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.

[UnionStation]

I can't believe how many people are blindly hoping for a firmware update to fix everything. Dswansonil brings up a good point - this camera, even without the battery issue, doesn't live up to the hype. Canon overshot the mark and missed badly. And pawl - Canon spent weeks telling us all there was no battery issue. Don't expect it to be fixed in days.

[pawl]

It's understandable to have concluded that denial is the formal Canon stance when their phone reps said they were unaware, but while being incredibly frustrating, that did not indicate much of anything other than poor public relations. The fact that they've given a formal post on this Canon forum that they know about the issue and are working on it carries tons more weight. The 280 is so similar to the 270 (or 260 for that matter), I don't get why we think that it's anything other than the firmware. (But then, I'm not a techie so can't speak to the more intricate [possible] issues.)

[UnionStation]

I said denial, and I meant exactly that - denial. I had my case escalated up to a 'contact center supervisor,' who told me: "Such poor battery performance is not common. The several PowerShot SX280 HS cameras we have here in our office all perform within specifications." I provided these people with numerous links around the web that reported the same issue. They flat-out, full-on DENIED until the evidence was so overwhelming they had to acknowledge it. The fact that they posted on this forum that there's a problem with their brand new camera indicates nothing more to me than damage control. Let's see how impressed with Cannon when you take that lemon on vacation and miss tons of shots like I did.

[pawl]

"I feel your pain," UnionStation. But listen, I've been an APple user for a couple of decades, so I know about silence (and denial). Like Apple, Canon's a company that will fix this issue, I'm sure. I lucked out in that I read about the issue before actually losing a ton of important images (like you evidently did). Forewarned is forearmed, as they say, and I don't plan on using it for vids if nothing comes from Canon between now and the time I leave.

[mikearm]

I am curious and don't have time to try this out. Someone mentioned that once the battery died and turning the camera off and on did not work. What happens if you physically remove the battery and put it back, will it start and have some charge left on it? In other words, is the battery fully discharged?

[UnionStation]

You're obviously a good guy, pawl. I just wish Canon did more to earn and maintain that kind of customer loyalty. I'm not going to plunk down $375 and get the arrogant, dismissive treatment that I personally endured from Canon's reps.I hope others who haven't yet purchased this camera will think twice - because they can do better.

[pawl]

Agreed (about others being able to do better). Truly, if Canon were not allowed to sell a single other sx280 until they fixed the issue(s), it would get done immediately.

[videophan]

The following are a couple of excerpts from the 280SX review at CameraLabs (Canon Powershot SX280😞

"I should however note the SX280 HS often displays two very different remaining battery lives depending on whether you're in stills or movie mode. You could quite happily be taking stills with the battery meter showing all three bars, but then switch to movie mode and see the battery icon suddenly turn red and start flashing. Should you start recording video, you may only capture a few seconds before the battery gives up and the camera shuts down, demanding a recharge. But if you turn the mode dial out of movies, you can normally switch the camera back on again and continue to shoot stills with the battery meter now showing a reasonably healthy charge again.

There's two morals to learn from this: the first is to keep the battery fully charged if you intend to shoot video, as you may find yourself in a position where there's enough charge for stills, but hardly any remaining for movies. The second moral is if the battery does give up while filming videos, all is not lost. Just turn the dial to stills and you should still be able to take more photos, just not any more video until you recharge.

But while I confirmed the SX280 HS can record 25 minutes of HD video with a single charge, there's no denying the battery meter is very misleading. Unless the battery is fully charged, you'll frequently be greeted by a red flashing symbol when switching from stills to video, even if it previously showed two or even the full three bars."

"The battery is a serious issue too for the SX280 HS. Not only does the Panasonic squeeze around 50% more still photos per charge, but the Canon SX280 HS suffers from an annoying dual personality where the battery meter may show two or even the full three bars when shooting stills, but suddenly starts flashing red when you switch it to video. Indeed if your battery isn't close to fully charged, you could find it unable to record more than a few minutes or even seconds of video. Now to be fair, I did confirm Canon's claim that a fully charged battery can record 25 minutes of HD video, but the battery meter remains a worry, especially if you find yourself at an event snapping stills thinking you have plenty of charge left, only to find there isn't enough to film much video. Now this wouldn’t be so much of an issue if you could **bleep** over to a laptop or your car for a quick topup over USB, but you can't."

The camera the reviewer is referring to in the last quote is the Panasonic Lumix ZS30, a camera he favors over the SX280, but it comes at a premium price. I know this, to those who have posted here, is a rehash of what we already know, but at least it is now being noted in reviews.

[UnionStation]

No false warning for me. The camera shut off and I got the 'insert a fresh battery' message - after shooting a few dozen photos and a few minutes of video. I purchased two new Canon brand batteries, so the camera was clearly the issue. What bothers me more than anything is Canon's stubborn unwillingness to even admit there's a problem. I tried several times through email, phone and finally the Canon web site to point out there's a problem, and I hit a stone wall of resistance and denial. I finally got in touch with a nice but unhelpful contact center supervisor who wrote, "Such poor battery performance is not common.  The several PowerShot SX280 HS cameras we have here in our office all perform within specifications." Tell that to the people in two threads here on the forum, and numerous people on Amazon.com who report the same issue that brought us all here. I returned my SX280 and bought another brand. Problem solved.

[josh_a]

Yeah I haven't experimented quite enough to verify whether or not it's affecting when the camera shuts down, but I do know that it's coming up when there is a fresh charge, and that I can still get alot of functionality out of it before the battery truly dies. There is clearly a design flaw with this camera, hopefully they will fess up eventually. Seems like something that might be able to be fixed on the firmware side. Any of you who are replacing your cameras, which make/model have you found comparable to the SX280? I'm sorry to get rid of it, but unfortunately I don't want to have to deal with an inherent flaw in a brand new device.