Conserving Battery Power
Managing your power was something you never had to think about with traditional film. If you are new to digital photography, you will learn that you must be aware of how much power you have available.
You can get more shots out of your camera if you turn off or turn down power-draining features. First, always be aware of how much power you have left. Many cameras offer a readout of estimated battery time. However, this information is at best only an estimate. To be safe, you should assume that you have much less time than the camera tells you. If a battery does not last as long as it should, mark that battery with a notation, such as an asterisk, to indicate that the camera cannot read that battery's level correctly.
In many cameras, you will get a low battery warning that flashes on the LCD monitor or viewfinder. Depending on the camera, you may be able to take up to ten more shots. So if you need to take a crucial shot when the warning starts, go ahead and take the picture; you will probably be okay.
Follow these tips to maximize your digital camera's batteries.
Turn off the LCD monitor if you are using a viewfinder. If your camera has an optical viewfinder or an LCD viewfinder, turn off the LCD monitor at the back, as it uses a lot of power.
Turn off the LCD viewfinder if you are not using it. Some high-end cameras have automatic controls that will sense when you have the viewfinder close to your eye and will only turn it on when you are looking through it.
Turn down the flash. If your flash has different power levels and you don't need all that power, use the lower flash setting.
Don't use the flash — use available light. Flash eats batteries. The less you use flash, the longer your batteries will last.
The zoom setting can use a lot of power — avoid zooming in and out if not necessary.
Recording can use a lot more electricity than playback — put your camera in playback mode if you leave your camera on for a while.
Many cameras will work with a power cord plugged into a wall. If you are in a fixed situation close to an outlet, use the wall power.
If you are using your camera every couple of minutes or so, leave it on instead of turning it on and off. Leaving it on means that you will be ready for a spontaneous shot. Turning it on and off uses a lot of battery power, so you may not be gaining anything. If you forget to shut your camera off, many shut down automatically after a set period of time.
Never open the battery compartment or remove batteries when the camera is saving a picture to memory. Interrupting this procedure can corrupt your picture file and possibly the memory card itself. A save operation in the camera is often indicated by a flashing light or other warning sign.
