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How Long Does a Canon Battery Last? [All You Need To Know]

Are you planning to take your new DSLR, Mirrorless, or a Point and Shoot camera out on a trip? Not sure how long does a Canon battery last? Before you plan a hike to the Andes top or a casual stroll across the glistening beaches of Maldives, it is important to ensure that the battery is up to the snuff.

Yet, the battery life prefacing your camera’s efficacy might vary depending on the model in hand. And that is exactly why I have decided to put together a detailed analysis — talking about every battery element, ways to calculate the battery life, reasons for battery drain, and ideas to make the Canon camera’s battery last longer.

Plus, I have also put together the peak performance limits of each camera type, against which you can compare the current state of your camera and the battery it incases. So let’s get the ball rolling!

How Long Does a Canon Battery Last?

How Long Does a Canon Battery Last?

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How Long Does a Canon Battery Take to Charge?

Charging a Canon camera battery depends on how you choose to connect it to a power source. Here is what the time segregation usually looks like?

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How long does it take to charge a Canon battery also depends on the following metrics:

  • The overall capacity of the battery
  • The quality or charging health
  • Charging method (something we covered in the table)
  • Quality of the charging cable
  • Ambient temperature of the surrounding

Also, you need to understand that you can never ‘Overcharge’ a Canon battery as it supports auto cut-off, camera type notwithstanding.

Calculate How Long a Battery Will Last

Now that you are aware of the digital cameras’ battery life and their charging basics, it is necessary to be able to calculate how long does camera battery last by factoring in the following metrics:

1. Watt-Hours

The overall power capacity or the power that a battery can hold is represented using watt-hour. While most Canon camera batteries declare it right away, the same can be calculated by multiplying the battery voltage with Ampere/hour.

2. Watt Consumption

If you want to do one better than the watt-hour calculation, you can always calculate the wattage consumption by multiplying the overall wattage of the battery with the operational hours.

3. Runtime

Now that you have calculated the watt-hours and even the wattage consumption depending on the operational hours, you can find the runtime by dividing the former by the latter.

4. Calculate using Accessories

By this time, you should be aware of your digital camera’s battery life. But then, you should also test each parameter by keeping the accessories connected, mainly to test the camera performance in a standard, real-life scenario.

This means if you have a video transmitter at your disposal, you should account for the power it draws from the standard wattage consumption figure. And subtracting the same from the calculation would push the runtime lower.

How Often Should You Charge a Camera Battery?

Regardless of the camera you use, keeping the battery charged between 20% and 80% is advisable to maximize overall performance. Also, every new camera battery isn’t fully charged, and therefore, it is necessary to charge it on the day you receive the package and even on the day you plan on using it.

However, the charging frequency also depends on the type of photography and the camera type, with the following parameters to take note of:

  1. Mirrorless Cameras need to be fully charged once every three months.
  2. Canon DSLR batteries do not drain crazy and can be fully charged once every six months.

The Reasons Why Your Canon Battery Drains

Now that you know how to calculate how long a battery will last, you should be able to identify the issues or reasons leading to a quicker drain:

1. Keeping the camera switched on

Most people, especially seasoned artists, are forgetful and end up keeping the camera turned on between shots. And it goes without saying that this practice decreases the digital cameras’ battery life.

Therefore, if you are planning to travel with your Canon camera, it is advisable to keep switching the device off between shots.

2. Turn off all the wireless connections

If you have a pretty equipped camera with features like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, NFC, and GPS in place, it becomes more important to keep a tab on the usage. You might end up keeping the wireless modes turned on, which then deplete your camera battery at warped speeds.

A good way to turn off the wireless attributes is by hitting the Airplane mode, as most cameras with some or all of mentioned wireless features are expected to feature the same. Or you can manually turn them off, as convenient.

3. Be Mindful of the Viewfinder

If you are using a mirrorless shooter from Canon, you have no way out but relying on the Electronic viewfinder, which is a massive battery drainer. However, for DSLRs, you can always rely on the optical viewfinder to save battery life — without corners in terms of performance.

4. Turn off the Continuous Focus Mode

Yes, you might consider turning on the Continuous focus mode to be able to detect movements and change the focusing parameters accordingly. As good as a feature it is, ‘Continuous focus’ is quite a battery drainer.

Therefore, if you are a professional photographer, it is advisable to manually turn off the same, even if you plan to use it for specific scenarios like wildlife photography, moving car photography, and more.

5. Turn off Image Stabilization

Image stabilization can be a great asset if you aren’t sure about your hands staying still during a snap or even a video recording. However, both in-sensor and lens-based image stabilization consume a lot of battery power.

Therefore, it is advisable to turn off image stabilization if you do not need it at that very instant. Also, if you have purchased a lens and stabilization is crucial to unlocking its performance, turning it off momentarily when the battery goes low isn’t such a bad option.

6. Avoid using Flash at all times

If you want the images to be perfectly exposed at all times, using the camera flash can be a good option. However, keeping the flash turned on eats quickly into the battery life. Therefore, if you see the battery running low, try using secondary light sources to lend good exposure to your images.

7. Keep Deleting Images

Your camera will have a memory card, which needs to be emptied at regular intervals to keep the battery from discharging at a rapid pace.

8. Turn off Image Review

If your camera has a dedicated LCD, touch or no-touch, you might be tempted to turn on the image review option to check on the snaps after every click. However, turning the same off can be a blessing in disguise for your Canon camera.

Make Your Digital Camera’s Battery Last Longer

Yes, you can save some precious battery time if you can steer clear of the challenges mentioned above. However, if you explicitly want the camera battery to last longer, here are some of the curated actions to take care of:

  • Stay away from Overnight Charging

Even though Canon batteries have an auto cut-off, keeping the same charged overnight is still inadvisable. This habit negatively impacts the battery’s health as a battery can keep discharging and charging in short bursts, thereby eating into the overall charging cycles.

  • Keep the Battery away from Temperature Extremes

Canon camera batteries are manufactured keeping standard temperature fluctuations in mind. However, if the ambient temperature is way higher or lower than expected, it can cause the battery to drain faster or even leak at times.

  • Do not wait for the Battery to Discharge Completely

Another important factor is to ensure that you do not drain the battery entirely while using it. And this advice holds for every battery type—phone and camera notwithstanding. A good lower level would be 20%, below which you shouldn’t let the battery drop.

  • Use a secondary battery

A good way to increase the efficiency of your camera is by carrying an additional battery. However, you need to ensure that the same is an original version and not any cheap rip-off.

How to Check the Battery Status in a Canon Camera?

If you have a Canon camera, you can directly identify the battery status from the LCD screen or the menu settings. Simply look for the ‘Battery Info’ tab, scroll down to the same using the arrow keys, and click on the concerned icon to determine the existing juice and even the recharge performance or health of the battery.

Conclusion

How Long Does a Canon Battery Last?

Canon makes some of the best cameras and some of the most resilient batteries. And to maximize the efficiency of every camera, be it mirrorless, Point & Shoot, or DSLR, you should be able to take good care of the removable and rechargeable battery modules.

I hope this article helps you determine how long does a Canon battery last for video as well as stills. Therefore, the pointers mentioned above can be helpful and nudge you in the right direction when it comes to taking good care of your camera and the housed battery.


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