I was on a trip last week with my A7Mk2 and a few lenses. I had the Mk1 before this and generally use my A7 with Leica lenses and my first foray into the world of Sony lenses was after recently purchasing the 24-240 which I though would make a great travel lens, this was my first trip with it. Optically I'm pretty happy with the lens and the versatility it offers is fantastic. However, (there had to be one didn't there!) I found that I was hardly able to go through a couple of hours shooting (taking only a dozen or so shots) before the battery reduced from 100% to 20%, is this normal? It doesn't do that with my Leica lenses so I'm wondering if all the electronics in the lens is causing excessive battery drain?

Before you answer I'll make these points :

 

Wifi was off (Flight mode On)

Camera left in 'On' mode with Pwr save at 1 min

Viewfinder/Screen set to auto but with bottom click of dial set to 'Display off'

I was wandering around the street of Granada with the camera slung across my side

 

One last thing, it was very hot, ambient temp around 40C

 

Any comments/observations welcome.

 

Thanks

There is an option "Pre-AF" that can/will have an impact. OSS/IS might also be a factor, for me its only active with a "half press", not sure if thats normal or a setting I changed. Otherwise, ON with power saving still consumes power, but not that much.

 

I get a few hours in this case with the 70-200, it seems to me that the number of shots is not such a factor as is for how long all the wheels are spinning in this camera while I look through the finder.

 

I definitely get more battery life with the Loxia attached, and thats with IS active.

Probably a mixture of everything.

I suggest turning it completely off when not in use, since the MkII starts up rather quick. If its hanging around your neck the EVF may get triggered on and off frequently during the 1 minute its not in use. Also, screen off is not really off... Unfortunately...

 

About the temperature you mentioned:

All batteries achieve optimum service life if used at 20°C (68°F) or slightly below. If, for example, a battery operates at 30°C (86°F) instead of a more moderate room temperature, the cycle life is reduced by 20 percent. At 40°C (104°F), the loss jumps to a whopping 40 percent, and if charged and discharged at 45°C (113°F), the cycle life is only half of what can be expected if used at 20°C (68°F).

 

Even worse are temperatures below zero. Found here:

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/discharging_at_high_and_low_temperatures