Leaving it switched on ... ???

[Venomator]

Hi guys 'n gals ...

I wonder if anyone has the real answer to this little conundrum ... :shrug:


I have been leaving my camera set up and focussed on a point hoping to swing into action when any potential subject comes into the viewfinder ... ...

... to enable swift reaction with least disturbance I am leaving the camera switched on and remote cable attached so all I have to do is reach over and depress the plunger to try and capture the subject ... :shrug:

Whilst waiting I can then work/play at my workstation on other things ...

... QUESTION ... will leaving my camera switched on in this way harm it in any way other than draining the battery a little faster than normal ...

Thanx in advance for your inputs ...

 

[RobertP]

I never turn my camera off. It just goes to sleep and wakes when I touch the shutter button. Battery life is fine. I'd guess your camera will sleep in that situation. As it wakes so quickly I can't see a problem.

 

[PeteStewardson]

Does no harm at all. The metering will switch off and obviously it won't "do" anything while left like that but it won't do any harm. TBH I doubt you'll even notice a battery life change over switching it off as the only thing it is doing extra is diaplaying a bit more on the LCD.

 

[Ewan]

I never turn my camera off. It just goes to sleep and wakes when I touch the shutter button. Battery life is fine. I'd guess your camera will sleep in that situation. As it wakes so quickly I can't see a problem.

Why is that? Does letting the camera "sleep" not use any battery power?

 

[RobertP]

Doesn't seem to.

Even turned off it is not 'off' like with the battery out. If I turn it off then open the card door the read/write light for the CF card flashes briefly - so some power is still in the circuits.

 

[Venomator]

Thanx a lot for the comments and reassurances Robert and IceC ... ... nice to know my own thoughts are confirmed ...


The battery does seem to last very well under these conditions as I have been 'at it' for three days now n the same battery and it shows around half life ... :shrug: ... which is more than can be said for me right now ...

 

[Marcel]

Yup, basically on my 30D, the timer does pretty much what the power switch does, it kills the power after 4 mins (in my case). I always forget to turn mine off lol

 

[Marcel]

Thanx a lot for the comments and reassurances Robert and IceC ... ... nice to know my own thoughts are confirmed ...


The battery does seem to last very well under these conditions as I have been 'at it' for three days now n the same battery and it shows around half life ... :shrug: ... which is more than can be said for me right now ...

So the battery life is still in the Green eh?

Yes, I'm here all week..

I can recommend the veal.

 

[Venomator]

You should go veggie m8 ...

 

[Ewan]

Are you veggie Ven?

 

[King_Boru]

Turning the camera on an off will drain the power more over just leaving it to "sleep". Like you ven I have a D200 and leave mine on all day during a shoot/when waiting for jets.

It'll be fine buddy!

King.

 

[Ewan]

So will my D70 do this "sleep" thing too? The display and meter switch off automatically after about 20 secs if I don't do anything - is this the same thing?

 

[Venomator]

Are you veggie Ven?

Everything about me is Green Ewan ...

Turning the camera on an off will drain the power more over just leaving it to "sleep". Like you ven I have a D200 and leave mine on all day during a shoot/when waiting for jets.

It'll be fine buddy!

King.

Thanx KB ... reassurance enough ...

So will my D70 do this "sleep" thing too? The display and meter switch off automatically after about 20 secs if I don't do anything - is this the same thing?

Indeedy it is Ewan ...

 

[Wile E. coyote]

So will my D70 do this "sleep" thing too? The display and meter switch off automatically after about 20 secs if I don't do anything - is this the same thing?

Yep thats the one my D50 does the same, you can change the timing of it in the menus somewhere. Like other have said when out all day my camera is always on and the battery lasts. Its only when the LCD screen is on that the battery drains more, so less chimping

 

[Ewan]

Its only when the LCD screen is on that the battery drains more, so less chimping

I'm a chimper and proud of it

Plus with my new D70 I can chimp and take photos at the same time! (something I couldn't do on my fuji)

I'm glad to hear it Ven, and ta for answering my questions. I think there's at least 3 veggies on this forum...

 

[Sharkey]

One here!

 

[Ewan]

Yay! 4!

Me, JL, Ven, and Sharkey

 

[CT]

Another vote for leaving it on all the time. I only switch mine off changing lenses - when I remember.

Not a veggie though! :nono:

 

[Ewan]

But DON'T leave it on when it's connecting to the PC via USB. I did that just now and ran my battery flat. Dunno about other cams, but the D70 doesn't "sleep" when connected to the PC.

 

[Gandhi]

Vegetarian by proxy.....

G/f is so that pretty much makes me a vegetarian. I can only cook bacon when she's at work. Grrrrrrrr.

I think you'll find ewan that you'll get much better battery life off the d70 due to it's smaller screen. I used to be able chimp all day on the d70 nd not feel it, but now, with the d200, I have the instant replay turned off most of the time as the big lcd on the back sucks juice like a thirsty child!

 

[Venomator]

Thanx for all your helpful comments and advice guys 'n gals ...

I guess an old dog can learn new ones ...

... my camera is now left on all the time whereas before I was almost paranoid about switching off between shutter releases ... :shrug:

Vegetarian by proxy.....

G/f is so that pretty much makes me a vegetarian.

And that's how it happened to me ... ... can't complain though ... :shrug: ... she won't let me ...