an, this battery thing is a bit worrying - seriously...!!!

[AlSony]

Since my last post I charged up a battery to full, turned the camera off and left it in the bag for 3 days. I was reading of how many other owners also have poor battery life in the A6000 and some of them even stated than it flattens even when the camera is not being used. I then decided to look at mine, and over that three days it had gone down to 78% - unused... OK, I recharged it back to 100% and left it out of the camera. Today I had to pick somebody up from the airport so I decided to head out a little early and park up in the lookout and take a few pics of incoming aircraft. When I got there, I put in the battery,, fine 100% life... Within one hour I had taken just 20 photos and it was now down to 46%. I did venture into the settings for a short while and had noticed that power went from 86 to 82% in about 2 or 3 minutes of voyaging around in the focusing menus and trying a few different options, but after that is was nothing more than watching for planes and snapping the pics...

SHOCKING...!!!

In just over one hour I got a text to say she was ready to be picked up so I started the car and decided to take a look at battery life... Shock horrors... Just 46% left... Holy Moly, what is up here...???

Since my last post I had been toying with the idea of getting a battery power pack that I can carry around with me and will at least afford me the luxury of being able to top op the camera charge via USB connection in the field. The other day I ordered a 20,000ma USB power pack from online, but I have been using google a lot to investigate just what they consist of and how well they are made. I mean, to be able to get 20,000ma or 20 amps (or electrical equivalent of) draw from a battery pack approx 6" x 4" x 1/2" is a big ask,, but that's how they rate battery discharge rates - constant ampere current flow over a period of one hour without voltage drop, which in this case means that you should be able to draw 20 amps at 5volts for one hour... After I had ordered it I sat and thought about it... The math(s) just doesn't add up. To be able to draw 20 amps for one hour to earn that title, that is one heck of a demand on a small battery of that size. Given the choice, I'm not sure if I can believe it.. After seeing some of them stripped down in reviews etc and just how many cells are in them, I am more inclined to suspect that many of these cheapies will never truly live up to anywhere near their billing. One particular unit had nowhere near enough battery cells inside it to be labelled as capable of 20,000ma. This unit was also being sold by the same crowd I bought mine from although it is listed in a different series and a different price range. The one I got also only has a 5v 1amp USB outlet - Why..??? I also thought about this... Many power packs have two outlets - 1 at 5v 1amp & 1 at 5v 2amps, so small items like phones and iPods etc can be charged through the 1a outlet and at the same time maybe a tablet which takes up to a 2amp current draw can simultaneously be charged, so large capacity is really needed. On a power pack that has just one outlet rated at 1 amp, as long as the user can get maybe three or four charges from them, they'd probably never even know that they don't have anywhere near the capacity that they supposedly payed for,, in truth,, probably somewhere near half that or less... There have been many reports of such incidents happening just like this in the super cheap world of electronics goods out there, especially from 'online only' sales, and they pop up like mushrooms here. I hope mine is not one of them when it arrives... Today though I was passing my favourite computer store and I enjoy shopping there and dropped in to see what they had and my favourite sales guy told me to "try this one". It's rated at only 10400ma (10.4 amps) but is known to be a more trustworthy model. Actually I shouldn't say "only 10400ma", that's still one heck of a rating. The guy told me it would more than likely out strip most of these 20,000ma units. I believed him and ended up buying one, then he told me he uses two of them anyway... - Truth or dare...!!!

Finger crossed... Anyway, this all came about because of the poor battery life my A6000 is yielding. I have to try something to fix it...

Al

Edit in later -

I don't know what happened to the title of this post - got a bit screwed up in translation I guess...

[antony]

Just want to have better understanding, I have some background questions:
Are the said battery genuine Sony branded battery?
How do you normally charge the camera battery?
Do you live in somewhere with beautiful snow?
When using camera, do you have WiFi and NFC (if available) on?

I have heard a number of complaints on Sony batteries, however, I don't see such issue with my A7r, although I do feel that my A7II drains battery slightly faster than A7r.

Saying that, I do notice the included batteries (NP-FW50) in A7r and A7II are slightly different in packaging.


Both genuine, and have same model number. However, they weigh slightly different, and have slightly different capacity (7.7Wh 1080mAh vs 7.3Wh 1020mAh) and made in different countries (Japan and China).

[Obelix]

I found out that lens is biggest drain on battery power on a6000, when camera is off.
Do same test without lens attached and you will see 100% battery charge instead of 70%

[antony]

I found out that lens is biggest drain on battery power on a6000, when camera is off.

That's interesting, the lens drains the battery even when the camera is off?

I must admit that I never charged through camera. I always use battery charger and would order Sony's fast battery charger (when available) (see this post).

[AlSony]

Just want to have better understanding, I have some background questions:
Are the said battery genuine Sony branded battery?
How do you normally charge the camera battery?
Do you live in somewhere with beautiful snow?
When using camera, do you have WiFi and NFC (if available) on?

Ok, first.. The original battery IS a Sony battery that came in the camera (new of course). Two others are Wasabi types. The camera shop that I go to has been ultra reliable with me for years and they do know of some manufacturers that have troubles with replacement batteries from certain unreliable sources, eg... Nikon cameras (I have been here myself before with a D300),, because of chips in the battery pack etc. The guy I saw said they are not aware that any Wasabi batteries give problems in Sony cameras, when I bought the two spares. He did have genuine Sony batteries there but recommended unless I wanted genuine stuff, to give the Wasabi's a try. The single thing that tipped the scales was the fact that the two Wasabi's came with a charger, and that was what I mostly wanted. The reason I began having concerns over battery life was because the original battery began shedding its life reasonably quickly the day I bought it and went through the settings. From memory, the first time I turned the A6000 on it had maybe 90% life but by the time I had set it up, it had gone down to about 60 something %. That was over a couple of hours of trying different settings though. From it's very first outing, it used power a bit quicker than I was comfortable with so I just charged or topped it up whenever needed, but from day one, I kind of knew poor battery life was going to be a standout feature. The two Wasabi's seem to be about identical in their draining as the Sony one, although they are rated a little bit higher in output,, about 1300ma as opposed to Sony 1100ma...

There was one thing I 'did' notice this morning while charging the Wasabi battery up from 46% to full... This would normally take a good 2 & 1/2 - 3 hours easily in the Wasabi charger. Today it was fully charged in some time between 1 and 1 & 1/2 hours. I put it on charge at 8 am precisely this morning and looked at it at 9 am - orange light was still on indicating still charging. I went to get a cup of coffee at 9:25am and as I walked past it I glanced down and saw the light was green, indicating fully charged, so just how long it was green is unknown. It could have been any time from 1hr 1m, to, 1hr 24m. This immediately struck me as odd - too fast... Maybe there "might" be a calibration problem somewhere. Next time I might just run the camera until the battery actually dies on me. This might give a clearer picture (hahaha - nice one Al) of what actually is happening...

Second... Charging lately with all 3 batteries has been mostly from the Wasabi charger, although I have also used USB power for the Sony battery on board the camera at times. I run always them in this order - Sony,, Wasabi 1,, Wasabi 2 (each is labelled)...

Third... Snow - No...!!! I have recollections of life in the snow (at least in the winter) from a part of my childhood days when I lived at altitude. Oh how I enjoyed the snow. Now of course, I hate it...

Fourth... WiFi is turned OFF, as per earlier advice from within this forum, trying to help... I have a relatively modest set up and only use single shot, single point focus. I view maybe one in 2 or 3 shots taken... I also use the 55-210mm lens a lot more than the 16-50mm,, with regards to one of the other replies suggesting drainage of lenses... Now I am also taking the batteries out if not in use (night time etc) and putting it back in only when ready to shoot...

With regards to what I said a few lines above here, I am going to run the next battery right down to zero usable power and see just how accurate the meter is, or isn't as the case may be, and just how many shots I get... It wouldn't be the first time battery level indicators were not true to label. If that is the case here, I wont be surprised at all.

Any answer is better than being in the dark...

Cheers guys...

Al

[Obelix]

That's interesting, the lens drains the battery even when the camera is off?

Yes, Sigma 30mm f2.8 is worst with 16-50 kit zoom at second place.

[wilmeland]

Just my observations with a5000 and a3000, which share the same battery type. I have one aftermarket battery I've been using for more than a year with good results.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EAD7GKK?psc=1
I also have a vivitar charger that is all I use to charge both of the sony batteries and the aftermarket battery. I think that ratings on aftermarket batteries as far as mAh are next to worthless. My guess would be that I only get about 85% of the shots with the aftermarket battery, but that's still good enough for me, as it's probably still about 160 shots. With the Sony's I've probably taken over 200 shots on occasion without depleting. However, as Obelix pointed out, really depends a lot on the lens. I have not noticed any battery drain while camera is off with any lenses, but can't say I've been looking for it. Typically, when I'm done shooting if it's at less than 75%, I swap the battery and charge. So, really can't say exactly how long it takes to charge either.

However on the lens drain, my experience with the kit 16-50 has been it is far worse than the other lenses. But that make sense, as it has that motor going a lot of the time. take a shot and after the time out, lens retracts, then must power up and extend for the next shot. I like that lens for the compactness and overall decent quality at specific focal lengths, but actually end up using the 18-55 more often because it does not eat battery. 55-210 also seems very efficient, though don't use that much, as it really is not what I like for my shooting style/abilities.
Like the 30mm sigma a lot, but again agree with Obelix - that lens uses more battery. Think it is the floating lens elements/auto focus system which is continually re-aligning the lenses in the standby/power-up cycles. Anyway, I typically can get over 100 shots with that lens and still have some battery left (maybe 25-30%?)
If you are ok with manual focus, maybe try an adapter and one of your old manual lenses. With those, I can get over 300 shots.

[Panza]

Careful of cold weather, that will rob any electrical device of power.

[AlSony]

I've been a bit busy in the past week or so (who invented work..!!) but pop in every few days to see if anyone can offer any help...

Thanks for the suggestion/tips etc. I never knew that a lens would ever drain battery power, well at least when it was turned off anyway. I suppose the 16-50mm has that motor driven zoom as opposed to the 55-210mm being manual zoom, but you learn something new every day. I now have a couple of battery power packs to carry around with me charge or top up in the field. I know that's not a solution but at least it will keep me going. Next time I get out, I am going to completely drain one of the Wasabi batteries down to zero usable, and count the shots. That way at least I'll know for sure... I don't think the Wasabi's are any worse than the original battery... As for cold weather,, yes cold weather does kill battery power but cold in New Zealand means still warm in other parts of the world so I will mostly likely (but not completely) discount that possibility...

Cheers

Al

[antony]

As for cold weather,, yes cold weather does kill battery power but cold in New Zealand means still warm in other parts of the world

The weather in New Zealand can be quite chilly in the morning.
Apart from battery issue, beware of condensation if you plan to use camera in the early morning.

[OldNoob]

I had an odd experience with genuine Sony batteries once.
Already had the Sony battery that came with the camera and a couple of Vivitar batteries. All working OK the OEM battery is the best though keeping a charge longer than any of them.
One day i decided to buy another genuine Sony battery so i went to BestBuy and bought a supposedly genuine Sony replacement battery.

After charging it up I got HALF the shot count of the original with camera battery even less than the Vivitars.
The new Sony battery was noticeably lighter than the one that came with the a6000, so i decided to weigh them.

The Original Sony battery that came with the camera weighed 2.00oz.
The Vivitar battery weighed........................................... .....1.42oz.
The Genuine Sony battery from BestBuy weighed....................1.20oz.

To this day i am at a loss to explain the weight and charge duration of what was supposedly the same battery from Sony.

[Jay]

I had an odd experience with genuine Sony batteries once.
Already had the Sony battery that came with the camera and a couple of Vivitar batteries. All working OK the OEM battery is the best though keeping a charge longer than any of them.
One day i decided to buy another genuine Sony battery so i went to BestBuy and bought a supposedly genuine Sony replacement battery.

After charging it up I got HALF the shot count of the original with camera battery even less than the Vivitars.
The new Sony battery was noticeably lighter than the one that came with the a6000, so i decided to weigh them.

The Original Sony battery that came with the camera weighed 2.00oz.
The Vivitar battery weighed........................................... .....1.42oz.
The Genuine Sony battery from BestBuy weighed....................1.20oz.

To this day i am at a loss to explain the weight and charge duration of what was supposedly the same battery from Sony.

It sounds like you go robbed by BestBuy and possible Sony? That is not right and I would return that battery immediately...

Jay