Nicool 26 Posted May 6, 2014 Hi all, Sorry for this extra OMD EM5 thread, but I have a precise area of concern that i think may be relevant to many, and it would be easier to find than in the 39 pages of the thread started by Alex Mustard! So I have 2 battery issues with my camera: 1/ the battery indicator displays only when it's getting low. There's a workaround to get it displayed permanently in the EVF, but that's only if you enable the auto-switch, which you don't when the camera is in a housing... => so it's hard to predict when my camera is getting low on battery 2/ when battery is low, the indicator is not consistent in the information displayed. Simple example: i do a dive and check that the camera doesn't give me any battery warning before turning on. Since I am going to shoot the same config the week after, i just leave everything in the housing, with camera off, of course. The week after, in the water, when I turn on the camera, it gives me a 'low battery' indicator, and turns off after a few shots... This is very annoying for underwater photography! Have you guys faced the same problems (can't believe my 2 olympus battery are lemons)? Have you found workarounds? I miss my Nikon batteries which kept precise track of remaining power (2 digits percentage), and history of the number of shots taken since last charge. With Olympus it's like a surprise each time I turn my camera on! cheers Nicolas Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jock 14 Posted May 6, 2014 Do you use a fiber optic cable and TTL for your strobe(s)? And the LCD screen? That consumes a lot of power from the camera's battery. When the first battery warning appears (green battery with one empty bar) I can shoot for quite a while without strobe (=on land), but underwater I know that I have to be VERY selective with the photos I take from then on. No problem for me, though, because I'm an old slide-film guy... From my experience I change battery after two dives, depending of course on how much I shoot. Unfortunately there is no firmware hack or so that I have heard of for a more accurate battery status display. Jock Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
and178schwarz 3 Posted May 6, 2014 Hi Nicolas. In my EM5 the display shows the battery icon whenever I turn the camera on. It shows a few seconds on the display as well as in the EVF. You can change the warning level after which the camera starts showing the battery symbol constantly using menu "K" under "Warning level". Adjusting the level to +2 will show the icon much more early. The reason for the battery being low after two weeks of non usage is called "self discharge". The self discharge on li-Ion betteries is much higher as it is on for instance on NiMH or alcaline. So a half charged bettery might become low easily after two weeks. I would advise you to prepare and check the camera shortly before leaving for a dive. Best in a dry place (hotel room) or whatever. This would include making a test shot, check the buttons and levers are working, the card is inserted the lense cap removed (I know from painful own eperience) the flashes are firing and whatever else would come to ur mind. I always have three batteries with me so I can have one in the camera, one charged for spare and one in the charger. Hope this helps. Kind regards. Andy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
troporobo 244 Posted May 7, 2014 I faced exactly the same problems (and missed shots when the battery died mid way through subsequent dives). The advice above is excellent. As far as I can tell, there's not much else we can do about improving the monitoring. I solved my problem by getting a bunch of third-party batteries, and popping in a fresh one each time I open the housing. You can get the Progo or Wasabi batteries for about $10 each from Amazon. They work just as well as the originals. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jock 14 Posted May 7, 2014 (edited) Andy, Thanks for pointing out that menu setting. There are so many options deep down in the infamous Olympus menu... Li-Ion has a much LOWER self discharge than most other rechargeables, less than 2% per month at 20C. So if there is an extraordinaey self discharge in the battery, maybe something is wrong with the camera? Even if you do not shut off the camera, it will do so by itself (unless you actively change this setting) to save battery life. Or maybe Nicola's battery was down to just above the first warning level after the first dive, and then the small self discharge led to the problem. So setting a more sensitive warning level could make you more alert. I bought two different third party batteries last year, both got very positive reviews at Amazon. They both have a substantially shorter running time than my genuine ones, one of them is not even good enough for a single extended dive. And, of course, you need an additional charger, because at least at the time when I bought them, no third party battery would be accepted by the Olympus charger. Maybe that is different today? Nicolas, please make sure that you really have the genuine Olympus batteries and not some dumb China fakes with a print like Olymqus on them :-)) Jock Edited May 7, 2014 by Jock Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
troporobo 244 Posted May 7, 2014 I have the Progo batteries. They seem to last last just as long as the Olympus battery (good for two 60 minute dives and about 300 clicks) and are actually rated higher (1600 mAh vs 1220 mAh). They will charge in the Olympus charger, and display the correct charge level in the camera. Some reviews claim they will not charge fully in the Olympus charger but I do not sense this though I have not tested it scientifically. There are a few threads on DP Review with more detail. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nicool 26 Posted May 8, 2014 Hi all and thanks a lot for your advice! @Jock, I mostly use TTL and shoot via the viewfinder. I have indeed noticed that shooting manual flash will considerably save battery, but I am much less productive this way. I think my batteries are 2 genuine Olympus, from Olympus package and everything, with the shiny stick on them. @Andy, I did read about this advice on tuning the "early" warning, and i did set... -2!! So let's fix that and set +2, hopefully this will solve my concerns. And I will follow this advice to consider battery needs replacement as soon as it indicates only 2/3rds charge remain (which in my opinion should mean "2/3rds of the charge actually remain"...). I may give a try on one of these 3rd party batteries, although I didn't feel the need for an extra battery during last liveaboard: we were swapping batteries about each 3 dives, with about 50 shots a dive. For my local diving each week-end, well I'll turn on the camera at home before driving to the dive site, and check what the battery indicator says, after the camera sat for one week in its housing. @all, in your experience, with a normal OMD EM5 & normal battery, this battery indication that I would have when waking up the camera after one week, would be reliable, or not? regards, Nicolas Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oskar 6 Posted May 12, 2014 About 3:rd party batteries, note that the capacity rating printed on them typically have scant or no relation to reality :-) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
troporobo 244 Posted May 12, 2014 Well, maybe not, but in actual use and in tests, they last as long. So I'm happy Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
