SX280 - battery life shooting video

[factoryguy]

UPDATED May 5:

I apologize to the forum for mixing two different problems.  They are unrelated.

Problem #1:  User error.  I thought I was using a class 6 SD card but I was wrong. The yellow "!" indicates a pathologically slow card.  Upgrading to a class 10 resolved this problem.

Problem #2: UNRESOLVED.  Red battery indicator comes on prematurely.  On a fresh charge, it'll turn red after recording for a couple of minutes.  On a partially drained battery, it turns red immediately upon entering movie mode or pressing the record button.  Turn the camera off and then right back on in "still" mode and it shows full charge and works fine ... until trying to shoot video.  I have not precisely measured recording times but it'll record for at least 20 (maybe 30?) minutes while flashing red.

[Davy]

There is one thing to note about batteries that hasn't been mentioned here.

L ion batteries just like NiCads require three or four complete charge and discharge cycles before the full battery capacity can be utilized.

Compare the number of still shots that can be taken on a brand spanking new battery, then compare again after a few normal charge discharge cycles. Only then will one will one be able to draw 700mA for one hour, providing of course it is a 700mA/hr battery.

To simplify this, one would expect more pictures to be taken after the battery has had a few recharges... or  the running time will last longer when using movies.

This NO WAY is the cause of the level meter problem:

As already mentioned using a battery with a higher capacity, ie 1.8A/hr  (same as 1800mA/hr) for example, will obviously last much longer because it has a higher capacity.

Unlike NiCads L-ion don't have the memory problem like Ni-cads when recharging before they need it, L-ion holds the charge far longer than nicads.

Thought I'd just mention the point.

Dave

[modene1]

I have this problem also on the 70 model. Given that it's a common issue why not get a bug fix Canon?

[loveAZ]

Because I believe it is a HARDWARE issue and will require a recall. It is not the battery or software.  Thus.  it remains a lemon -  was lucky to return it on time.

[yoron]

I'm not sure there AZ. I think it might be related to the battery in some way, as in heat causing it. Doesn't mean you're wrong though, heat and sensitive hardware should be separated. At least this is what seems to cause the battery issue on my camera, excessive heat built up at the end of the battery's life cycle making it happen. Used to be a common way to test faulty hardware on computers btw, had a friend using a blower for drying you hair testing circuits that way. On the other hand I read about some guys doing the update finding the same problem recurring but now in a different way, which also seem to make it a result of the code used.

I will try out a 13 or 1600 battery for it as soon as I can get one and see if it makes a difference. It's really hard to say what it is, but it seems as hardware and heat for my camera at least.

[dswansonil]

---

@yoron wrote:

I'm not sure there AZ. I think it might be related to the battery in some way, as in heat causing it. Doesn't mean you're wrong though, heat and sensitive hardware should be separated. At least this is what seems to cause the battery issue on my camera, excessive heat built up at the end of the battery's life cycle making it happen. Used to be a common way to test faulty hardware on computers btw, had a friend using a blower for drying you hair testing circuits that way. On the other hand I read about some guys doing the update finding the same problem recurring but now in a different way, which also seem to make it a result of the code used.

I will try out a 13 or 1600 battery for it as soon as I can get one and see if it makes a difference. It's really hard to say what it is, but it seems as hardware and heat for my camera at least.

---

I really hate to stoke your fire but you sure do babble on. 

First, maH ratings on batteries relate to their overall capacity and higher capacity ones have been previously tested in this thread without success for the low battery warning light.

Second, the heating effect is due to how quickly you are discharging the battery, i.e. how much current you are drawing, not the overall capacity of the battery.  It is circumstantial evidence that the system power draw is so great that it drops the battery voltage which triggers the low battery light.

Three,  if it was a simple firmware code fix, Canon would have done it long ago when it upgraded the firmware which slightly changed the trigger point of the low battery light.

Four, harking back to your earlier message on the "OS", which is really the processor, if you look at the specs on the two latest Canon superzoom cameras, the SX520 and SX400, they tout using the Digic 4+ processor not the Digic 6 implying, at least to me, that the Digic 6 in the SX280 may not be all it's cracked up to be.

[yoron]

Yep, noticed that too, as for why they choose it I don't know, could be the processor, could be the new code and programing environment not being bug free, or both. They apparently changed the programming, as well as a lot of other aspects, with this new processor. As for the rest , I wrote 'for my camera' as I can't speak for everyones, also pointing to those guys complaining about the update just rearranging the sequence for this bug to happen. So I don't know, but I do know that for this camera it happens at the end of a shoot, and the time it closed down totally was when I was shooting the 12 minute 60 bps video. And at that time, in the end, the camera was hot enough to make make me wonder about it. As for why it was so hot, well, I was also testing the zoom 🙂 as that has been a standard complaint relating to the video making, and bugs. As I also commented in the tests I made. And don't you worry my man 🙂 I have better things to do than to write here. I'll leave that to you and your peers.

[Davy]

Lol, the SX280 is dead and buried and no longer produced.....  don't you Canon fanboys  know they brought a new  SX700  out - I ain't buying it even if it takes see through pictures....!

I hear they improved the battery on the SX270, 60ma/Hr more, " WOW,  gee whizz", what does that tell you? It's a car battery  in a rucksack they want not 60mA/Hr more.

Our local emporioum refuses to stock both of them..... they advertise them but they never have any in, alway's "In 4 or 5 day's" that was when the SX280 came out, the ones they did have had they had to............ return!!!!

Dave

[UnionStation]

Yoron said, "I came to see if there was more people like me that enjoyed this camera, and I still think there are. But as this primarily seem to be a thread about being abandoned by Canon, I guess they move to other places."

If you love the camera, great for you! But if you're looking for fellow fans of the sx280, this thread isn't the place.

For the past 14 months, the people who've posted here have done everything they can to fix the problem and urge Canon to "man up" and admit that this camera fell short of what we all believed to be the brand's high standards. The vast majority of people here either returned the camera, or unhappily kept it because there was no other choice.

The oft-repeated theme here is people who bought this camera with faith in the Canon name, and left with a bad impression of how little the company really seems to care about its customers. The sx280 is, thankfully, nearing the end of its miserable life cycle. Those of us who've gotten burned can only hope to leave some words of advice to anything thinking about buying one of these cameras as they resurface on the used market.

Buyer beware. This camera is a lemon.

[Davy]

Don't wanna get off-topic.....

        but the S100 is making a name for itself..... just how many more Canon products can't  you trust?

Dave

[UnionStation]

OMG. Type in 'S100' and one of the first things that pops up is 'lens error." In fact, there's a whole S100 lens error group on one of the big photography sites. Way to go Canon!