Canon 7D II battery drainage.

[wlocasto]

I can get 700-1000 exposures per battery charge on a freshly charged LP E6N battery, however, if I simply put a freshly charged battery in the camera and let it sit for a week (NO exposures) the battery level goes from 100% to 76%...! GPS checked as disabled...any body else getting this?

[ebiggs1 · Accepted solution]

Even so, the GPS doesn't completely stop.  I don't have a 7D Mk II but I have seen reports that battery life is not as good as it was on the 7D.

[wlocasto]

It seems similar when starting with fresh battery for the day but when it sits unused it continues to drain while in the bag - unlike the 7D...I would have thought Disabled meant "Off" but obviously it does not. My chargers will get more use...Thank You for your reply!

[RobertTheFat]

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

Even so, the GPS doesn't completely stop.  I don't have a 7D Mk II but I have seen reports that battery life is not as good as it was on the 7D.

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Not to make excuses for high battery drainage on the 7D2, but it did have a tough act to follow. I own two 7D's and have always considered the efficiency of their battery usage to be outstanding.

That said, we've sometimes been told that this or that camera can't have its GPS turned all the way off because it could confuse users who might unreasonably expect the GPS to obtain a fix instantaneously when it was turned back on. One might have hoped that Canon would not extend that reasoning to the arguably more sophisticated user community of the 7D2.

[MickvK]

Hi, I have a new EOS 7D MKII and have noticed the battery drain. The GPS will track the camera's travels even when the camera is switched off, if it is activated in the camera's menu's, if GPS is disabled in the menu's it doesn't work. What is causing the high battery use is the viewfinder!!!

it's live all the time.....OKAY, try this, with the camera switched off, look through the viewfinder, manually focus on a subject, release the battery hatch, flip the white battery retaining lug. Viola, the viewfinder goes grayed out. For some reason the viewfinder is alive as long as the battery is in the camera.

MickvK,  Australia.

[wlocasto]

Mick,

Tried your explanation and got the same results - great catch! I've resolved to simply keep spare batteries charged and usually put a new one in when going out to shoot...! I was spoiled by the battery life of my 7D's but somehow I'll get by...!

Bill.

[RobertTheFat]

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@wlocasto wrote:

Mick,

Tried your explanation and got the same results - great catch! I've resolved to simply keep spare batteries charged and usually put a new one in when going out to shoot...! I was spoiled by the battery life of my 7D's but somehow I'll get by...!

Bill.

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This sounds like a firmware bug that should be fixed. Right, Canon? (Just sayin'; I have no dog in this hunt. Although it has occurred to me to get a 7D2 for my wife, if I can persuade her to carry a camera that heavy.)

[MickvK]

Hi Bill,T

The "live" viewfinder may not be the reason for the short battery life, I just removed the battery from my 60D & 70D and the viewfinder gray's out in those too. It may just be that the twin Digic 6 prcessors and the big buffer need plenty of power, although I recall the battery life dropping when camera not used for a week. I have everything in the menus turned off and shoot raw, I guess I'll just take extra batteries and remove the battery when not ready to shoot. BUGGER!!

MickvK,  Australia.

[mcarrelb]

Did you get answer to the drainage issue on your battery?

I have also a Canon 7D Mk II and I noticed the same issue (which I did not have with 7D).

Does the latest Frimware fix the pb?

Marc, France

[wlocasto]

Mark,

I've decided to keep extra batteries charged and not worry about it since it doesn't seem to be out of the ordinary...besides, I love the camera's features which use more power w/o the added weight of the 1D series and their larger batteries...!