D500 battery drain problem solved with firmware version 1.13.

Inspiration, Q&A, Teaching point

Nikon quietly released a firmware update for their D500 camera on July 11th that officially was supposed to fix only one issue:

“Fixed an issue that resulted in unreliable connections between the camera and the iOS 10.2 version of the SnapBridge app.”

Despite the fact that I don’t use the “SnapBridge” app, last week I went ahead and downloaded and installed the new firmware.

The result?

I’m happy to report that the well known D500 battery drain (where an unused battery will lose a significant amount of its charge with each passing day while sitting idle in the camera) is now fixed!  Every day since the update I’ve checked the battery status and the charge continues to read “100%”.  This applies equally to the battery in my accessory grip.

Prior to this firmware update I was losing 5 – 7% of battery charge per day.

Bravo Nikon!

(Please pass this information on to anyone you know who owns a Nikon D500.)

—Peter.