What is "power draw", and how does it affect my camcorder's batteries?

What is "power draw", and how does it affect my camcorder's batteries?

Tim Smith (Camcorder Training Specialist) gives expert video advice on: How do I decide which camcorder to buy?; What factors should I consider when comparing one camcorder to another?; What camcorder features are unnecessary? and more...

How long's that battery going to last? Is it going to last as long as the manufacturer tells you it is, or is it going to last less? It's probably going to last less. What we do as manufacturers, is we put the camera in an on position and see how long it's going to take before that camera will turn off, because we can't anticipate how much time you're going to spend zooming, whether you're going to use that LCD or not, or how much time the camera's going to be in pause mode. Any function on that camera tends to draw more power. If you zoom a lot you're going to draw more power. If you use the LCD a lot, you're going to draw more power, and just the tape turning draws more power than the tape sitting still. So, really use those numbers that we give you in terms of battery draw as just a thumbnail. Just a little piece of advice; always have an extra battery with you, I promise you they're not going to last as long as you think they are.