How do I save my camera batteries when in the bush? Can I charge my batteries when on a hike? Which camera settings can I change to conserve battery power?

Panasonic Charger and Li-ion Battery

Some hints are obvious

• carry more than one set of batteries
• choose higher power batteries eg lithium ion instead of alkaline or Nicad
• charge your batteries at the last possible moment
• don’t leave your camera turned on unnecessarily
• maximise  power and screen saving, using your camera settings
• standardise on a single battery type so you can swap batteries between your torch, GPS and camera

Some are less obvious

• use your viewfinder instead of the LCD the screen
• turn you screen brightness down to a minimum, if you have no viewfinder
• don’t review or delete the photos you have taken
• minimize the use of flash
• take less video: plan what you are going to take
• zoom you camera less and don’t have it set on continuous focus
• have the subject prepared and the camera set on the tripod before turning on your camera
• keep your batteries warm: some would say this is unnecessary
• update all the settings on your camera such as date/time before you leave home
• don’t take more photos than you need
• if you have a GPS in your camera, decide if you need it turned on

Some technology has only recently become available

• Solar chargers: with rechargeable power packs. See my earlier post: How to Keep your iPhone Charged in the Outdoors
• Car charger: if you have a base camp, charge you camera battery each night

Acknowledgment

The idea for this post came from wildtiger.biz Tips when taking your video camera on a bushwalk; Jay Fraser Posted on 2006-04-05 and has been expanded based on my personal experience of extended walks and digital cameras.

This article by Bush Walker is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.