Very fast battery drain: Canon 200D SL2 with Sigma 150-600 contemporary lens

[rahat]

My 06 year old Canon 200D SL2 still works exceptionally well in terms of number of shots with kit lens of Canon 55-250mm but when paired with a Sigma 150-600mm contemporary lens drains the battery very fast.

The lens motor seems to be running even when the power button is kept OFF unless I remove the battery from camera. The battery will drain off within 2-3h even without switching it ON when the lens is mounted.

Is it the small size of the battery or the incompatibility of the 200D with lens or may be something wrong with this particular piece of lens?

Any leads would be genuinely appreciated.

Thanks in anticipation everyone.

[Tronhard]

Hi and welcome!
The LP-E17 battery on the 200SL2 is neither large nor powerful, and the Sigma 150-600c  is a big, heavy chunk of glass and metal, and so it has a powerful motor to focus with, and the optical stabilization is going to add drain too. The noise  you may be hearing could be that.  That drain can be further exacerbated by having Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned on, which are also energy hogs.

You are not recommended to leave the battery in the camera for storage, I take mine out after each shoot and I use the big LP-E6 series in dual battery grips.

[rahat]

I agree with every word that you've said, Sir. I believe it is the combination of the heavyweight lense with an amateur body of SL2 that's to blame for this. Yes, I too take out the battery after every shoot but even during the shoot, when the lense is kept connected, it drains the battery within 2h of stand-by. That made me think about the combo.

[Tronhard]

I think the combo is fine, you just have to turn off the camera between shooting  sessions - for longer period I take the battery out.   I have not had my battery drain as fast, but that might be a function of the batteries' ages, and some of my batteries are the LP-E6NH.  Some third-party batteries also offer more capacity than that of the OEM Canon units.  So, there are a few variants in the mix.

I also suggest getting a battery grip for those bodies that can use one.  Not only does this give one twice the energy reserve but it brings the centre of gravity back towards the camera body, and the availability of a set of portrait-oriented controls on the grip makes taking such images much, much easier and less likely to involve camera movement because one is not awkwardly holding the body.

[rahat]

I believe you're right that the age and capacity of the current battery would not suffice for the lense that's mounted and getting a grip would prolong the shooting session.

However, as mentioned in the original query, keeping the camera off doesn't prevent the motor movement of the lense and keeps on draining the battery. Only removal of battery does.

If I keep the set-up on standby after fully charged battery, I'll get a message "Change the battery pack" within 3h.

[Tronhard]

Well, as I mentioned I completely turn off cameras when I am not using them for more than a few minutes.  So, for a 3 hour lag, I would certainly have turned the camera off - it's only a moment's effort and it will save lots of batteries.

The same phenomenon happens with my Sony, Fuji and Nikon cameras, so it's pretty common and in the manual the Canon does recommend that procedure.

[rahat]

Ok. Understood.

I think I need to check the behaviour with your suggestions taken into account. Shall get back if find anything new.

Thank you tons for your time and support!

[rahat]

Hello Trevor and others!

I have an update for you all. So I took this set up to a service guy and this is what he says, probably due to ageing or any external interference (moisture, shock etc.), the VR system of the lens has gone bad. The camera and the battery are perfectly OK.

He suggests that I give him 02 days to service the lens and he'd try and repair the thing. If impossible to repair then the replacement would cost around 20% of the new lens's cost.

What do you say?

TIA!

[justadude]

Hey Trevor, I have a follow up question on something you mentioned..

"You are not recommended to leave the battery in the camera for storage, I take mine out after each shoot and I use the big LP-E6 series in dual battery grips."

I've been leaving my batteries in all of my camera bodies since digital became a thing.  Never had a problem.  However, you have always given great advice.  So what can you tell me about why the batteries should not be left in the body?  I should add that I know that's true for long term, but my cameras never rest more than a couple days at most.  So enlighten me, please!

[rahat]

Hi Gary

Though I am a newbie here, please let me share my view on this until the experts give their take.

So when it comes to hardware, things are mostly analog only at the ground level (battery, circuits etc.) and keeping a battery connected with switch OFF, there'd be some circuits that'll stay connected and keep on using power (e.g. notice blinking LED near the battery socket when you push in the battery and close the lid). Now, this is not healthy for any electrical/ electronic circuit as it will wear off the components faster.

My advice would always be to remove the battery if you are done for the day!

[Waddizzle]

Do you have wireless communications enabled or not?  If so, try disabling them.