2016)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> Some individual cameras do struggle with battery life. If multiple of your batteries do this, I'd tend to think there is a issue in the camera with the DC-DC converter card. That is a uncommon issue, but I see it often enough to where I'd list it as a possibility.
> 
> Unless you are using live view, 300 shots is not enough.
> 
> ...



Problems with two new LPE6Ns and my 3 old LPE6s. Can Canon easily check the DC-DC card?


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## photojoern.de (Apr 17, 2016)

I own the 5 DS R for about 9 months. I went on a photo tour in Cambodia and NEVER had to change the batterie on a shooting session (4 hours). Intensively using the camera, I always made it with one battery and a spare battery over a full day. When you make only 300 shots out of a battery charge, there´s something wrong. Or you may be focussing and liveviewing minutes before taking on shot. I believe it´s more around 800 - 1000 shots per charge.
So, bottom line: The camera needs more battery power for saving huge 60 MB files for full resolution RAW files. But it is by far not a problem. You can leave home or hotel for an intensive day trip with two fully charged batteries and you are safe. 
BTW: I even use third party batteries (Minadax) and they are probably 90% as good as the expensive originals from Canon.


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## nc0b (Apr 19, 2016)

I shot 292 shots today and reviewed most every shot for highlight clipping on the rear LCD. No grip, and the battery was reading about 2/3rds on the top LCD display at the end of the day. I didn't look any deeper in the menu selections if more detail is available. This is my first vacation trip with my 5DS R, so I have a lot to learn. I don't know how linear the battery icon is. About 2/3rds of the shots were with a 100-400mm II, and the rest with a 16-35mm f/4. My wife shot a 6D all day with a 24-105mm f/4, and her battery was down a similar amount with only 157 shots. All batteries had been charged before the trip began. Three of my batteries are LP-E6 and one is an LP-E6N. I don't know which two batteries we used today. One battery came with the 6D about 3 years ago, two were purchased a year and a half ago before a trip to Easter Island, and the E6N came with the 5DS R two weeks ago. No attempt was made to minimize battery drain as I had two other charged batteries with me. Come to think of it, the battery that came with my 60D could well be in the mix since that E6 could be among the four here at Sequoia National Park. So far I don't see a battery life problem.


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## Hector1970 (Apr 19, 2016)

Until you asked the question I hadn't noticed any issue with battery life.
I've found it comparable with the 5DIII but without any proper measuring.
The Canon batteries are typically better than all the others.
I find the second or two wait to see the photo after you've taken a raw shot a bit annoying.
The file size it makes is an issue for me too.
You'd plough through 16GB or 32GB in no time.
Still its a good camera but I'd find my 5DIII all round to be more useful


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## Skatol (Apr 20, 2016)

Skatol said:


> I was out today and shot about 300 frames with the 5DsR and 600 F/4 non IS. I have the Canon grip and both batteries are down to about 50%. These are after market Watson's left over from my Mark III. I used Live View quite a bit for manual focusing and verifying exposure. I also kept the shutter release half pressed to keep the camera ready in anticipation for the action. I think (hope) that the Canon batteries would perform better.



Quick update, I shot an additional ~230 shots today with the same setup on the same batteries (without recharging) and still have ~30% in each.


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## East Wind Photography (Apr 20, 2016)

Hector1970 said:


> Until you asked the question I hadn't noticed any issue with battery life.
> I've found it comparable with the 5DIII but without any proper measuring.
> The Canon batteries are typically better than all the others.
> I find the second or two wait to see the photo after you've taken a raw shot a bit annoying.
> ...



Lol. You should try shooting with film. The delay is just infuriating.


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