Nikon D500 - poor battery life, even with Li-Ion20 batteries!

Battery performance still woeful... but only when used with the grip. Without the grip the camera seems to act as it should.

So guess what! Tomorrow the grip is going in for RMA! :cool:


Edit: scratch that, first going to do yet more testing with every battery and grip combination I can think of. There MUST be some combination that the camera doesn't like. I'm not kidding, today when I first went out I was getting about 200 photos per charge, but later on after I changed some things it's more like 700 or 800. Bizarre.
 
Last edited:
Well it lost 5% in 18 hours with airplane mode on,need to try it next with out a lens on.
It did read 100% when first fitted.
 
Try using the EN-EL15a instead, longer battery life claimed. Some EN-el15 batteries were recalled


Applicable batteries on recall

1. Locate the lot number for your EN-EL15 battery. Lot numbers are alphanumeric characters printed at the bottom of the name plate on the bottom of the battery as shown below.
2. Check the 9th digit of the lot number as indicated below.
- If the 9th digit of the EN-EL15 battery lot number is E or F then the battery needs to be replaced as it may be affected by this issue. (overheating was mentioned)

- If the 9th digit of the EN-EL15 battery lot number is A, B, C, D, G or any subsequent letter in the alphabet then the battery is safe to use.

link to article
https://www.uk-afi.org/product-recall/2012-07-18/en-el15-battery


the difference between them

7.0v and 1900mAh for the EN-EL15) and EN-EL15A provides 7.4v and higher mAh rating. So you get more shots out of a fully charge EN-EL15a. Might be some circuitry differences as well as overcharge protection differences.
 
Last edited:
The recall was ages ago and all my batteries were Li-ion 20 which is the critical factor.
It shouldn't be necessary to pay extra to get EN-EL15a batteries as the CIPA standard and D500 states 1240 shots with an EN-EL15.
 
Well out today, (in the pink sky and gloom!), and the camera has taken 310 shots with 75% battery capacity remaining, so that equates to 1240 possible shots on a single charge ... remarkably what Nikon claim!
 
gramps said:
Well out today, (in the pink sky and gloom!), and the camera has taken 310 shots with 75% battery capacity remaining, so that equates to 1240 possible shots on a single charge ... remarkably what Nikon claim!
Click to expand...

Thats good, do you know if you get battery drain while the camera is stood, i have updated firmware,got airplane mode on and its still losing 2 or 3% a day while stood, with or with out a lens on.
 
mikew said:
Thats good, do you know if you get battery drain while the camera is stood, i have updated firmware,got airplane mode on and its still losing 2 or 3% a day while stood, with or with out a lens on.
Click to expand...
Finished shooting yesterday by 2pm and this morning at 8am it is still showing 75% so it hasn't lost anything in that time.
 
mikew said:
Thanks, think i may take it back to the dealer today, i expect some drain but feel what ime getting is excessive.
I thought this may have solved it https://photographsbypeter.com/2017...in-problem-solved-with-firmware-version-1-13/
Click to expand...

Well I did the V 1.13 firmware update before I sent in into Nikon, however it is possible that Nikon did it again (differently/properly?) as it was shown as done on the repair sheet. There was a strange issue with this update as it had to be done twice, according to the instructions, and even when it was done twice it would still allow you to do it again, unlike any previous update which would just tell you there was no update available.
 
Bit of a thread bump, apologies, but if anybody with a D500 is searching on Google about its battery performance and stumble across this thread, take a look at this interesting article posted on Nikon Rumours today: https://nikonrumors.com/2018/02/24/nikon-d500-batterygate.aspx/

It seems that the D500 calculates remaining charge differently to other Nikon D-SLRs and thus appears to drain batteries quicker (basically never using 100% of the battery). Some people suggest it's to do with the 10 FPS burst rate that the other cameras they compared it to doesn't have (and that the D850 requires an EN-EL18b to get to 9 FPS).

So, you are not alone! As it stands I've come to accept that the battery life of the D500 isn't great. With the MB-D17 and two batteries it's acceptable. Apparently if you want to fork out £180 for the EN-EL18b plus some more for the charger plus some more for the MB-D17 battery chamber for it then the performance is better.

Just always make sure you have a spare battery and a charger to hand. ;)
 
JasonBrown2013 said:
It seems that the D500 calculates remaining charge differently to other Nikon D-SLRs and thus appears to drain batteries quicker (basically never using 100% of the battery). Some people suggest it's to do with the 10 FPS burst rate that the other cameras they compared it to doesn't have .
Click to expand...

A visit to Nikon changed the situation for my D500 but not before I bought a 3rd-party grip to have a 2nd battery always engaged.

JasonBrown2013 said:
(and that the D850 requires an EN-EL18b to get to 9 FPS)
Click to expand...

That's always been known but any EN-EL18 will work, I use a 3rd-party (Ex-Pro) and that's fine ... and a lot cheaper!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top