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.

[pawl]

Uh, Macbook Pro, 17"...you'd think there'd be one, but noooo. Anyway, I'm in no hurry, since everyone is saying it's a minor improvement but not a fix.

[RCJ]

I would rather provide my own SD cards, thanks, than pay more for a camera that came with one that might not be what I want. And I think Canon guessed correctly that the vast, vast majority of their users would have access to an SD card reader. That's how most people download their photos, because it's about 8x faster than any other method.

[Sktr]

Really, I tested more than 15 cards (different speed) and 4 battery (800-1200mAH) and still have the battery problem on both sx280 HS camera.

[dswansonil]

I believe you, as the saying goes "are chasing your tail" with this purported fix. 

I think if you go back earlier in this thread*, you'll find other reports that the firmware update does delay the onset of the warning light but it doesn't resolve the issue that once it starts flashing you have an unknown amount of video time left.  It still leaves the user wondering whether to keep shooting or change the battery.  In either case, you may wind up missing a possibly significant shot.

*Is there a go to function that allows you to go to a specific page in a lengthy thread like this one?

[urui]

managed to record some video clip of about 5 minutes each, with the new sd, but after some time the problem came back ... the canon Portugal has already received some complaints every product with the same problem, it is believed that it will sr released a new firmware, mine was returned.

[LSousa]

Urui I'm also portuguese. I have bought a Samsung card like yours today and I  see that everything is equal.  I discovered that with the full battery and no zoom the machine can work about 25 minutes the red icon appears but if i don't use the zoom it stills recording and don't shut down... You have returned your machine to Canon to buy a new one? 

[dmw]

OK, well I said I would report back after getting my camera back from Canon in HK. Readers will recall that they told us they would install a new firmware that was not yet online. The result is quite good, in the circumstances. I fully charged the battery, set it up in standard movie mode, and left it recording a boring video of my router. It recorded for 24 minutes before beeping and the recording size was 3.99GB. Then I turned it off and on, tried a bit of zooming, and left it running again. After about 6 minutes it stopped, and when I tried zooming, it shut down with the "recharge battery" warning. So that's a big improvement, 30 minutes total. Left it for a few minutes to cool off. Turning it back on in still mode, it still indicates full battery, which of course isn't true - it means the voltage isn't low enough to trigger it. A bit of zooming in still mode and it now shows 2 bars. Switch to video, and it is recording again, still showing the flashing red battery, but recording it is. A bit of zooming and it shuts down again. So overall, I get about 30 minutes of video recording, and it will still take stills after that. Not brilliant, but workable.

[bradmoss]

Thanks for the report, now can you do something for all the fellows that don't have acces to that firmware in order to get it some way?

Maybe you can ask Canon Hong Kong and upload it somwhere?

[dim]

This is standard behavior with FW 1.02.

1) You have to zoom in movie mode!

2) Shows in movie mode indicator: 2 bars, 1 bar and  in the end red bar? Or only red bars?

This is main problem!!

[bradmoss]

it just says "insert a new battery" and turns off