Chuck wrote:
> My A1 doesn't do this well. I have the optional battery grip
> which holds two NP-400 batteries and, when shooting an event,
> I get about 350 frames. I leave the anti-shake system on all
> the time since, as above, it is only actually active during
> shutter release. I think the big battery consumer is the
> display which I also leave powered on all the time.
I do a couple things differently when shooting events. I
typically use the viewfinder as I don't care for others to see
what I'm shooting and I use the eye-proximity sensor to turn the
viewfinder on. Between this and the one-minute sleep mode, I can
usually get over 300 frames per battery--with around 1/3
internal flash use. Although I have the battery grip, I only
mount one battery at a time. If it's a really long day, I might
exhaust a battery and will place it on the charger just in case
I need it again.
One thing that just eats batteries for lunch is C-AF.
Another thing I've discovered about the Minolta (and the Olympus
too) isn't the number of pictures taken, but the amount of time
the unit is on. Read the Review Run-Time on the spec-sheet of
the manual. This gives you an idea of how much run-time the
camera gets off the battery. If I recall correctly, it's 4
hours with the A1. Between the CF, computer processors and
displays and LEDs, there is a pretty hefty drain on the battery.
Actually taking a picture is a pretty tiny draw as it triggers
a couple tiny shutter servos twice, the iris and the antishake
mechanism--all of which are pretty minimal electrical uses.
Even the flash is a pretty efficient device. I seem to get the
same amount of battery runtime if I'm taking pictures or not.
Having a short sleep mode also keeps the sensor a bit cooler
too--which is a big deal with the A1/A2.
Oh, one thing to keep in mind with Minolta's anti-shake, is that
you can set it to stabilize ONLY during the exposure. Don't use
this setting as it actually delays the shutter release slightly
as it determines movement. Have it set where it's active during
the half-press position. It seems to make the AF work a little
faster too.
AG
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