Questions regarding charging the Powershot G5x via a USB cable.

[Vanon66]

Hello Everyone.

Can someone tell me how the USB charging works on the G5X? Does the camera need to be turned on first, or does it matter, etc.?

According to the user manual (page 33), the indicator light will turn orange while the camera is charging the battery so I am assuming that when the light isn't orange, i.e., off or turns green the battery is full. When I attached my camera to my computer via a usb port, the indicator light turns orange for just a moment and then blinks green. I am assuming that this means that the battery is charged so the light automatically blinks green to indicate that the camera is connected to a computer (also mentioned on page 33 of the user manual). My confusion is that when it did this, I took the battery out of the camera and put it into the wall charger and it took about ten minutes for it to fully charge. So, if it wasn't fully charged, then why did the orange light go out immediately when I had the camera hooked up? I should also add to this scenario that I am using an aftermarket battery so I am wondering if this makes a difference on how the camera and the Canon charger is reading things.

Thanks for the help.

[Waddizzle]

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@Vanon66 wrote:

Hello Everyone.

Can someone tell me how the USB charging works on the G5X? Does the camera need to be turned on first, or does it matter, etc.?

According to the user manual (page 33), the indicator light will turn orange while the camera is charging the battery so I am assuming that when the light isn't orange, i.e., off or turns green the battery is full. When I attached my camera to my computer via a usb port, the indicator light turns orange for just a moment and then blinks green. I am assuming that this means that the battery is charged so the light automatically blinks green to indicate that the camera is connected to a computer (also mentioned on page 33 of the user manual). My confusion is that when it did this, I took the battery out of the camera and put it into the wall charger and it took about ten minutes for it to fully charge. So, if it wasn't fully charged, then why did the orange light go out immediately when I had the camera hooked up? I should also add to this scenario that I am using an aftermarket battery so I am wondering if this makes a difference on how the camera and the Canon charger is reading things.

Thanks for the help.

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First and foremost, where is the indicator light that flashes when you connect your camera via USB to a computer?  The indicator on the Canon charger should be either orange or green.  If it is out, then the charger thinks the battery is bad, and will not attempt to charge.

I do not think your USB port can charge the camera.  The USB port does not put out enough voltage to charge the battery.  Didn’t you get a Canon battery and charger with the camera?  

Aftermarket batteries tend to hold less charge than the Canon batteries.  Also, the Canon charger is designed for the Canon batteries.  Other batteries will have different charge and discharge rates, which obviated by the fact that they do not last as long in the camera.

[Vanon66]

Hello again Waddizzle,

Thanks again for responding to my query.

To begin with, and I am not necessarily being critical of Canon, but it isn't exactly the easiest thing in the world to work your way through the user manuals. For instance, in this case I finally found information regarding charging the battery via a usb port on a computer on an Accessory page in the manual. You cannot find this information listed in the Table of Contents or in the Index.

That being said, the use of a computer to charge the battery pack while it inside the camera is found on page 173 of the user manual, which I discovered LATE last night. It also states that the camera MUST be turned on first in order to charge.

As far as the location of the Indicator light, it is on the back of the camera just below and to the left of the dial and set button key which is noted on page 4 of the user manual (item #13 on the righthand column).

I am using the usb designated charging port on my HP laptop so I am doing this correctly as far as I can see.

With all this being said with regard to charging the battery pack inside the camera, my conclusion is that since I am using a third party battery (I bought the camera used and this is the battery that came with it) there may be a slight misreading of the charge status of the battery by the camera. The orange light comes on briefly on the indicator, but goes out quickly when I tested it yesterday, but once I put the battery into the Canon charger and plugged that into the wall, the indicator light on it glowed orange and then turned green after ten minutes.

Needless to say, I am shopping for a Canon original battery.

Thanks again for your input.

[Waddizzle]

A computer's USB port can and will disable itself after a long period of inactivity.  Use the wall charger.

[Vanon66]

Thanks for the feedback Waddizzle.