What's your experience with the battery life? I picked one up yesterday. And discovered that the NEX-F3 drains the battery at a very high rate. It went down from fully charged to 80% in merely one hour. And I had only shot a few pictures during that...
946664
My experience has been very good... Over Christmas for example, I had a battery last me for a few days, and that's with shooting probably 20 photos and a little video each day. On trips where I'm doing a lot of shooting I may go through a battery each day and recharge at night. Since I have two batteries I just cycle them through and am never lacking a charged battery. When I got my camera, a firmware update made battery life significantly better... Could be the same for you. Best of luck!
5038
I've found the battery life to be excellent. I have just the one battery and no backups, and have never had it run out in mid-shoot, even on long days with hundreds of shots.
1055175
I have not experienced any major battery life issues. I take a lot of photos when I use it and a few video clips as well and don't need to charge up for a couple of days. I am an amateur so I generally keep it on auto with very little to none on manual. I am pretty basic and just wanted a camera that takes great clear photos inspite of my limitations which is exactly what it does for me. I take approximately a couple of hundred in a day plus a video or two when I shoot my alpacas at shows. Then I take about a hundred when we are out in the country while my husband fly fishes and I don't have to recharge for a couple of days. Again I use a pretty basic setting and I only have 1 battery. I have not experienced any major battery life issues. I take a lot of photos when I use it and a few video clips as well and don't need to charge up for a couple of days. I am an amateur so I generally keep it on auto with very little to none on manual. I am pretty basic and just wanted a camera that takes great clear photos inspite of my limitations which is exactly what it does for me. I take approximately a couple of hundred in a day plus a video or two when I shoot my alpacas at shows. Then I take about a hundred when we are out in the country while my husband fly fishes and I don't... » Read More I have not experienced any major battery life issues. I take a lot of photos when I use it and a few video clips as well and don't need to charge up for a couple of days. I am an amateur so I generally keep it on auto with very little to none on manual. I am pretty basic and just wanted a camera that takes great clear photos inspite of my limitations which is exactly what it does for me. I take approximately a couple of hundred in a day plus a video or two when I shoot my alpacas at shows. Then I take about a hundred when we are out in the country while my husband fly fishes and I don't have to recharge for a couple of days. Again I use a pretty basic setting and I only have 1 battery. « Show Less
934068
Battery here is not impressive, at least in comparison with my old Lumix LX-3. Turn camera off when not shooting should become a good habit. Also, there is no pause for video shooting and bno ability to get snapshots while playing.
2028454
Thank you Guys for all your answers. Just want to ask one more question. When is the time to recharge it to prolong its lifespan? When it is completely dead, when light is red when pressing that little button or should I rely on camera battery status?
875754
I used it for a week, shooting mostly stills, but some video and only then did it show as low battery. Of course, if you shoot a lot of video, the battery life will probably plummet (but I don't know that for sure). Did not use the flash much at all (so I don't know how that affects it). For normal shooting, you can probably get by with the included battery and one spare.
2076554
When I use them I am a heavy user of the battery power. In my T3i camera, using the LCD screen on live view, I've never had one run completely down. I use it with my telescope, and one night at a temperature of about 55F, I took photos from about 9pm to 2am without stopping on one battery. It had about 1/4 charge left and probably would have lasted about 6 hours before needing charging. These are very demanding conditions where I would keep the LCD screen on continuously, take a series of photos, review, deleting several, then repeat.
1222091
Jeff I am also having issues with extremely short battery life. I only get about 15 to 20 pictures and then they are flat. How long does your camera take to run the batteries flat?
96809
The manual and the reviews say that it should last twice that much...are you doing something else besides shooting?..I mean, like playing with the settings, reviewing every shot longer than usual...if you are only taking pics, it's doesn't seem right, although having an extra battery is always recommended..
1467003
We (my wife has the same camera) have been satisfied with the battery life. However we each have a spare battery also. We were both pleased with the quality of the photos we took on a trip to Italy last November. Al E.
1505637
There is a little delay. More on some settings than others. I would say the battery life is good but I would recommend having a backup. I haven't had the camera for long and I'm no expert so I don't know what would be considered normal usage. I have shot over a hundred pictures on one battery and that is with some playing around with the camera also. Hope this helps.
57580
I've honestly never drained my battery. I've taken over 200 pics in a day a several short (40 second) videos. My battery never died on me.
494730
I haven't had any issues that I know of. The nice thing is the camera doesn't really eat battery power anyway, but I always carry the extra one when I'm out. I don't pay attention to which one goes in, and I couldn't tell you a difference. My only suggestion is you ALWAYS take care of your batteries, and they'll last.
727216
I am strongly looking at the Nex c3 myself. It has a new sensor, less heat (better low light) more shots out of the same battery. Lots more good stuff here... http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/News/DxOMark-news/DxOMark-Sony-NEX-C3-Review-a-great-sensor-in-tiny-a-camera I do think they will upgrade the Nex 5 also though. I have also heard talk of a Nex 7, don't know what your budget is but it really looks like a beast, 24mp and an oled screen. It is way out of my current budget though.
183945
I took photos in rapid succession with the flash always on and it lasted between 260-280 photos before I changed it out, only because it was on the last bar. It recharges very fast in an hour or two. I have done this numerous times with similar results. They are a notch below the Nikon batteries as far as how many photos could be taken on a single charge, but they are still very good and way cheaper. I used them more than the Nikon battery, because they are cheaper to replace.
544135
I have not had any problems with my flash or camera I have the S3 if that has baring on your decision - I have noticed a slight decline in length of charge but still well worth the money and I'm still very happy with the battery!!
1787889
I got like 300 pictures and 5 minutes of video on the alkaline batteries that came with my camera. ... My rechargeable Energizer 2300mAh nimh batteries seemed to be doing about the same. (surprisingly ... I usually get better performance out of the rechargeable, but I may have been using an old / worn out set)