Canon T3 Battery Question

[letthewookiewin]

I have gotten a great deal of help from this forums in the past about camera question, so I thought I would ask here. For a about the past year, I've been thinking of purchasing a DSLR. The main two I was looking at was the Nikon D3200 and the Canon T4i. Black Friday, I ended getting the T3, that came with an 18 - 55 and 75 - 300 mm lenses. I just felt that even though the others I was looking at had cool features, more than likely they would go unused. The thing I am concerned about the most is the battery life while at WDW. I am going on a girls only long weekend with a couple of friends, one of which has a super adorable young daughter. I know I'll take a ton of pictures while we are in the parks. My question is, will charging the battery while we sleep, be enough for it to last all day the next day or should I buy a back up battery?

 

[SrisonS]

I'd probably buy at least 2 backups; so you'll pretty much always be safe. Maybe even look into off-brand versions of the batteries; which will help aid in the decision of buying more or just using one. Those Canon ones can be quite pricey.

 

[Skywise]

My question is, will charging the battery while we sleep, be enough for it to last all day the next day or should I buy a back up battery?

Ehhhh... maybe...

The Canon battery will allow you to take a lot of shots but it depends on how many you take, with flash, plus video, etc;

On a pretty full day I got about 3/4 of a day out of my Canon T2i battery... but sometimes I could go a full day without draining the battery. (On the full days I took hundreds of photos and nearly an hour of video.)

You're better off getting the spare battery.

 

[letthewookiewin]

Ehhhh... maybe...

The Canon battery will allow you to take a lot of shots but it depends on how many you take, with flash, plus video, etc;

On a pretty full day I got about 3/4 of a day out of my Canon T2i battery... but sometimes I could go a full day without draining the battery. (On the full days I took hundreds of photos and nearly an hour of video.)

You're better off getting the spare battery.

I don't plan on taking any video, which is the main reason why I went with the T3 over the T3i.

 

[photo_chick]

I'll go a day easy on one charge with my Canon DSLR's. But I rarely use the LCD screen or the flash. I do think a second battery is a must though, regardless of battery drain. You just never know when you're going to need it.

 

[fabulousfive]

I have four batteries and two chargers. Normally one battery lasts awhile but in Disney this past trip I burned through three batteries in one day as I was using my flash a ton. That was abnormal for me. I typically feel two batteries is perfect. And yes, I do have one off brand that I purchased out of desperate need in NYC and it works just the same as my Canon ones and has lasted for years.

 

[letthewookiewin]

Thanks y'all. I'm defiantly get at least one spare. I like the idea of having a total of four, with two chargers. That way, I can have two on me, while the other two are charging.

 

[SkaGoat]

Do you and your family take mid-day breaks while on vacation? If you do you can leave the extra battery on the charger in the room, then when you go back for your break swap them out.

I had a Rebel XS and as long as I didn't use Live View too much, I never had to use my backup, and that was 300+ shots a day, I almost never use flash.

 

[letthewookiewin]

Do you and your family take mid-day breaks while on vacation? If you do you can leave the extra battery on the charger in the room, then when you go back for your break swap them out. I had a Rebel XS and as long as I didn't use Live View too much, I never had to use my backup, and that was 300+ shots a day, I almost never use flash.

I won't be traveling with my family on this trip. I am going with a couple of friends. One of them does have a young daughter, that I think is 2. I'm not sure if we'll take mid day breaks or not.

 

[Littlejohn Dsgn]

I have 3 batteries and two chargers, never have to worry. I am headed for a long weekend trip, and will take my 3 batteries and leave the chargers at home. Now in Disneyland I am sure I will burn a battery a day, and will have my chargers. The off brand for that camera (same one I have) are dirt cheap on Amazon, just look for the ones with most/best reviews. I have had 2 off brands for over a year now and still working great. I plan to grab another two pack soon just so I have lots of extras.

 

[mom2rtk]

I just never like working without a net.

The battery will probably last all day. But occasionally just as I'm about to start shooting fireworks at the end of the night, it will tell me it's time to change.

More importantly, after a long day in the parks I forget to put the battery in the charger before passing out. It's always nice to have a couple backups for that reason alone.

 

[boBQuincy]

I just never like working without a net.

Agreed, always have a spare battery and memory card.

More importantly, after a long day in the parks I forget to put the battery in the charger before passing out. It's always nice to have a couple backups for that reason alone.

On chargers, we pack an extension cord to give us more outlets in our room. Between two cameras, two cell phones, laptop, etc. it is nice to have more outlets for chargers!

 

[mom2rtk]

Agreed, always have a spare battery and memory card.



On chargers, we pack an extension cord to give us more outlets in our room. Between two cameras, two cell phones, laptop, etc. it is nice to have more outlets for chargers!

I keep a spare memory card in a holder on my camera strap all the time. It's nice to always have one at my fingertips. I end up using it most in dark settings when I don't want to dig in my camera bag for card wallet and risk dropping something out. I actually keep a small flashlight in my bag too so I can check the ground if I think I dropped something.

I also keep a small bag in my suitcase (actually pack it away in there) with an extension cord, power strip and spare charger cords (cheap knock-offs) so I never risk forgetting something.

 

[letthewookiewin]

Right now I have 2 - 16 GB memory cards. When I said something to my DH about getting another one, he looked at me like I had 3 heads.

 

[mom2rtk]

Right now I have 2 - 16 GB memory cards. When I said something to my DH about getting another one, he looked at me like I had 3 heads.

He'd probably look at me like I have about a dozen heads.

Thankfully memory is cheap these days. Always better to have too much rather than too little.

 

[Littlejohn Dsgn]

Right now I have 2 - 16 GB memory cards. When I said something to my DH about getting another one, he looked at me like I had 3 heads.

I had two 16's and a ton of 8's I just picked up 4 more 16's I think I am about good for now. I prefer to not have to dump cards while on vacation. Makes it so I dont have to take my tablet or laptop if I dont want to. I like to travel light, I am past the days of hauling around more weight then I need to in airports.

If you are taking video, that eats up memory a lot faster. I do no video, but I never want to have to think if I have enough space to take that picture or not.

 

[mom2rtk]

I had two 16's and a ton of 8's I just picked up 4 more 16's I think I am about good for now. I prefer to not have to dump cards while on vacation. Makes it so I dont have to take my tablet or laptop if I dont want to. I like to travel light, I am past the days of hauling around more weight then I need to in airports.

If you are taking video, that eats up memory a lot faster. I do no video, but I never want to have to think if I have enough space to take that picture or not.

I frequently travel without a computer of any sort. I love having lots of memory cards so I never have to worry about room to shoot at will. And I shoot RAW which really eats up the space.

 

[Littlejohn Dsgn]

I frequently travel without a computer of any sort. I love having lots of memory cards so I never have to worry about room to shoot at will. And I shoot RAW which really eats up the space.

RAW here as well, with 6 16gig cards plus the 6 or 7 8gigs plus the few smaller that are all in my SD wallet I never have to worry again its an amazing feeling. Same goes with batteries.

 

[mom2rtk]

RAW here as well, with 6 16gig cards plus the 6 or 7 8gigs plus the few smaller that are all in my SD wallet I never have to worry again its an amazing feeling. Same goes with batteries.

I refuse to admit how many gigs of memory cards I have. On the grounds that you will all think I'm nuts.

 

[Littlejohn Dsgn]

I refuse to admit how many gigs of memory cards I have. On the grounds that you will all think I'm nuts.

Its ok I wont judge you lol. I just know I know have close to enough. After a week in Glacier National Park I only used 64gigs and that was shooting RAW, now I dont do video yet. So with 96gigs in good fast new cards I am good for just about any trip. However any large National Park trip I do I always pick up a couple more cards just to be sure. So the collection will keep growing. My DD9 has a cheapy P&S that she got a few years ago, it has a 16gig card in it and the camera has no idea how to compute how many images are left on it lol.