Canon EOS 7D Battery drain Issue

[isad008]

Hello,

Last week I bought a new Canon EOS 7D body. Before starting to use the camera for the first time I fully charged my battery and started using it. I used the camera for one week. I shoot raw with back display always on and LCD brightness to very low. I took around 200 images, 10 with live view mode and 2-3 image with flash and a 30 sec video and my lens is 24-105 f/4 L. I turn off the camera when not in use. 

But after 200-250 images my battery just rans out of juice. According to canon, the battery supports up to 1000 shots with fully charged battery. I don't use flash at all and I did mostly indoor shoots. What I feel like is my battery is draining pretty fast. Seems very unusual. After facing this issue I tried to find out how fast my battery was draining. So I shoot 3 raw images and found that battery just drained 1% so I keep doing it and eventually found that each 3-4 images taken my battery loses 1% of charge. I can only take around 220-280 images with a fully charged battery.

Super disappointed  

I hope any Canon 7D user could shed some light with this matter. Let me know if I am doing anything wrong here. Thanks in advance.

[ebiggs1]

This is from Canon............................................

Affected Product
Canon LP-E6 Battery Pack when used with the Canon LC-E6 Charger
(Compatible with Canon EOS 5D Mark III, EOS 5D Mark II, EOS 6D, EOS 7D, EOS 70D, 
EOS 60D, EOS 60Da)

Symptom
In rare cases, the orange lamp on the Canon Battery Charger LC-E6 will blink rapidly at regular intervals when the Canon Battery Pack LP-E6 is inserted. In such cases, charging the Canon Battery Pack LP-E6 in the Canon Battery Charger LC-E6 is not possible.

This symptom may occur when a Canon Battery Pack LP-E6 has been discharged due to being unused for a prolonged period of time, such as when it is first purchased.
If this occurs, please follow the procedure below.

Procedure

1. Plug the Canon Battery Charger LC-E6, with the Canon Battery Pack LP-E6 inserted, into a power outlet.
2. Wait for 20 seconds.
   If during this time the orange lamp blinks once per second, please continue to charge the battery until the green lamp lights up, which indicates a full charge. At this point, the battery is ready for normal use, and there is no need to follow the remaining steps. 
   If during this time the orange lamp blinks rapidly, please move on to Step 3 of this procedure.
3. If the orange lamp blinks rapidly, remove the Canon Battery Pack LP-E6 from the Canon Battery Charger LC-E6.
4. Wait for 10 seconds.
5. Reinsert the Canon Battery Pack LP-E6 into the Canon Battery Charger LC-E6.
6. The Canon Battery Charger LC-E6’s orange lamp should begin to flash slowly (once per second) and charging will begin.
   Please note: If the orange lamp blinks rapidly again, please repeat steps 3-5 above. If, after a third attempt, the Canon Battery Pack LP-E6 does not charge, please contact the Canon Customer Support Center for assistance.
7. Charge the Canon Battery Pack LP-E6 until the green lamp on the Canon Battery Charger LC-E6 illuminates, signifying that the Canon Battery Pack LP-E6 is fully charged.

[cale_kat]

The op said he or she had poor performance from a fully charged battery. This bulletin, which I read before I posted, concern the inability to charge a battery.

Perhaps the op might have noticed the flashing orange light.

[Bill-Emmett]

I was having the same issue with my 7D.  The battery seemed to drain just sitting in the camera.  The problem battery was a Canon battery that was supplied with my 7D, which is still in warranty.  I called Canon about the problem.  The customer service advisor had me check the menu for the battery information (looks like a wrench head with three dots) I selected the information, and the battery was only at 26% with 129 clicks on the shutter since removal.  As I was doing what the tech said, the battery discharged another 5%, and the clicks remained the same.  The tech said it was a bad battery, took my shipping info, and sent me a new Canon battery.  I also use a Watson battery for the 7D, and it has not had simular problem.  I suggest recharge your Canon battery, install in the camera, go to the Battery Info, note the full charged battery level.  Allow the camera to sit idle in the off position over night, and check it again.  If the battery has become discharged 5-10% call Canon, or just buy a new battery if yours is out of warranty.   Good Luck.

[isad008]

Ok what I did was charged the battery full and then I started using it. After taking just about 100 shot I uploaded them in my pc and then checked the battery performance and it was 80%. So in my view it was ok and started to realize that the battery might eventually start perfoming fully after some drain recharge cycle. But still I wasn't out of the thought that the battery still might be faulty or something must be wrong with my camera body. Funny part is if I browse through the menu of my camera from the back lcd display for about 1-2 minute the battery losses power 3-5%, Odd.

After reading your comment I decided to do another test to see if the battery was draining just by sitting in the camera. So I turned off the camera and put it aside for 2 days leaving the battery inside. After 2 days of no use I turned on the camera, checked the battery and the battery drained 4%. Now the t3i does not show battery percentize so I don't know if this is normal that the battery drains just by sitting idel in the camera even when the camera is turned off. 

[TCampbell]

I was just reading through your thread to see if you mentioned owning another battery.  

From what I'm reading, it really sounds like you have a bad battery that can't hold a charge.  It is not normal for a camera to lose so much power so quickly with a small amount of use.  

If you do not own another battery, you'll probably want to get one anyway, but even if you know someone with a camera that uses the same battery you could test it.  Assuming this was purchased from an authorized dealer, you should either swap it for a replacement or contact Canon.

[isad008]

I still don't wanna lose hope with my 7D and the battery. So I will continue using it for another 2-3 weeks giving the battery some drain recharge cycle and try to get good amount of shots. Judging by the performance it gives me in that time I will then decide what to do. 

[amfoto1]

All Canon cameras do continue to use a small amount of power when completely turned off. If I don't use one of my cameras for a couple months, it's main battery(ies) will be largely discharged. (Note: I use battery grips with 2X the number of batteries, plus my cameras use LP-E6, which are about twice the capacity of your camera's battery.)  

If you got 100 shots with 20% of the battery in a T3i, I would consider that pretty close to normal. I believe the LP-E8 battery in your camera is rated for around 470 to 550 shots per charge (depending upon ambient temperature.... colder weather reduces total shots). Using Live View cuts this more than in half. Shooting video or extensive images playback and menu use of the LCD will reduce the number of shots, too.... though a 3-5% loss with 1-2 minutes using just the menu seems a little excessive. 

***********
Alan Myers

San Jose, Calif., USA
"Walk softly and carry a big lens."
GEAR: 5DII, 7D(x2), 50D(x3), some other cameras, various lenses & accessories
FLICKR & PRINTROOM 

[ebiggs1]

I just got back from Atlanta from a week long assignment.  I am currently editing 800 photos with about another 50 rought edit deletes.  Maybe another 50 - 75 deletes right on the camera.  Both are showing close to 50% left.

I also use battery grips and had my 7D and 5D2 with me.  I didn't charge either all week.  I probably had a camera in my hands 18 hours a day.

Back to editing.   There is always another deadline to meet.

[isad008]

I am not even concerned with my t3i because from the day one the camera performance is really good. With battery grip and two battery it gave me 4 days of usage with 2000+ jpeg shots while I was on a trip. In those 4 days I didn't even thought about charging any one of my battery and after 4 days of usage there were still one bar left in the battery indicator.

So after using 7D I was deeply shocked with the overall battery performance. Apart from using a battery grip and with a single battery the camera should have given me around 600-700 shots which I was expecting as a normal camera behavior. Also LCD panel usage does takes some power out of the battery but 1-2 minute of usage while just going through the menu was cutting 3-5% of the battery that does not even make any sense at all.

[isad008]

Thank you, I guess I have to wait couple more weeks and go through some recharge cycle to see if the problem persists.

The thing about camera shut off, I mentioned that I turned of the back LCD not the camera. I too don't turn on and turn off camera often while I am at a shoot, I just keep it in sleep mode and only turn off when I know that I am not going to be using it for extended period of time during shooting. And about the battery grip I do use one for my t3i, I just didn't bought one for my 7D yet. They are really helpful accessories for camera that I am sure off.