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.

[AndresLa]

dxb says:

"The second charge, within 15mins of the charger light going green, I put the battery in and went straight to video mode.  I recorded for a straight 12mins, including some full zooming.  All was fine and I stopped recording at 12mins, then powered off. I waited 10mins, powered back up, took 7 still photos (no flash) then went back to video and recorded for a further 8 mins (zooming in an out several times). That was fine too, no battery warning. I switched off for a couple of hours thus time and then turned back on (battery indicated 2 bars) then tried video again, but battery warning started flashing within 30secs. I kept recording though (while also extending the zoom several times again) and it lasted until I manually stopped it at the 5 min mark. Its been powered off for the last hour, and I just switched it back on again... in auto mode it says battery is full and in video mode (not recording) it also says full."

Note that in tests conducted by dxb, he waits long enough between videos to cool the battery and this is not the normal working condition when you need to take videos.

[dxb]

Hi AndresLa,

Actually, this test was far more exhaustive than the way I would use video recording in the real world. I'm more of a travel shooter, so if I take video its usualy only 1-2min clips at a time, with more than 10mins between.  This test was purely for the benefit of others and to see how many minutes of video recording was possible in total. I only started seeing the battery warning after 20mins of video. Part of the reason I did it in segments was because I dont necessarily have time to sit and watch the battery indicator for 30min-1hr while its recording.

I've also been as objective as possible while doing this. i.e. The camera has fantastic image quality, its battery life is very average (a lot less than what Im used to compared to my older Powershots with AA's) although my tests indicate it's in line with Canons specs; and I've already reiterated the issue of the battery indicator and its unreliability in determining how much time you have before it dies. This seems to be the main point of contention and something Canon should address...obviously the point of this thread...

In my case, the image quality is good enough to keep the camera.  If I was in the USA I would probably pressure Canon to provide me with a spare battery at the very least, since there doesn't seem to be a cure for this.

If you're not happy with the camera, get a refund. If I wasn't, thats exactly what I would do.

Cheers

Daniel

[UnionStation]

Daniel. Please be sure to post here again after your sx280 shuts down unexpectedly and leaves you without some great photo or video moment that will never happen again. At the end of the day, that's really the only test that counts - does you camera work when you need it?

[mcasale16]

ME TOO

[dswansonil]

Does your battery light stay off or flash red when you switch to video?

[mcasale16]

I read all your comments and came home and tested my 2 batteries. With the canon battery put into the camera yesterday, and used a bit-- I took an additional 200 pictures (no flash, wifi or gps) and 2 movies that exceeded 30 minutes! And while taking the movies - I tried the zoom and the red battery immediately started blinking. I turned the camera off and back on and the battery was full again. When the battery eventually died after the 30 minutes- I put in my non-canon battery and with no gps or wifi, I took about 180 pictures all with flash and zoom, and I squeezed in a 8 minute movie before it died. So yes you are correct- the issue is not battery life- but the battery indicator. I love the pictures-I've taken- and feel much better about my purchase.

[dswansonil]

What 3rd party batteries are you using?  I saw the ones at Best Buy were Digipower and only rated as 650maH rather than the 1000maH of the Canon batteries.

[myasg]

canon finally admitted tonight that there will be a firmware upgrade soon but no commitments as to when.

[josh_a]

myasg--they admitted to this particular issue? did they say the firmware would address this particular issue? was it just a random CS rep on the phone, or someone who seemed to know what's up? any additional info would be much appreciated...

[myasg]

They are addressing the red flashing battery in the firmware upgrade.  Yes it was just a CS guy but he put me on hold to 'supposedly' get the answer.