EOS R5 uses the battery way too quickly when shooting full frame

[DonMyers]

I have a fairly new R5. When I shoot at full frame, it drained my battery after taking 33 photos. The battery was fully charged. When I us a RF-S lens, it sets the camera to an aspect ratio of 1.6, not full frame. Then I can take over 100 photos with no problem. This doesn't seem right. I would have to carry three or four batteries with me every time I went out to shoot.  I went through the manual and set every power saving setting I could find. Any suggestions?

[deebatman316]

Is this camera new to you? Is Continuous AF/ Preview AF on if so turn it off. You shouldn't have to set the camera to APS-C Mode to have reasonable battery life.

[shadowsports]

Hi DonMyers,

I too suspect that your settings are the cause of your issue.  In addition, do you have Bluetooth and/or Wi-Fi enabled?  If you're not using them, turn them off. 

I routinely shoot 500 to 700 pictures, more if I'm not using the LCD.  I've started purchasing the LP-E6P. I'm sure I could shoot a thousand (or more) images using this battery. 

[FloridaDrafter]

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@DonMyers wrote:

I have a fairly new R5. When I shoot at full frame, it drained my battery after taking 33 photos. The battery was fully charged. When I us a RF-S lens, it sets the camera to an aspect ratio of 1.6, not full frame. Then I can take over 100 photos with no problem. This doesn't seem right. I would have to carry three or four batteries with me every time I went out to shoot.  I went through the manual and set every power saving setting I could find. Any suggestions?

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I agree with Demetrius about turning off Continuous AF, but still, that being enabled is not going to cripple the battery to 33 shots. EDIT: I just read Rick's post and agree with him as well, I just never thought about wireless, but still, with all the additional settings mentioned, you should be getting better battery life.

I usually get well over 300, sometimes near 500, shots per location with my R5 and that's shooting both in one shot and H1 modes. I also use the rear LCD to review at times, but it's not a habit. If you use the LCD a lot, that will cause the battery to drain. But 33 shots? I doubt that, unless you spend a lot of time looking at images or watching videos.

I'm assuming you bought your R5 used since you used the term "fairly new", so please look at your battery and make sure it's an LP-E6NH and not an LP-E6 or LP-E6N. LP-E6N isn't terrible but better than LP-E6 and neither deliver as well as the higher capacity LP-E6NH. Sometimes sellers will replace the LP-E6NH that is shipped with the R5 with an older E6 or E6N, it's been known to happen.

The next thing you can do is look in the battery info menu, found in the yellow wrench item 6 (manual page 807), and see what condition the battery is in. If the "Recharge performance" is in the red, you need a new battery.

Newton

[justadude]

In addition to everything said above by my colleagues, two of my backup LP-E6 batteries are from my old EOS 6D which I purchased 14 years ago.  These batteries have been used heavily and recharged a ridiculous amount of times.  Even with those old batteries, I get at least 500-700 shots on a full charge with my R6 Mk ll... which should have similar battery draw as your camera.

I've never heard of batteries draining within 100 shots (especially 33 shots) unless that battery is faulty, and ready to fail completely.  So my questions would be, how old are the batteries you are using?  Have they been stored for a long period of time without being charged at all?  Is it possible that they are faulty and ready to fail?