Learnt a valuable lesson this morning...

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Matthew
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I got up at 5am this morning and headed 20 miles to the coast as it was giving lovely weather. Got there and there were some lovely orange and red skies.

So I cracked open my camera and as soon as I took my first photo the battery started flashing argggh!!

Then on the 20 mile journey back I had my own photograph taken... by a speed camera, bad times lol :(

Anyway always charge your battery the night before! :thumbs:
 
Yes that same thing has happened to me lol but not the speed camera, sure haven't forgotten since I also now carry a spare bty.
Have a nice day
Kevin
 
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I don't have a spare, but will buy one today :)
 
There's still something to be said for a mechanical camera and a couple of extra rolls of film sequestered round the place. :)

Though the battery in my light meter(my phone) has gone on me more than once...
 
I use 2 batteries at a time in the grips of both of my bodies and always check my battery levels before I go out to shoot. If they're less than 50% then I will always take spares, even if I'm only going for an hour or so. I always keep my spares charged up and ready to go though, I think I've got 10 altogether so I'm pretty well covered. Learn from your mistake and buy a spare or two.
 
My solution is even easier. Use cameras which don't take batteries!


Steve.
 
I'm not completely exempt from dead battery syndrome. About ten years ago I went out with my Nikon D100, turned it on and nothing happened. Then I remembered the battery was still in the charger at home.

Luckily, I had my Rolleicord with me too!


Steve.
 
Ouch! :bonk:

The first thing i did when buying my camera was to buy a spare battery because i am very forgetful so its always good to have a spare fully charged in the bag.
 
A wasted trip and caught by a speed camera? It sounds like "one of those days"!

Bassit said:
Ouch! :bonk:

The first thing i did when buying my camera was to buy a spare battery...
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Same here, I always carry a fully charged spare. Having just one battery is asking for trouble unless you fully charge-it every time before going out, which is a PITA.
 
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Steve Smith said:
I'm not completely exempt from dead battery syndrome. About ten years ago I went out with my Nikon D100, turned it on and nothing happened. Then I remembered the battery was still in the charger at home.


Steve.
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Snap, I did that with my D40, but luckily it was only a short drive home to get it out the charger and I got the shot I wanted :thumbs:
 
Been there got the tee shirt.
I now seem to have acquired 4 batteries, 2 mains chargers and a in car charger.
 
Could be worse when I had just got my D700 I only had one compact flash card.

A friend of the wife's was getting engaged and asked me to take some photos at their engagement party. Happy to oblige, I don't do much paid stuff I excitedly gathered my gear the night before batteries charged, lenses cleaned, packed everything away in my camera bag and thought no more about it.

The following night after a 35 mile trip and nightmare traffic, I pulled into the hotel and pulled the camera out of the bag to format the card before going in and guess what, yep no compact flash card. :lol:

Luckily enough I was able to reserve a card online with Jessops drive like a maniac into Belfast, pick the card up and arrive only a little late and no one ever knew there was a problem.
 
whitevanman said:
Been there got the tee shirt.
I now seem to have acquired 4 batteries, 2 mains chargers and a in car charger.
Click to expand...

Same here.

Bought a 3rd Party charger with the in car charger..... when needed it took too long to charge. :-(

Solar panels on the pentaprism perhaps???
 
Best photography tip I ever read...

Put an elastic band around a fully charged battery.

Then, if you're even vaguely organised and have at least 2 (maybe 3) batteries, it's pretty hard not to realise at a glance what your 'battery situation' is.

I also always make sure if I return from an event or something where I've completely discharged a battery, that I put it on charge straight away as a matter of course along with removing memory cards to transfer shots onto my PC.
 
If your camera has the feature set it to not release the shutter without memory card inserted as well. :thumbs:
 
As soon as I get back from a shoot, I empty my bag completely, put batteries on to charge, cleans lenses. Card comes out of camera for processing (and yes, camera is set not to fire without card. Basic stuff. Quite a few cameras have battery condition indicators, sometimes buried in the menu). Everything goes into an old wooden chest of drawers which allows air to circulate so anything wet can dry - and the bag can air as it's empty and open.

Then, for the next shoot, I pick whatever kit I'll need, check it as I pack it, including spares, do a couple of test shots. That way, everything is there and working.

It's just habit, like doing a pre-flight check on your aeroplane before take-off, and I'm sure we all do that. :D
 
The first thing i do when i get a new camera is buy a spare battery,sometime even a fully charge can go down :)
 
Sounds a little more low key, but I was riding my bike to a location for some pictures. A nice seaside location.

Got there, got all my kit out and set up, switched on the camera. "Replace Battery".

Packed it all up, on my way home I fell off my bike. :(
 
Buy a cheap generic battery and charger from ebay so you have a spare. Then leave the charger and cigarette lighter adaptor in the car so you can charge on your way home. That way your battery should be charged when you next go out. Also, should the worst happen and you arrive at the location with a flat battery then you have the chance of recharging.
 
Queue 200 people telling him to buy a battery or charge his batteries or keep a spare battery.

He has already learned the lesson, hence the thread.
 
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