T2i How many batteries is ideal for a day shoot?

brandondull

brandondull

Well-known member
How many batteries is ideal for a day shoot? I already have 2 should I pick up some more? Does anyone have any suggestions where to buy more? Best Buy sells them for 80 bucks
 
brandondull said:
How many batteries is ideal for a day shoot? I already have 2 should I pick up some more? Does anyone have any suggestions where to buy more? Best Buy sells them for 80 bucks
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From your past post I seen you have a t2i, these cameras can use 3rd party batteries fine. Go to ebay and buy from a US seller for like $10 each. I had a whole bunch of those batteries and they work exactly the same as the oem battery Lp-E8.
Now if you own the 5d,7d,60d that's a different story as those batteries are chipped , which means most non oem batteries will not display the battery info on the camera.

Make sure you own a grip for your t2i and 4 batteries, you should be fine
 
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can you charge while shooting? if you can charge on location, you can get away with four. with a battery grip obviously you want to charge 2 batteries at once. no charging on location i would say budget 35 minutes a battery, so if you are shooting for 2-3 hours i would say 5 or 6 batteries. i prefer to err on the side of safety however, and shut the HDSLR off whenever not needed; for battery and for heat.
 
To answer your question I've found four batteries work for me but it depends on how much you roll. Realistically six would be ideal. That's just a rough guesstimate. Not really a one size fits all answer.
 
I think four is safe but I have done 6 hour weddings on one battery. right now I roll with 2 because at that rate I can be charging the other one at the same time. I will probably pick up some cheap ones but as long as you have your screen shut off when not in use you can get a lot of time outta those batteries
 
I have the battery grip with 2 batteries in it. I have only had one crisis where I ran out of juice. So I am on my way to best buy to buy another battery. I trust the original canon brand.
 
I have 8 3rd party batteries that I got for $12/pair on Amazon - I have never needed all 8 but on a long shoot last month (8ish hours) we used 6 of them - I will say though that I took 2 pairs out before they were dead. immediate downside to the 3rd party batteries is they don't tell you how much remaining power there is.

Adam
 
If you do narrative or music video type workdays, one of the first things you'll do is set the "auto shutoff" for your camera to a longer time (mine would constantly shut off the minute I finished directing talent or grips and moved my eye back to the viewfinder). Setting your auto shutoff longer will eat batteries faster. That said, I have four or five, and I rarely have a charger running on set.

Remember to find a way to make it clear which batts are dead; I stick a piece of blue painters tape over the contacts when they're charged; if a battery is un-taped on set, it's dead. That helps when I'm moving fast.

As for the grip - seems like once you get a grip, you've suddenly left the realm of useable rod systems, follow focus, etc. I love the grip on my D90 (my stills cam), but my Canon already feels pretty high on a DSLR adapter & rails. My opinion of course, but I don't think the grip adds much to the video game. DSLR form factor is already a little "off" for video, grips just exacerbate it.
 
brandondull said:
I have the battery grip with 2 batteries in it. I have only had one crisis where I ran out of juice. So I am on my way to best buy to buy another battery. I trust the original canon brand.
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You trust the original brand? So why make this thread complaining about battery price? It's like you ask for help, get it and don't pay attention.

Let me make a note to never reply to any of your threads and like I said there is NO difference at all between the oem and $10 cheap batteries found on ebay. As someone who was one of the first owners of a t2i and shot exclusively with it for 6 months I am 100% sure I know what I'm talking about.

But hey that's your money , not mine.
Also I don't know what the other poster was talking about as I had over 3+ different manufacturers and they all displayed battery information. This is the Canon t2i we are talking about here not a 7d.
 
+1 to life4eva.. i still have my t2i+generic grip+generic batteries and i've been good to go..

I have 7(6 generics/1 canon) batteries and 2 chargers. Before I shoot I make sure they are all charged up and I bring my chargers as well just in case. I've gone 5+ hours (not continuous shooting) and went through 4 of the 6 with life still left in the 2 thats in the grip. So I still had the original canon battery fully charged if I couldnt charge the 2 i went through..

http://cgi.ebay.com/4-X-Battery-Can...s_Chargers&hash=item2a0849b72a#ht_2508wt_1141 <- $20 for 4 batteries.. and thats the buyer i bought from as well..
 
3rd party batteries are just as good. I had to pay $35 where I am, but usually that will get you 3 elsewhere.
I have one original and one 3rd party and they perform the same in my 550d.
If you leave the power off setting at 30 seconds your batteries will last much longer, and you won't overheat often.
How many you need in a day really depends on how much shooting and if you have access to power to keep one on the charger all the time.
I have gotten through a day of non continuous shooting with 2 batteries filling up 16 gigs in HD movie.
That said I have a shoot on the road tomorrow and feel I have to add one more to be covered.
 
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