New R100 with battery issue connected to SD card's available storage

[JohannaE]

Hi there,

I just bought a brand new EOS R100 and am noticing a battery issue that's connected to how much storage the SD card has left.

Upon inserting a completely empty card (16G Sandisc SDHC) and a fully charged Canon battery (the one that came with the camera), the camera displays that I have 28h left and this number drops by about 2 mins with every photo that I take. But it will tell me I only have 5hrs or even 1hr left with an almost full card, e.g. when there are just 200 or 40 photos available to take with the card. Inserting a full SD card triggered a "no battery left" response (flashing red light).

I've been able to replicate this behavior with other SD cards (e.g. 8G): the fuller the card gets, the less photos I can take with a fully charged battery. What may be causing this? I own another Canon (DSLR) as well as a Sony point and shoot camera and have never had this problem with either of them.

Thanks!

[Waddizzle]

I do not own the R100 and do not foresee owning one.  The camera body reporting how many hours of time left on the battery is big news, to me.  Could you post a screenshot from the User Guide that documents or explains how to see this display feature?

Canon DSLRs have always displayed an estimate of how many shots worth of memory space that you could have left on your memory card.  This featured behavior has carried over into the MILC bodes of the M Series and R Series.

I have never known a Canon digital camera body to display how much time you have left on your battery.  How could it know how?  It would need to be able to predict the future.  How often and how long will you turn the camera on.  How many shots will you take when you do turn on the camera.

However, the camera bodies DO display how fully charged a battery might be, 0-100%.  Camera bodies can also display how deep the in-camera shot buffer is for continuous shooting.  Be aware that the number of available shots displayed may decrease as the remaining battery charge drops.  This is because the fps frame rate decreases significantly when the battery level drops below 40-50%.

[Jackiepalijar]

I just bought my daughter the same camera. I forgot to purchase an SD card so I found one of my older ones (exact one mentioned above) with about 20 pictures on it. I had her battery charging all night so it should’ve been good. But about an hour after she was playing around with it, it died. I thought maybe it was a junk battery? Got home charged it again the camera turned on but then died in 5 minutes. What’s going on with this? 

[Tronhard]

Hi Jackie and welcome to the forum:

Just because  you have the same camera does not make it the same issue, and your issue then gets confused with the one from the OP, which does not help us to help each of you.  Your issue is not the same as the OP's.

However, to answer your question.  Batteries deteriorate over time, and if the battery has been left for an extended period the battery may have limited recharge capacity, or fail completely.  It's a battery and not a camera issue.  It is possible the battery is in what is called deep discharge mode, from being left in the camera.  In that case, you may need to charge the battery repeatedly to try and resurrect it.

Furthermore, how you use the camera can cause the battery to empty very quickly, such as leaving the focusing system on Continuous Mode - this means the camera is trying to autofocus the lens all the time the camera is on, whether you intend this or not, and will drain the battery extremely quickly. 
See P258 of your Advanced User Guide.  If you don't have that here is a link: c015.pdf (start.canon).

So, if you want to use the camera I would suggest getting another LP-E17 battery.  Do not store the camera for long periods with the battery inserted - that can also drain the battery.

[Jackiepalijar]

Thank you Trevor. Sorry for the misunderstanding on my part. It’s a brand new camera and we had it less than a day. My daughter needs it for a school project. As I would usually just exchange it for another one. This was the last in stock, wanted to see if I could fix it rather than have to purchase one online and wait for its arrival. 
Can the battery be in a deep discharge mode on its own? It was only in the camera for an hour and it’s a brand new kit I purchased from the store. 
My husband reviewed the voltage on the battery and it was higher than what it’s labeled. 
I’ve been charging it more though, after about 3 hours of charging the batter (not in the camera) I put it back in and turned it on again and it turned on for a few minutes, froze and the screen went black again. 
Does that sound like something’s just wrong with the body. I’m sorry as I’m terribly new to all of this…

[Tronhard]

Hi again Jackie:
OK, that information puts a different slant on the situation.  Since the camera is brand new and the battery has been tested, I definitely would take the camera to the store from which you got it and have it tested by them.  If an electronic device is going to fail it is usually when it is brand new, or very old.

Alternatively, if you want to talk to a Canon Tech support person, call 800-OK-Canon and they can help you.

[stevet1]

JohannaE,

You mentioned a "flashing red light" when you insert a full SD card. That usually indicates that the camera is accessing the card. A low battery indicator is usually an icon that slowly blinks. If it blinks red, it's time to change the battery. If it's white, you've got a little time.

Steve Thomas

[Tronhard]

Hi Johanna and welcome to the forum:
When you say you see that you have 28hours left, can you please advise where precisely you see this value?

If you look on the Advanced User Guide on P631- 2, (link: c015.pdf (start.canon)  you will see an explanation of the information in the viewfinder.

The battery level indicator (1) in the diagram is simply a diagram of the battery capacity left - that is standard.

Beside that is the video recording time remaining (2), which is what I wonder is what you are seeing.  As each photo is taken it uses space on the SD card and reduced the space left on the card for video recording.  It has nothing to do with the battery level. 
As to your statement "the fuller the card gets, the less photos I can take with a fully charged battery" that makes perfect sense - the battery is not the limiting factor, the space left on the card is.  
This is reinforced on P56 of the manual which states:

The red flashing light is telling you that the card is being accessed and you should not attempt to turn off the camera or open the door to the card as this may cause a write error and corrupt the card.  BTW, you should always use a Full-size SD card and not a micro SD-card with adapter, they not designed for cameras but smaller devices like GoPro's. 
Also, when you get a card, format it using the camera's format command.  When you have been shooting, turn off the camera, remove the card and place it in a SD card reader attached to the computer you are using.  Copy the files to the hard disc of the computer, remove the card and when  you have reinserted it back into the camera, format the card clean again, ready for the next shoot.  This maximizes the card capacity - do not just delete files off the card.

 I hope this clarifies the situation and solves your issue! 🙂

[shadowsports]

Trevor,

Spot on and excellent advice.  

A battery that came with a brand new camera would not have the opportunity to be in a deeply discharged state from sitting for this short of a period.

  If after fully charging the battery and, inserting, formatting and using the camera, it should run for an hour or more depending on use (photos, video) number of shots taken, reviewing images, etc.  If its shutting off after 3-5 minutes, something else is wrong. 

Here is what we recommend

=Charge the battery fully 

-Insert a full size memory card, format the card in the camera

-Reset the camera's settings to defaults.

-Attempt to use the camera normally, taking photos.  

If this is not possible, return the camera.  Return, exchange it, or whatever you need to do to get a working kit.  You can go to Costco, BestBuy. Walmart, a camera store. etc.  Any retailer to replace it.  You don't have to buy it online.  The above steps will take you under 3 hrs to determine if the camera needs to be returned/replaced.

Trying to use a malfunctioning camera (if that's truly the issue) is not going to do you or your daughter any good.  I have never had a unpleasant out of box experience with a Canon product, but I'm sure it can happen.  Get yourself into a working state, or replacement so your daughter can have use of a working camera.  Read the manual.  This is important for understanding the camera's features and operation.