When do you turn your camera Off?

bechdan

Senior Member
So if Im walking around taking a photo every couple of minutes or so, is it worth switching the camera off, or should I just leave it on and let it go in to standby? Which one would use most battery?
Just curious.
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
Technically speaking leaving your camera turned on would consume more power but sitting in standby draws so *little* power I don't really think it's anything to worry about. I've gone all day (+10 hours) on a single battery taking hundreds of shots and had plenty of juice left over and that's with a couple different Nikons I've owned over the years. Auto-focus and the using the rear LCD are two big drains on the battery.

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Geoffc

Senior Member
I rarely switch my cameras off unless I think the shutter button is likely to get pressed by mistake. The batteries stay charged for months and it's probably silly but I like to reduce wear on the switch.

I've taken this approach for over ten years with various Nikons.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 

STM

Senior Member
I just instinctively turn mine off after each shot if I am not shooting a photo session. Just like turning on my turn signal, I do it without any real conscious thought about it. It often is annoying when I get the next shot framed up and look into the finder not really paying attention to anything but the focusing screen, push the shutter button and............nothing. Oops, forgot to turn it back on again!

DOH-Homer.jpg
 

Smoke

Senior Member
I leave mine on for let's say a whole sporting event or session that I'm taking pics of. I believe there would be some wear and tear on the switch after a while if you keep turning it off and on. But this situation messes with my OCD! "Do I leave the camera on and risk draining the battery? Or do I keep turning it off an on and wear out the lever?" :indecisiveness: Uuuugh!!! I can't take it!!!!!!
 

kevy73

Senior Member
I am the same as STM, I turn mine off after each group of shots, I use a double rapid strap, so the camera stays on while I am holding it, but if I go to 'put it down' for want of a better term, it gets flicked off.
 

singlerosa_RIP

Senior Member
Like most others, I only turn off if I'm setting the camera down for a while or changing lenses. My bodies are gripped, so battery life is not an issue. I do get the occasional photo of my feet, but what the hey.....
 

Vixen

Senior Member
I generally turn mine off when I put it in my bag. I have the auto sensor clean set to go off when I switch the camera off so this way it does that at least once per day.
I turn it off when I change lenses as I believe you are supposed to do that to (think I read it on this forum somewhere).
Sometimes I just turn it off after taking a shot, just habit. A fallback to the old P & S days when leaving it on would drain the batteries super quick. :D
 
Mine stays on always when it is in hand while I a shooting. And a lot of the time I don't turn it off when I am through till I get ready to remove the SD card to transfer it to the computer then I do turn it off. Battery drain is never a problem. I will shoot several hundred shots while I am out on a big day and I never run out of power. I change batteries before every day of shooting and charge the used one.
 

aroy

Senior Member
I turn it off when ever I feel that there will be some time between shots. Once in while I have forgotten to turn it off when taking shots in the evenings and it remains on the whole night, never noticed any battery drain. Mostly I turn off so that I need not push buttons after reviewing the images. The buttons are loosing their lables.
 

J-see

Senior Member
Mine remains on as long as it is out of my backpack. Only when I end my shooting day and stuff it back in, I switch off. I always have a spare battery but would need to take an awful lot of shots before that's needed. But it's there for the "you never know" reason.
 

captain birdseye

Senior Member
The only thing I turn off at times is the battery grip as, due to the way I sling my camera when strolling I sometimes end up accidentally activating the AF if the grip rubs against me.
 
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