Do DSLR LCDs drain the battery fast or not?

My local camera store is trying to meet my needs for a camera to
replace my current Nikon 5700 EVF that will be much better for
low noise as well as do a better job of consistent flash
pictures of cars in dark museums.

The thing I like the most about EVFs, though, is the ability to
get an instant preview of the just-shot image to see if
composure, exposure, and focus are OK. If not, I immediately
reshoot.

I recognize that this is technically impossible by definition in
any DSLR, so I'm trying to check on the veracity of the camera
store manager's claim that turning on the LCD to preview every
shot will /not/ quickly drain the battery.

The main two cameras I'm looking at are the Nikon D70s and the
Canon Rebel XT. I'll post more details about what I need and
want, but for now I'm just trying to find out about battery
drain. All I know so far is if I leave the LCD of my 5700 on, it
eats batteries like pop corn.

Thanks.

 

Not as you describe it; you don't get "live preview" before shooting,
but you do get the picture on the LCD after shooting (if you want).

It won't. It's not on all the time or for very long, and there's no
live video stream going on. With a D70, you can shoot hundreds of
pictures all day, with LCD review on, without ever shutting the camera
off, and still not have to worry about the battery.

 

Bunk!!! Sure the LCD will drain the battery but not to the point where it's
not useful. You can control the length of time the image stays on the LCD.
I have both a Rebel and a 20D and I've set my LCD to leave the image on
screen until I push the shutter button. Even at that setting I haven't run
my battery down.

 

I think you are confused...

The DSLRs will not allow you to preview the shot on the LCD.
But they will allow you to see the just shot image.

 

According to All Things Mopar <>:

[ ... ]

Well ... I have gotten about 600 shots out of a single battery
charge on the D70 -- while using the built-in flash, and allowing the
display to come on for the default ten (or is it fifteen) seconds. And
-- if you start doing things like zooming into the displayed image with
the "Qual" button, and playing with the zoom size and examining the
histogram, it stays on longer.

I was also showing some images to others nearby, so I was
getting even more than the default use out of the display.

And note that the D70s comes with a battery which will hold a
bit more charge than the one which comes with the D70 (and I intend to
get those when it is time to replace my current batteries.) Yes -- I
bought a spare battery, and alternate them in the camera. And one
weekend I did need to swap batteries. There was a wedding of a cousin
(no, I was not the pro) and a celebration the next day, plus a lot of
photos of the changing foliage on the way up, and of the structure of
bridges (patterns of girders) on the way back.

So -- I would suggest that the display is not a serious impact
on battery life on the D70 -- and while the D70s has a somewhat larger
display, I doubt that it draws *that* much more current.

I have no experience with the Digital Rebel XT, so I'll let
others speak for them.

Good Luck,
DoN.

 

Today Jeremy Nixon spoke these views with conviction for
everyone's edification:

I snipped the part I already understood.

But, what do you mean that the LCD isn't on all the time or for
very long? Does it shut itself off, on a D70 for example, until
the next image is taken? If yes, then my camera store manager is
entirely correct.

 

Today Robert R Kircher, Jr. spoke these views with conviction
for everyone's edification:

Which part is bunk? What I said about my own camera? If I open
the flip/rotate LCD, it stays on. The only thing that'll kill my
battery faster is using the built-in speedlight instead of my
Sunpak 433D external, but I expect that to happen.

So, if I read the second part of your note, the live LCD preview
is the equivalent to what I get in my EVF, and the time can be
controlled. That's good news. Thanks.

 

Today Steve Cutchen spoke these views with conviction for
everyone's edification:

Steve, apparently I mistated my assumption. I know I cannot
preview a shot as I can with an EVF. A DSLR is, after all, an
SLR with sensors, which is used like my still working 1969 Nikon
FTN to compose pictures "through the lens".

What the camera store guy was telling me is that I can preview
the /last shot/ to see if it looks OK. The only rub is that an
LCD is too small to judge noise or focus problems.

 

Today DoN. Nichols spoke these views with conviction for
everyone's edification:

600?! Wow! The /best/ I can do with my 5700 is maybe 200 or a
little more. But, if I use the built-in speedlight, the number
drops to under 100.

Thanks, Don. For whatever reason, my camera store manager -
who seems to know his stuff - likes Canon better. And, no, I
do /not/ intend to re-start the Holy Wars here!

I would lean towards a Canon simply because of my poor
experience with my 5700 and 500+ test-drive shots with an
8800/SB-800 combo last April. I'm kinda soured on Nikon right
now...

 

I don't know about the D70 but on the 350/XT the review time is on 2
seconds by default but you can change that to off, 4 sec., 8 sec. or
hold. If you take another image before the review time that you set is
up, that shuts off the review of the last image moves to the next
image.

 

There is no live LCD preview. On the DSLR's you are reviewing the last
image. So the battery drains less fast than a EVF camera. The live
preview is what you see in the optical viewfinder. That does not drain
the battery.

 

Yes -- the LCD comes on after exposure, showing the picture, and stays
on only for a few seconds, or until you half-press the shutter again.
Also, if you're doing rapid-fire, and you don't take your finger off
the shutter release, the LCD won't come on until you do. You can also
shut off the automatic review entirely.

 

If you're concerned about focus you do have the option to zoom in on the
shot to get a closer look. Noise, well, isn't worth worrying about with
these cameras.

 

You'll LOVE shooting at ISO 1000!!

no problem...

After you take a pic with the D70, the preview comes on for a programmed time -
if you want - with your choice of times. You can shut it by just touching the
shutter - I set mine for 10sec and kill it if that's too long! Times available
are 10 and 20 sec's, or 1, 5, or 10 min's.

You can zoom into the pic if you want and scroll around to check focus... you
can also get a histogram and full EXIF data on screen... you can get 6 or 9
thums as well....

Battery's last a long long time - even shooting flash I can get over 700 shots.
I charge the battery's every few months, whether they need it or not...

I'm up to almost 4000 pics in 1.5 years and I love my D70! Have only charged
the battery's about 7 times...

Almost everything you can think of is programmable - I haven't yet tried
everything! Another neat thing - I bought the D70 but upgraded it to D70s
firmware on the net!

 

Non sequitur. Perhaps some time spent contemplating the subtle but
important differences behind the concept of "preview" and "review" would
lend some clarity to your confusion.

 

I have a D70s, purchased it two weeks ago on Wednesday, Charged up the
battery, and since I purchased it, I have taken at least 100+ pictures, used
the camera in conjunction with a training video which I have been watching
for two different evenings for at least 3 hours, and then have spent several
hours with the owners manual and played with all the menus (LCD shows those)
and the camera on, and the battery meter has not moved from full yet.

So it will use battery power, but the capacity of the battery is huge, so it
should not be a problem.

Monty

 

I forget what he said -- and the original message has expired
off of my current news server, so I can't tell just by backtracking in
the thread.

The display shuts itself off at a preset time after the last
exposure, or as soon as the shutter release button is half-depressed in
preparation for the next shot.

It also comes back on as soon as you take the next photo.

As for what that preset time is, your choices are:

10s(econds)
20s(econds)
1m(inutes)
5m(inutes)
10m(inutes)

I *think* that the default is 10 seconds. I've got mine
currently set for 20 seconds.

There is another setting for how long the meter remains active
after you half-press the shutter button. For that one, the settings
are:

4s
6s
8s
16s
30m


I have mine currently set on 16s, FWIW.

Obviously, if they offer a 10 minute setting, it is not much of
a problem.

You can always bring the image back to the screen by pressing
the "[>]" (play) button, so I don't see the time as being a significant
problem. For me, the 20s setting is quite satisfactory for most use,
and quite often I prepare to shoot the next shot (thus blanking the
screen with the half-press of the shutter button).

Enjoy,
DoN.

 

Let's tweak the terminology here first:

It is *not* a *pre*view, it is a *re*view -- seeing the photos
which have been taken -- by default, the most recent one.

The only kind of *pre*view which you get is the view through the
finder, which shows you pretty accurately what you will get in terms of
framing, and an approximation of focus which may need to be interpreted
in light of how large you intend to print the final images.

Yes -- the time can be controlled (I just posted in another
branch of this thread the times offered by the D70), and you can always
bring back the image for another pass of review by pressing the "Play"
button "[>]".

Enjoy,
DoN.

 

On an P&S or any camera that does LIVE preview on the LCD meaning that the
LCD is showing what the lens/sensor is seeing live, then yes leaving the LCD
on would cause the battery to drain faster. DSLR, however, do NOT provide
this type of live view, they only show you the picture you just took or the
pictures that are on you mem card. The LCD is used for review only NOT
composition.

With that understood, the use of my LCD in review mode that stays on until I
press the shutter button has not used up a battery any faster then when I've
had the LCD set to auto shutoff after x seconds. Now that assumes I
remember the hit the shutter to turn off the LCD but since I have my 20D set
to turn itself off after 1 minute of inactivity I don't worry about it.

 

O.K. First off -- you can navigate through *all* of the
previous shots which are on the current CF card if you so desire (and
the time-out restarts every time you make a change to what the display
shows.

Second -- You can "zoom in" to the image on the display, to give
a somewhat better idea of the focus. The first step is to press the
"qual" button while an image is on the display. (Otherwise, it allows
you to change the image size and save quality with the thumbwheels.)
Once you have done this, you can press another button (which bears a
marking somewhat like part of a checkerboard, and which otherwise
selects displaying a single image, four images, or nine images at a
time), and while it is depressed, rotate the thumbwheel to change the
enlargement of a portion of the image on the display. While you hold it
depressed, a smaller version of the image shows near one corner of the
screen, with a bight outline showing the size of the crop to display,
and the size of that crop can be adjusted by the thumbwheel. You can
also move the crop area around on the main image with the tilting poker
chip (which in other modes will select your image, select which mode is
being displayed, or select which are is being used for autofocus.)

The display modes are as follows:

1) The image plain

2) The histogram, to allow you to judge whether exposure tweaks
may be needed.

3) Highlight mode, in which "blown highlights" (areas overexposed
so all three colors are at the maximum possible brightness) will
blink between all white and all black, so you can judge whether
you need to reduce the exposure a bit. If you have *any*
significant blown highlights, this is the display mode which
will come up by default. Otherwise, it comes up in whichever
mode you last displayed.

4) First set of EXIF info (overprint over image):

Development:
ISO:
White Bal:
Size/Quality:
Sharpness:
Tone:
Color,Hue:
Saturation:

5) Second set of EXIF info (overprint over image):

Camera:
Date:
Time:
Metering:
Shutter:
Aperture:
Mode Exp +/-:
Focal Length:
Flash Mode:

There is more information in the EXIF data, but this is what the
camera will show you directly. I use exiftool (a perl script for unix
systems) to see more.

The display does not have enough zoom to show you anything
meaningful about noise. For that, you need to go to the computer and
blow things up to where you have a 1:1 pixel ratio zoom (called a 100%
image). If your previous camera did show you anything meaningful about
the noise, it was too noisy to start with. I only see some noise from
my D70 at 1600 ISO, with a lot of magnification on the computer screen.
And it is *certainly* a lot less than grain on B&W film at an equivalent
ISO (actually significantly better than 1200 ISO Isopan Record in
2-1/4x1-1/8 images.) This is because grain on film can grow so a single
grain can occupy multiple pixel areas, while the noise in a digital
should be confined to a single pixel area.

Stick to ISO 400 or below and I doubt that you will ever see
noise -- unless you go for extremely long exposures (tripod, not
hand-held). I normally keep AUTO ISO mode turned on, and let it select
higher ISOs if necessary so I can get the shot. And you would be amazed
at what a 50mm f1.4 lens can capture with the AUTO-ISO enabled, so it
can use reasonable shutter speeds.

Note that this (about the display) is all for the Nikon D70, and
I don't know what is displayed by other cameras.

Enjoy,
DoN.