D70 battery life?

I've shot around 200 photos with my D70, and have charged the battery several times. I can get 200 shots per charge easily, but I've noticed a problem when the camera sits idle.

I can go out, shoot 20 shots, turn the camera off, then leave the camera 8-10 hours. The battery is dead when I return. Is this normal?

I'm shooting with an older Sandisk 256 MB CF card.

Any suggestions/advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

I've had my D70 for about nine months and I can shoot a full gig card and a 256MB card about 3/4 full (in jpeg format) before it's half way down on battery charge...that's off of one charge. That's using the onboard flash half the time and shutting it off when I'm not using it. start up time is so quick I try and conserve battery power by doing that as often as possible...

are your pics flash intensive or are you leaving the flash head up? I recall the manual saying that leaving the flash up consumed more battery life even though it wasn't in use...maybe check how long(how many seconds?) it's set to before it's shutting down when it's idle...

that's the only input I can give....hope you get some more definitve answers...good luck
:( ;)

Hi,
No, your battery going dead after 20 shots and then not using it awhile is not at all normal. Perhaps your battery is bad. You might try another one. And like the person who previously replied, try and shut the camera and flash off between shots. This should help.
Rere

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rere15

Hi,
No, your battery going dead after 20 shots and then not using it awhile is not at all normal. Perhaps your battery is bad. You might try another one. And like the person who previously replied, try and shut the camera and flash off between shots. This should help.
Rere

---

Yeah, I should try a new battery. I'm shooting some of the shots with flash, mostly without. The camera is stored overnight, turned off, flash down, and it still drains.

The odd thing is that I can get 200 shots out of it in one shooting, but it's only when the camera sits unused that the battery drains.

Have it checked out, or try another battery. One of the best surprises I have had with my D70 was the awesome amount of use I get out of the battery.

I also have a battery life problem. I'll take a few dozen pictures outdoors in 25F weather. Then when I come indoors to download pictures to my PC, the battery becomes too weak to work. I am not sure if it is because the batter is cold, or the USB connection to the D70 draws a lot of power from the camera, or the battery is faulty. I've ordered a Fuji batter to try.