Sony shooters know that the battery on their cameras doesn’t last as with some other camera brands. This is especially the case with the mirrorless cameras, considering that they are smaller in size than the batteries for DSLRs. In this video, Chris Gampat gives you some advice how to get the most out of your Sony camera battery and make it last longer.
If you shoot all-day events with a Sony mirrorless camera, you may need a lot of spare batteries to bring along. However, for shorter events, maybe even a single battery can do, if you apply some tricks to save it up. Here are the tricks Chris proposes for getting the most out of your Sony battery:
1.Dim your camera’s LCD screen and viewfinder
If you turn on a “battery saving mode” on your phone, one of the things it will do is dim the phone’s screen. The same action works for saving the battery of a camera.
Sony cameras offer “Manual” screen setting, where you can dim the screen and make it less bright. There is a “Sunny Weather” option, which makes everything extremely bright. Make sure to turn it off whenever you don’t need it, because no one needs an LCD screen or a viewfinder that bright.
2. Turn on the “Airplane Mode”
Again, just like your smartphone, Sony cameras also have an Airplane Mode. When you set the camera to this mode, it stops all Wi-Fi scanning activities, which use up a certain amount of battery.
3. Take the batteries out when the camera isn’t in use
Videographers may be used to doing this, but photographers may find it handy as well. Photographers generally put the camera together with a battery and a lens in a bag. But removing the battery when you’re not shooting could save you some of the battery life.
4. Manual focus point selection
When your camera is set to “Wide” or “Area” autofocus setting, it’s going to analyze the entire scene and try to pick up the focusing point from it. When you select a specific focusing point, then the camera is honing to only that point and thus uses less battery.
5. Use faster memory cards
When you use slower memory cards, it takes more time for the camera to write the data onto the card. So, the processor is doing more work for a longer period of time, which drains the battery. If you use a faster memory card, the processor will write the data faster and in a shorter period of time, thus saving your battery life.
6. Use lower ISO
The final tip from Chris is to use lower ISO if you can. The processor uses more energy for the photos with high ISO, probably because of the noise reduction program. This way, your battery could last a bit longer if you tone down the ISO.
All these tricks may not save a whole lot of battery life individually. However, if you use them all together, you can probably save a significant amount of battery life.
As I am not a mirrorless (or Sony) shooter myself, I’d like to hear your thoughts on this. Do you use some of these techniques to save your battery life? What are the other ways to make the best out of your Sony mirrorless batteries? I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences.
[How to Get Better Battery Life From Your Sony Camera via The Phoblographer]
