R5C LP-E6P 40 to 50% More Battery Life Question?

[JCin]

Hello, I just purchased an EOS R5C. One of the first things I did was update the firmware to the latest 1.0.9.1 or 1.1.0.1 and then proceeded to customize the menu. I kind of followed Josh Sattin's menu walk through, although being familiar with the cinema menu I assigned some items differently like the custom buttons.

I saw a lot of videos about using the new LP-E6P battery and that you can get 40 to 50% more battery life. I am not seeing this? The LP-E6NH battery is at 60 minutes in safe mode and a brand new LP-E6P only gives me about 10 minutes more. They both deplete for first 10 minutes and then seem stable. Please note, I am just going by the on-screen battery indicator and have not tried recording till the battery is drained. My setting are set 4K 24 fps, XF-AVC Long GOP, fan speed auto and low, lcd luminance set to normal or 0 and sharpness 1. The lens attached is the RF15-35 2.8 L IS USM with autofocus and IS on, and in camera stabilization is off. I also only use OEM batteries and I only have a card in the SD slot and nothing in the CF card slot yet.

Although I will mainly be using a v-mount battery, it would be nice to get 50% more battery life from the OEM batteries. Concerns me that I'm not. Any suggestions?

[AtticusLake]

I don't know who told you that the LP-E6P has "50% more battery life", but I suspect they're simply making it up, or at least misunderstanding what's going on.  The LP-E6P and the LP-E6NH are the same size, and weigh the same, which means they have the same amount of chemistry inside, which means you should expect them to have the same capacity.  This is borne out by the data I can find online - their capacity is rated as 2130mAh in both cases.

My understanding is that the LP-E6P is engineered to be able to output its charge at a higher RATE - i.e. more amps (mA, or A).  This does not mean more capacity (mAh, or Ah).  If your camera is draining the battery faster, then it will last less long.

One point where people may be getting confused is that if you drain a battery faster than it's designed for, then its output voltage will fall - this could cause the camera to see the battery as dead, even if it still has loads of charge left.  In that situation, the P battery may effectively last longer.

Since the R5C was designed for the NH battery, it clearly does not drain the battery faster than an NH can provide; so I wouldn't expect to see much (or any) difference with a P battery.  I haven't tried it, but you have, and your results don't surprise me.

[JCin]

Thanks for your reply and makes sense although here's a couple of the videos claiming the more battery life:

Canon RC5 - How to Get 50% More Battery Life https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbFzET8O1QQ

Powering the R5C with the LP-E6P Battery - EOS R5C Tip 37 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mefr-AB9uL0&t=8s

[AtticusLake]

Well ... I watched the Sattin video, and he certainly does have an impressive beard.  But saying "this is real" over and over doesn't impress me.

Battery tests are fiendishly hard to do right.  For example, he doesn't know what the states of his test batteries are at the start. Even if they were both brand new, if one of them was exposed to heat during storage, for example, then that could have shortened its life.

However, he does note that both batteries have the exact same nominal capacity, but different max. output rates.  (That's the "6A" rating that he tries to figure out.)   And he attributes the difference to this - that the R5C is drawing power fast enough that the NH batteries can't quite keep up, and hence the voltage drops, and the camera shuts down (as I explained already).  This also explains why an NH battery which is "dead" in video mode still works in stills mode (as I've observed myself).

So, basically, his claim of "50% more battery life" is only going to apply when you use the camera in a high-power mode.  I guess you aren't doing that, and so you aren't seeing that big difference.

[shadowsports]

Greetings,

Ian and I have both had our R5 C's since it's release.  He got his a few months before I.  I'm not sure if he still has his because he's shooting on a C80 now.  He's also done extensive testing on the R5 C and is an absolute expert on its bandwidth, bit rates, color grading, etc.  Ian, I feel your knowledge and work is exceptional.  He's produced many breathtaking (beautiful) videos.  

From a video standpoint, I consider myself to be an enthusiast.  I am primarily a stills shooter but purchased the R5 C to explore video.  I shoot 4K 24p almost exclusively.  The only difference between the two batteries as he pointed out is the 6P discharges at 6 amps continuously.  I follow Josh Sattin, Deaf Director and Points in Focus youtube channels since all three of them have dedicated years to the R5 C.  I'm familiar with Josh's video on R5 C's Cinema OS setup. I'm currently running firmware v1.0.9.1.  I have not upgraded to 1.1.0.1 since time code is not essential for me.

My videos are typically short, and I have not pushed my recording time to its limits.  Using the 6P I've seen anywhere from 10% to about 40% more recording time depending on the shooting scenario.  Shooting multiple short clips versus long continuous captures.  I think Canon's real goal with the new battery was to allow 8K60 with full lens support on the internal battery.  They definitely achieved that.  

In my experience you can get longer run times, shooting longer and continuously with the 6P.  However, if you are shooting shorter clips and reviewing, or not using the media preview button to conserve power between takes, you're going to get decreased overall run time well below what Josh's video depicts.  So in conclusion, I think what you're seeing is normal.  

There are other R5 C owners here who visit less frequently.  Hopefully they'll see this post and comment / leave feedback on their experience.

[JCin]

Thanks AtticusLake and Rick. I know you guys know your stuff. I'm not use to the R5C yet. I use a C70 at day gig and currently own 4 other Canon cameras that can run pretty long on there own. The R5C is going to be interesting, in a good way, I hope.

[recstudiogr]

have the same problem at the start (1st new unopen,charge) time when i got the batteries they get 180min in battery grip (im just saying the numbers on the screen not an actual test but im stop talking see the video for your self...

[JCin]

Thanks for sharing. I'm only seeing about a 10 minute difference of numbers on the screen with new LP-E6P. I'm starting to come to the conclusion that the battery time on the cameras screen is seldom accurate. 

[JCin]

So picked up another new LP-E6P battery and as with the other new LP-E6P, showing 63 minutes on screen when fully charged. The  LP-E6NH battery is at 43 minutes not in safe mode and at 60 in safe mode. Safe mode does not make a difference on the new LP-E6P batteries. My setting were 4K 24 fps, XF-AVC Long GOP, fan speed auto and low, lcd luminance set to normal or 0 and sharpness 1, auto-focus disabled and lens RF24-70 2.8 L USM.

Not sure if this is normal, but at least it seems consistent.

[recstudiogr · Accepted solution]

"The main difference of the LP-E6P is that has the same time in PowerSaving mode OFF
(and the benefits of course) as the LP-E6NH in " PowerSaving mode ON the end of the Video.
and i think they are lying about "I dont go to powersaving mode on...i need those futures of the camera ...." Really you need all those features on all projects you do??