07/06/2026 3:30 pm
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Ive been shooting on Canon bodies since the 5D Mark III days so I have a massive drawer literally overflowing with those little black LP-E6 style batteries. I finally bit the bullet and pre-ordered the new R5 Mark II because I have a big high-end wedding gig coming up in Seattle next month and I need that autofocus upgrade but I am super confused about the power situation now. I keep hearing conflicting things about the new LP-E6P batteries that come with it.
Obviously I know the new one is the way to go for the best performance but what happens if I slap my old LP-E6NH or even the older LP-E6N batteries into the R5 II? I heard some people saying the camera will actually disable features like the pre-burst or the higher frame rates if it doesnt detect the new chip or whatever in the P version. Is it even worth keeping my old ones as backups or am I gonna get a bunch of annoying warning messages every time I power on the camera? I really dont want to drop another five hundred bucks on six new batteries if my current ones will at least get me through a long day of shooting even if it slows down a bit it just feels like such a waste of money if they still fit in the slot. Anyone actually tested which older batteries still work or if third party stuff is a total no-go now?
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07/06/2026 3:30 pm
Look, I've been through every Canon battery transition since the original 5D, and this R5 II change is honestly one of the most annoying ones yet. Short answer is that your old batteries will physically fit and the camera will power up, but you're gonna lose a lot of the 'pro' features you actually bought the camera for. In my experience testing these things, if you put an older Canon LP-E6NH Lithium-Ion Battery or a third-party one like the SmallRig LP-E6NH USB-C Rechargeable Camera Battery into the Mark II, the camera basically goes into a restricted power mode. You can kiss that 30fps electronic shutter and the pre-burst shooting goodbye. It also restricts some of the heavy-duty video modes and the new in-camera AI upscaling features. The camera needs the higher continuous discharge rate of the Canon LP-E6P Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery to handle the crazy power draw from that stacked sensor. I totally get the frustration about the drawer full of old gear... I have a literal mountain of them too. Keep the NH ones for your backup body or for light shooting days, but for a high-stakes Seattle wedding, you dont want to be fighting the camera limitations. I'd grab at least two or three of the new Canon LP-E6P Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery packs to be safe. Third party versions of the P-type are starting to pop up, but I've seen way too many communication error messages over the years to trust a big gig to anything but official Canon power.
