Extending digital camera battery life

May 13, 2009 8:24 AM

Should I keep my camera turned on to save electricity?

I have a newish compact digital camera with a 3x optical zoom lens. It's small enough that I actually carry it around and use it.

When I turn the camera on, the lens extends and the screen comes on.

Sometimes when I take a few photos I worry that leaving the camera switched on is wasting electricity and will wear the battery down.

But turning off the camera will cause the lens to enter the body again, using electricity. When I want to take a photo again, the lens must extend again to get back to where I was.

How long could a camera be left on before the energy from retracting and extending the lens, as well as the energy to run the camera, is more than the energy to turn the camera off and on again?

(I realise this question is camera specific, but I'm looking for a rule of thumb - thanks!)

posted by devnull to technology (7 comments total)

Do you have a display button? What I usually do with my camera is to just turn the display off, as it is an important waste of energy. I personally would not leave the display on for more than lets say a minute or two between taking photos. I have a tilt-n-swivel display, so it is easy to just flip it on and off.
posted by ddaavviidd at 8:29 AM on May 13

Check to see if your camera has a standby mode? While I don't think my Powershot has it (which does have a lens that retracts), my other camera, a DSLR does have a standby mode.
posted by Atreides at 9:12 AM on May 13

Seconding ddaavviidd: I think the display uses the most power. My camera (Powershot D850 IS) has a Display button that cycles through options (off, on, on with details), and power saving options (auto off [yes/no] and turn off display [10/20/30 seconds/1/2/3 minutes]). I have the display set to be on for 10 seconds, which seems to work well. If I'm taking a lot of shots from one location, it'll stay on. But if I take a shot and wander around, the display will shut off while the camera is still on.

But if you don't use the display while shooting and prefer the viewfinder, you can turn the display off all-together if possible.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:40 AM on May 13

The display and flash are much bigger drains than the servo motor for the lens, so minimizing their use will help battery life. If you are concerned with getting as much out of your battery as possible rather than wasting electricity (and we are talking about pretty trivial amounts here in terms of environmental impact) you might want to see what aftermarket alternatives there are to whatever came with your camera. Sometimes you can find rechargeables with a significantly higher mAH rating wich will last longer between charges.
posted by TedW at 11:46 AM on May 13

To the concern of battery life, are you talking about a the charge of a single-use battery, or the over-all life of a rechargeable battery?
posted by filthy light thief at 4:03 PM on May 13

Lenses are delicate things, especially on point and shoots. Keeping it out all the time will increase the chances of damaging the lens or its mount.

However, I've alway left all my cameras (film and digital slr's and a point and shoot or two) in the "on" position all the time. They all have standby modes that prevent outrageous waste of battery power. With the film cameras, the on/off switch was too annoying to use, so I'd leave it on all the time. With the digital cameras and rechargeable batteries, I don't see a need to prevent the little bit of additional battery power that standby mode might require. Waking up a point and shoot in standby mode, though, often takes as much time as going from full "off" to full "on."
posted by msbrauer at 4:55 PM on May 13

I am concerned about the charge of a single-use battery rather than the environmental impact.

I am surprised the servo motor doesn't use much energy compared to the screen. I always thought mechanical things used way more electricity than non-moving parts.

Turning the display off seems like the best option - thanks!
posted by devnull at 1:03 AM on May 14