In order to see the image in the finder, mirrorless camera needs have sensor and display devices running at all times. So inevitably, the battery does not last as long as that of the DLSR.
In order to work out the problem, many users carry several batteries. All X Series mirrorless cameras use the same battery, so it is quite common for users to own 2,3 batteries from the cameras they have pucrchased and carry the batteries with them at all times. The battery only weighs about 45 grams. We have even seen X-Photographers carry more than 10 at one time.
But aren’t there other way to work out the problem? Carrying multiple batteries is definitely a solution, but how would you extend the battery life when you are left with the last one? This information may come handy in such instance.
There is “Power Management” menu in X-Pro2. It does exactly what it says. You can set it to “High Performance” to pull out the best performance, or “Economy”, to have the maximum number of shots possible. And then there is third option of “Standard” for the middle ground of the aforementioned two.
In case of X-Pro2, you have several display options. You can view in the LCD monitor, EVF, or the OVF. Let’s take a look at the chart below.
OVF consumes the least battery life and EVF uses the most. LCD stand in the middle of the two. OVF only needs the sensor to be working during the autofocus, so it consumes the least battery. The reason EVF consumes more than the LCD is EVF has finer display than the LCD. The LCD panel is smaller, but in order to show the information on the 2.36M-dot 85fps display, it requires the sensor be running fully. (*LCD is 1.62M-dot at 54fps).
When you are actually in the field, you are more than likely to switch between OVF, LCD and EVF. It is unlikely that you stick only to one display. But, when your battery is dying, you need to carefully choose the setting to eliminate any unneeded battery consumption.
If you are shooting landscape using tripod, you will find it more comfortable using the large LCD monitor, and you would only need “Economy” mode.
If you are out in the street for snap shooting, then OVF will suits you best. Fast AF is important so we recommend to set it to “Standard”. The battery last far more by doing so.
And if you are in the decisive moment, or have plenty of battery supply, you will want to set the camera to “High Performance” 85fps is almost same as that of the human eye. The image will be very smooth. If you use the ERF displayed in the OVF, then it is same as using the EVF.
This is the advice we can give, and there is one more. The most effective method is to have the camera turned off whenever it is not in use. The battery life is measured by CIPA standard, which means that the shutter is released every 30 seconds. If 250 shots were taken, then we can convert it as 125 min of shooting.
The amount of idling time is unknown within that 125 minutes, but it is good to have the camera turned off when you are not using it. The X-Pro2 startup time is very fast. It is only 0.4 sec.
