While talking to a friend about drones, he asked me if I bought a second battery for my drone. I did have a second battery, in fact I have a second battery for every piece of gear I own. I have a habit of doing this with almost all the camera equipment I buy so I thought I share my reasons why I do this.
My reasoning is two fold; one you have extra juice for your camera when you need it (which means longer shooting time) and; two you have a backup battery if one is damaged or dead.
- Consider the battery life of your camera and if it fits your shooting plan for the day.
- Fujifilm X-T1 – Being a mirrorless camera its small which is great (which is why I shoot with it pre-dominantly) but this means that its battery is also small, you get about 300-400 images out of it on full charge. So when you run out of juice you can just swap the battery rather than look for place to charge.
- GoPro 4 – Small action camera with a tiny battery. The run time rated by manufacturer is 2 hours. This is not much depending upon what you are likely to use it for.
- DJI Phantom 3 – A flying camera, also known as a drone has run time of 22 minutes rated by the manufacturer. Now being a drone this is really not enough time to make the most of the opportunity. A second battery means you can do two flights where you are and therefore take your time in properly composing and planning your shots. Remember with drones even while not taking picture, its still chewing through the battery.
- DSLRs – DSLRs being relatively big in size have great battery life between charges. Generally you’d be looking at 600 images easily out of a single charge. So you don’t necessarily need another battery but for the same reasoning as above a second battery is a great addition.
- Consider the charging time of your device’s battery from a completely flat state.
- Fujifilm X-T1 – Battery takes 3 hours to charge
- GoPro 4 – Battery takes 3-4 hours to charge
- DJI Phantom 3 – Battery takes 3 hours to charge
- DSLR – Battery takes 4 hours to charge
Do you have the time to go back and charge your battery? Are you always going to be near a power outlet so you can charge your batteries?
So because of these reasons I always buy a second battery with all the camera gear I have. It has helped me more times than I can remember. You can continue to take the photos without having the disappointed that the battery has run out on you at a critical point.
At night or end of they day when I do get back to my studio or hotel room I charge up all the batteries and I am set for another worry free day of capturing moments.
What do you do? Leave me your comment or thoughts below.
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