# 5d Mark 2 Battery Life



## awinphoto (Dec 27, 2011)

Hey guys... this is geared for those who own 5d Mark 2's and those especially who own the 7D and 5D mark 2's... I have the 7D and loved most of all the wonderful battery life... I could shoot around 500-700 shots on one battery charge... It went on and on and on... I recently got the 5d Mark 2... when I got it, it came with a package including a vertical battery grip, an extra Canon OEM Battery amongst other things... So with the 2 genuine batteries and grip, I had an expectation that I could get a nice chunk of battery life... but even with the two batteries, when I checked the battery status option in camera, it said my 2 batteries, off of a full charge, were both around the 170 shot mark and were both around 40%... Granted, to be fair, the kit included the 24-105 IS L Lens, but does this camera and lens, really have this crappy of a battery life? The LCD review is only on like 3 seconds or something like that, shooting primarily through the VF with little to no Live View and for the most part, all photos, no video's... I'd love to hear your guy's feedback.


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## briansquibb (Dec 27, 2011)

My 5DII gives 5-600 pictures on 1 battery without a problem


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## awinphoto (Dec 27, 2011)

briansquibb said:


> My 5DII gives 5-600 pictures on 1 battery without a problem



Is that using IS lenses or non IS lenses or does that really matter? Are there any settings I may be overlooking that may be chewing through more battery life than needed?


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## neuroanatomist (Dec 27, 2011)

Sounds short to me. Just had a look at mine (Canon BG-E6 and two Canon LP-E6), 101 and 103 shots on the batteries, 78% remaining on both. I get about the same number of shots on my 5DII as on my 7D (500-600 per battery). Mostly with IS lenses, my review is set to 2 s, standby time is 4 min. 

Li-ion batteries have a lifespan determined both by number of charge cycles (1 cycle is a complete discharge and charge, even if it's small increments adding up to 100%) and battery age. Typically, 300-400 cycles or 3-4 years, whichever comes first. Shelf time counts. I know that for laptop batteries, some discounters sell older stock (bought in bulk from reputable dealers to clear old stock), and the life is unexpectedly poor. I'd assume there are camera gear dealers that do the same thing.


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## awinphoto (Dec 27, 2011)

neuroanatomist said:


> Sounds short to me. Just had a look at mine (Canon BG-E6 and two Canon LP-E6), 101 and 103 shots on the batteries, 78% remaining on both. I get about the same number of shots on my 5DII as on my 7D (500-600 per battery). Mostly with IS lenses, my review is set to 2 s, standby time is 4 min.
> 
> Li-ion batteries have a lifespan determined both by number of charge cycles (1 cycle is a complete discharge and charge, even if it's small increments adding up to 100%) and battery age. Typically, 300-400 cycles or 3-4 years, whichever comes first. Shelf time counts. I know that for laptop batteries, some discounters sell older stock (bought in bulk from reputable dealers to clear old stock), and the life is unexpectedly poor. I'd assume there are camera gear dealers that do the same thing.



I got the gear from adorama... 1 battery came with the camera and the second Canon OEM (canon brand) battery came in original packing... Couldn't tell you if it was older stock or not, but I would say the canon 5d2 kit, given all the backorders we've seen around, would be somewhat newish stock and from what I could tell, it appears to have the same charge as the other battery... Thanks for your input... are there any other custom settings that may be effecting it other than standby/review/ and or useage of live view and LCD brightness?


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## tron (Dec 27, 2011)

My battery which is not new by the way since its quality is being reported with one bar less on my 5DmkII seems to behave very good. A few days ago I shot 355 shots of a friend's baby and the battery went from 100% down to 84%. Lenses were a mixture of 50mm f/1.8 I, 135mm f/2 L and 70-200 f2.8L IS II.

I am not in a position to know if this good behaviour would show if I continued to shoot and if this battery drain would be linear but I was satisfied. Keep in mind however that I was taking a few shots in succession (although in single shot mode) and I was not spending a lot of time watching the LCD or "playing" with the camera. 

I do not watch my battery's behaviour in general. This was the only time I have done that.


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## lol (Dec 27, 2011)

I haven't had my 5D2 long enough yet, but my feel so far is it isn't much different from the 7D. For diagnosis maybe try not using the grip, unless you really need it. Or just put one battery in it.


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## JR (Dec 27, 2011)

This is strange indeed. I have three batteries with my 5D mkII and they each give me approx 500 shots before needing to be recharged. This however will very a lot if I start shooting video which drains the batteries quickly as well as using the LCD display in the back to show pictures and video to friends. But if I simply shoot still picture with normal use of the LCD, I get 500 pictures per battery.


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## TW (Dec 27, 2011)

I believe it takes a few charge cycles for the batteries to realize their full potential.


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## Ryusui (Dec 27, 2011)

I'd put money on a bad battery or batteries.

I too just got my 5D2 but I have much better life than that. I had a job a couple of weeks ago where I came home with just over 400 images - and that's not including ones I deleted on site. I probably used live view 20% of the time and my image review is set to "Hold." I was using the 24-105 IS kit lens, and yes, image stabilization was on. My battery held up just fine throughout.


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## Axilrod (Dec 27, 2011)

Ryusui said:


> I'd put money on a bad battery or batteries.
> 
> I too just got my 5D2 but I have much better life than that. I had a job a couple of weeks ago where I came home with just over 400 images - and that's not including ones I deleted on site. I probably used live view 20% of the time and my image review is set to "Hold." I was using the 24-105 IS kit lens, and yes, image stabilization was on. My battery held up just fine throughout.



I agree, mine last forever. Then again I do have a battery grip, so I guess with 2 batteries you really have to use it nonstop all day for it to die.


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## neuroanatomist (Dec 27, 2011)

awinphoto said:


> I got the gear from adorama...



That shady fly-by-night outfit? 



awinphoto said:


> are there any other custom settings that may be effecting it other than standby/review/ and or useage of live view and LCD brightness?



Nothing that I can think of... Some lenses do draw more power than others for IS and AF, but I wouldn't think that would make much of a difference. ???


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## willrobb (Dec 27, 2011)

Sounds very short indeed, I would think it's battery issues. 

With two batteries in my grip I can go out and shoot 2-3000 shots a day no problem and have about half the battery power left. My body and mind gives up for the day before my batteries do. 

I rarely use live view and only review manually which helps I guess. Also, I don't use IS on my lenses so much.


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## wickidwombat (Dec 27, 2011)

I have a grip but never use it, I shot a wedding recently and after about 1200 shots with the 5DII with genuine battery over about 10 hours the battery indicator was at about 1/3rd full still. its pretty impressive. on the other hand with similar use my 1DIII still showed an almost full battery.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Dec 28, 2011)

When I fire off shots quickly, over a two hour hour period, I often get 800-900 shots with my 5D MK II with a new battery. Less if I leave it on and in the sleep mode for a week or two.

The one thiing i noted, is that the battery starts losing capacity after 1-2 years. My two original batteries are now three years old, and show two bars rather than three, while two of my 1 + year old batteries show three bars.


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## 92101media (Dec 28, 2011)

For the time being, just to troubleshoot, try ditching the grip & shooting with each of the batteries individually in the normal (non-grip) battery compartment. Doing this, you may be able to determine that one of the batteries is bad or has poor capacity. I'm not sure how the electronics in the battery grip works i.e. drains one battery & then the other, but if, as is more likely, the 2 batteries are hooked in parallel & drained simultaneously, if one of the batteries is bad or near the end of its life, it may be dragging the overall capacity combined with the other battery down with it.

If you test the functioning & number of shots vs. battery depletion rate for the following, it may provide you with some answers:

- battery 1 in normal compartment 
- battery 2 in normal compartment 
- battery 1 in grip (other battery slot empty)
- battery 2 in grip (other battery slot empty)
- both batteries in battery grip


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## 7enderbender (Dec 28, 2011)

Sounds odd. Battery life on my 5DII is stellar. I have it with original Canon batteries and the Canon grip. Just checked it: 430 + 411 exposures with 25% each left. So it should be in the neighborhood of 900-1000 clicks per double battery charge. Haven't noticed any difference in lenses with respect to battery life.

Could of course be an issue with the camera or with the battery/batteries. One thing I heard is that there are a lot of fake ones out there and that the packaging looks extremely real on some. I only buy mine from Canon authorized dealers, which it appears you did as well.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Dec 28, 2011)

awinphoto said:


> Hey guys... this is geared for those who own 5d Mark 2's and those especially who own the 7D and 5D mark 2's... I have the 7D and loved most of all the wonderful battery life... I could shoot around 500-700 shots on one battery charge... It went on and on and on... I recently got the 5d Mark 2... when I got it, it came with a package including a vertical battery grip, an extra Canon OEM Battery amongst other things... So with the 2 genuine batteries and grip, I had an expectation that I could get a nice chunk of battery life... but even with the two batteries, when I checked the battery status option in camera, it said my 2 batteries, off of a full charge, were both around the 170 shot mark and were both around 40%... Granted, to be fair, the kit included the 24-105 IS L Lens, but does this camera and lens, really have this crappy of a battery life? The LCD review is only on like 3 seconds or something like that, shooting primarily through the VF with little to no Live View and for the most part, all photos, no video's... I'd love to hear your guy's feedback.



What is the date on your batteries? Canon started putting dates on them well over a year ago. When you put one fully charged battery in the camera, how many green bars show?


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## TimKaldas (Dec 28, 2011)

All these responses seem incredibly low to me. I shoot weddings and a single charge easily lasts around 2500 shots. I've had batteries go 2700+ shots on a single charge. I don't use a grip and I use Sandisk Extremes in my bodies. I shoot all primes so I don't have IS on any of my lenses. I suppose that would drain the battery a bit faster. I guess I'm just very surprised by how low some of the responses have been.


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## neuroanatomist (Dec 28, 2011)

TimKaldas said:


> All these responses seem incredibly low to me. I shoot weddings and a single charge easily lasts around 2500 shots. I've had batteries go 2700+ shots on a single charge. I don't use a grip and I use Sandisk Extremes in my bodies. I shoot all primes so I don't have IS on any of my lenses. I suppose that would drain the battery a bit faster. I guess I'm just very surprised by how low some of the responses have been.



Impressive! The non-IS lenses likely make a difference, but even more, I'm guessing you're not doing much - if any - or using the LCD to change settings, and the LCD uses a lot of power, relatively speaking.


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## lol (Dec 28, 2011)

Just topping up my 5D2 battery for the first time. 600+ shots and ~38% indicated remaining capacity, so roughly speaking let's say 1000 shot life there. However the shooting for me was different than I'd do in the 7D, as I was chimping a lot as I tried out new stuff.


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## handsomerob (Dec 28, 2011)

6 months old LP-E6 (must have been charged around 30-40 times) on a 7D (no grip) with 70-200 f/2.8 IS II (IS was turned off, 90% of the time). I would probably expect slightly more clicks on a 5DII since it uses only one Digic.

No flash and image review was turned off but I did check occasionally after some shots. I find it pretty impressive, didn't even have to use my spare battery.

I agree with others that IS and LCD drain a lot.


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## awinphoto (Dec 28, 2011)

Thanks for all the responces... I'll check tonight what the dates are on the batteries and try shooting with the grip... maybe the grip is draining more battery than it should.. Do you know if Canon has a warranty on the batteries? Perhaps I could send the 5d in for a cleaning and check and have them check the batteries as well?


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## awinphoto (Dec 29, 2011)

For those of you waiting on baited breath, the dates on the batteries are september 2010... so they are about a year old (even though I just got it a few months ago.... ) I will try them grip-less and see what performance I get that way...


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## sb (Dec 29, 2011)

My experience is almost identical to what Tim Kaldas described. 600 images on 1 battery sounds way too low. I will shoot a full wedding day on a single battery (no grip) and only really have to change the battery towards the end of the evening if I'm staying late. My battery is from 2008 (when the camera was released).

Primes with no IS probably help tremendously, but also I don't check my screen all the time either. I rarely turn off the camera (instead I let it hibernate). I never use servo, I never fiddle with menu settings, and I never machine-gun it (single shot all the way). 

I think shooting habits play a significant role as well.


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## neuroanatomist (Dec 29, 2011)

sb said:


> I think shooting habits play a significant role as well.



Agreed. Mt Spokane mentioned this, too. If you fire off a lot of shots fairly quickly, you get a lot more total shots. The 500-600 shots per fully charged battery is for my personal normal usage pattern - shooting 10 shots one day, 200 the next, none for a couple of days, sometimes shooting outside in sub-zero temperatures, chimping to show pics to wife and kids, charging when I feel like it (I almost never come close to exhausting a battery), etc.

However, some time back I tested SanDisk CF card speeds in the 7D and 5DII, taking about 1800 shots on the 7D and 750 shots on the 5DII, all as rapid-fire bursts with no focusing at all. I checked the battery stats afterwards, just for kicks - the 7D batteries were at around 70% with ~900 shots each, the 5DII's batteries were around 87% with ~375 shots each. Assuming a linear discharge rate, that translates to about *3000* shots per fully charged battery, the same batteries that with normal usage (normal for me, of course) give 500-600 shots on a charge - a 5-fold difference in number of shots for the exact same batteries, just based on usage pattern.


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## Kernuak (Dec 29, 2011)

When I first got my 5D MkII, I noticed a similar problem compared to the 7D. It was a while before I realised that the settings were to never go into hibernation (or whatever Canon call it). Once I changed that, I now get similar life in both.


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## gmrza (Dec 30, 2011)

neuroanatomist said:


> sb said:
> 
> 
> > I think shooting habits play a significant role as well.
> ...



This mirrors my experience - I will typically get 500 to 600 frames, while my wife will come home from a day of shooting 1500 frames and have 48% charge left on her two batteries in 5DII (using a BG-E6). Subjectively, it also seems that the BG-E6 gives more than double the battery life, possibly due to demanding less current from each battery - I have not tested that with any rigour, however.


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## RunAndGun (Dec 30, 2011)

I have two 5DmkII's, each with two batteries. I bought my first one in December 2008 and the original battery that came with the first camera is still going strong(the battery health is still two bars). I haven't really kept track of the shutter count on each charge, but the batteries seem to run almost forever. You probably have a "bad" battery, it happens.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Dec 31, 2011)

It does sound like AF is taking a toll. My use when taking stage photos does not require much in the way of AF, since the distance varies only a little.

I don't have any plans to run a experiment, since I don't want to put 10 K or 20K shutter actuations on my camera testing all the variations that might affect battery life.


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## briansquibb (Jan 1, 2012)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> It does sound like AF is taking a toll.



+1

I suspect SERVO bumps it quite a lot.

Certainly chimping a lot does


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