New Member, New Camera...a few D750 Questions

jrhone

New member
Hello Nikonites!
New member here. I have been using Nikon since my Nikon N70 and F100 35mm film cameras. My first Digital was the Nikon D70 (still have it). I had a D2x and a D700 and I just picked up a very lightly used D750 for under $800. ALOT of camera for the money. I bought a MB-D16 grip for it for $75 and all my lenses work perfectly with it. I used to do studio work with models and now I get outside and shoot cars mostly.

I have only shot with the D750 a few times but I am LOVING the dynamic range and the high ISO quality. I used the Wi-Fi a few times for the novelty of it, but it drained the battery very quickly. It seems like the battery drains pretty fast...I am wondering if I have a bad battery. I am getting like maybe 200 shots on a battery. But that was long exposures like 20 seconds with Long Exposure Noise reduction processing on so maybe that was draining the battery quickly. What are people getting as far as battery life with the D750. My D700 could take a few thousand shots on a battery. If I wanna get a few batteries are the Nikon batteries the best option or are there good 3rd party batteries that perform like the Nikons for less? I plan on getting at least one more to have one in the grip and one in the camera. and maybe even a 3rd for a spare.
 

Danno

Senior Member
Welcome to the Forum. I hope you enjoy it here. I do not have a 750 but from other discussions about batteries, your battery life is not the norm. If you have left the Wifi on that could be why the batteries are draining so fast, but there are a lot of folks with D750s that should be able to help.

This is a pretty easy going place.
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
Hello Nikonites!
New member here. I have been using Nikon since my Nikon N70 and F100 35mm film cameras. My first Digital was the Nikon D70 (still have it). I had a D2x and a D700 and I just picked up a very lightly used D750 for under $800. ALOT of camera for the money. I bought a MB-D16 grip for it for $75 and all my lenses work perfectly with it. I used to do studio work with models and now I get outside and shoot cars mostly.

I have only shot with the D750 a few times but I am LOVING the dynamic range and the high ISO quality. I used the Wi-Fi a few times for the novelty of it, but it drained the battery very quickly. It seems like the battery drains pretty fast...I am wondering if I have a bad battery. I am getting like maybe 200 shots on a battery. But that was long exposures like 20 seconds with Long Exposure Noise reduction processing on so maybe that was draining the battery quickly. What are people getting as far as battery life with the D750. My D700 could take a few thousand shots on a battery. If I wanna get a few batteries are the Nikon batteries the best option or are there good 3rd party batteries that perform like the Nikons for less? I plan on getting at least one more to have one in the grip and one in the camera. and maybe even a 3rd for a spare.
Congrats on the new camera. The D750 is a beast but long exposure shots like you were doing (~20s), especially when using Long Exposure NR, will drain you battery really, really fast. I found this out myself the first time I did light painting/night shots in the high desert. Keeping the shutter open that long, combined with the added overhead of doing the nose reduction, is the most likely reason you only got ~200 shots from a full battery. If you had wireless enabled that would help drain the battery as well. I wouldn't judge overall battery life based on that sort of shooting session, unless it's the norm for how you shoot; in which case I would suggest you to stock-up on batteries.

As for reasonably priced, third party batteries, I've had good success with Wasabi batteries and the STK Version. I also suggest a good dual-battery charger. This is the one I use, the Neewer Dual LCD Battery Charger but there are several others to choose from.
 

jrhone

New member
Just a followup...I think I know why I'm getting poor battery performance...I have a cheap Ebay battery in there...Time to grab a new battery...
 

Bikerbrent

Senior Member
Just a followup...I think I know why I'm getting poor battery performance...I have a cheap Ebay battery in there...Time to grab a new battery...

Yup! Cheap Chinese battery's tend to give short battery life. Plus, they can overheat and destroy your camera.
 

Bikerbrent

Senior Member
In all fairness, so can OEM batteries. My third-party batteries have been flawless over the years and sell for 1/3 the price.

The key is "CHEAP" Chinese batteries. I am certain that well made Chinese batteries are good. In fact, I would not be surprised if some of the Nikon brand batteries are now made in China. The problem is determining which are the good and which are the bad batteries. I am sure that cheap, no name brands, sold on Ebay are the issue.
 

Texas

Senior Member
A couple weeks ago I was fooling around with a small bluetooth receiver that had quit. Decided to crack it open on the workbench and have a look. In the process I damaged the Li-On battery and it started smoking then burst into flames. Mind you this is a little flat battery, the size of a postage stamp and about 1/8 inch thick. Made a hot and stinky mess.

No more experiments like this for me.
 

jrhone

New member
The key is "CHEAP" Chinese batteries. I am certain that well made Chinese batteries are good. In fact, I would not be surprised if some of the Nikon brand batteries are now made in China. The problem is determining which are the good and which are the bad batteries. I am sure that cheap, no name brands, sold on Ebay are the issue.

Yes...and after looking at lots of batteries and reviews, I am going with the Nikon. Almost ALL the reviews of 3rd party batteries say the same thing...they start out great for the first year or so, then stop holding a charge and drain quickly. Thats what this battery is doing. Will drain quickly and will start discharging as soon as its off the charger. Charged it fully. Unplugged the charger. The next day put it in the camera and it said 36% charge. put it back on the charger until full and put it immediately in the camera and got 98%. The third party batteries usually don't show the correct battery info as well on the camera. Just to be clear I have NEVER purchased a replacement Nikon battery. Even my D70 battery will still hold a full charge and still shoot 800 or so shots if needed. That battery is literally 13 years old. My D700 battery again, a 10 year old camera on its original battery would shoot for months on a single charge (100 or so shots a week). There are some batteries I am sure that will be just as good as the Nikon, its just finding them and getting a good one. Lower price batteries are going to have more of a variance in quality...Its not worth it to me. $60 and forget about it.
 

7 of 9

Senior Member
Picked up a D750 2 months ago and I’m finding the battery depleting overnight. I’ve got a D7100 and I can leave it on/off/whatever and the battery lasts for weeks on end.
I’ve placed the D750’s battery into the D7100 and it acts normally. I’ve placed the D7100’s battery into the D750 and it’s gone overnight.
This is a “no-shoot” situation. The camera is sitting on the computer desk (and yes, it’s on, but so is the D7100) and the battery drains overnight. It’s disconcerting, to say the least, but since I can’t find anyone else experiencing this issue, I’m leaning towards boxing it up and shipping it to Nikon.
 

Bikerbrent

Senior Member
Welcome aboard. Enjoy the ride.
We look forward to seeing more posts and samples of your work.

You might try a factory reset on the D750. If this does not work, a trip to the camera doctor might be in order. If you have a good local repair shop, you might consider visiting them before sending it off to Nikon. Also a phone cvall to Nikon might be worth while before sending it off.
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
Picked up a D750 2 months ago and I’m finding the battery depleting overnight. I’ve got a D7100 and I can leave it on/off/whatever and the battery lasts for weeks on end.
I’ve placed the D750’s battery into the D7100 and it acts normally. I’ve placed the D7100’s battery into the D750 and it’s gone overnight.
This is a “no-shoot” situation. The camera is sitting on the computer desk (and yes, it’s on, but so is the D7100) and the battery drains overnight. It’s disconcerting, to say the least, but since I can’t find anyone else experiencing this issue, I’m leaning towards boxing it up and shipping it to Nikon.

Is the Wifi turned on? If so, turn it off and see if that makes a difference.
 

7 of 9

Senior Member
The WiFi is on. I’ll turn it off tonight and check again. It’d be annoying if that were the problem (I’m an IT guy), as modern cameras are as much computers as cameras, and it’d mean this was either never tested, or tested and deemed “not to be a problem”.
Love the camera though!
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
The WiFi is on. I’ll turn it off tonight and check again. It’d be annoying if that were the problem (I’m an IT guy), as modern cameras are as much computers as cameras, and it’d mean this was either never tested, or tested and deemed “not to be a problem”.
Love the camera though!

Then I'm guessing that is your problem. Others have reported battery drain when leaving their camera Wifi turned on. And many are other Nikon bodies - not just the D750. I hope it will resolve your issue and not be something more complicated! :)
 

7 of 9

Senior Member
Found the culprit and it’s behavior certainly differing from the D7100.
Leaving the USB cable connected to the computer, the D750 flatlines in a few hours. I’ve repeated this several times and I’m satisfied it’s the answer.
 
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