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.

[filipb]

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@videophan wrote:

I came across this while looking for expert reactions to firmware 1.0.2.0 as opposed to casual users reactions (myself being in the casual user category):

http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2013/06/08/firmware-fridayish-canon-improves-sx280-movie-mode-p...

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But this is just an anouncement!  No real test report!

[videophan]

I guess I didn't ever read the firmware 1.0.2.0 update concerning what the update does. Apparently firmware 1.0.1.0, which I already had in place, had already addressed the issue of the low battery light coming on prematurely and those who reported their firmware version here seemed to have it as well. The only thing firmware version 1.0.2.0 update from 1.0.1.0 did was increase the movie capture by 20%  for those using zoom (and if you zoomed more than average, 20% may not be an accurate measure of increase).

I am not sure I believe this since my observation with the firmware update was the low battery light in movie mode did come on later, in fact too late at times to complete a video due to  camera shutdown. In fact, that change made camera use for me even more unpredictable.

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@videophan wrote:

I came across this while looking for expert reactions to firmware 1.0.2.0 as opposed to casual users reactions (myself being in the casual user category):

http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2013/06/08/firmware-fridayish-canon-improves-sx280-movie-mode-p...

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@UnionStation wrote:
Two of the big spelling points for the sx280 are the zoom and the hd video - both of which seem to kill the battery. It's like buying a car that does everything but get good gas mileage and actually drive. Has ANYONE heard from Canon on whether they now know their firmware fix needs another fix?

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[videophan]

I never said it did. Read the next post!

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@filipb wrote:

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@videophan wrote:

I came across this while looking for expert reactions to firmware 1.0.2.0 as opposed to casual users reactions (myself being in the casual user category):

http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2013/06/08/firmware-fridayish-canon-improves-sx280-movie-mode-p...

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But this is just an anouncement!  No real test report!

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[filipb]

Yes, I mentioned this inferrence already early on when posting the two points mentioned in the update descripion:

http://forums.usa.canon.com/t5/PowerShot/SX280-battery-life-shooting-video/m-p/26907#M1368

and

http://forums.usa.canon.com/t5/PowerShot/SX280-battery-life-shooting-video/m-p/26909#M1369

Regards,

Filip.

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@videophan wrote:

I never said it did. Read the next post!

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@filipb wrote:

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@videophan wrote:

I came across this while looking for expert reactions to firmware 1.0.2.0 as opposed to casual users reactions (myself being in the casual user category):

http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2013/06/08/firmware-fridayish-canon-improves-sx280-movie-mode-p...

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But this is just an anouncement!  No real test report!

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[filipb]

So this puts mcasale16 dissapointment with Canon putting the "wrong" firmware release on his repaired camera in a different light!  Technically they were fixing the premature flashing battery indicator (wheter that is actually so is another matter, beyond the repair person's duty I guess) ...

[filipb]

... and at the time of fixing de 1.0.2.0 version was not publicly released, right?

[filipb]

So, we were probably also entertaining the wrong assumption that Canon had a firmware fix that they did not want to release publicly yet.  It is more that they were working on that battery drain problem and wanted to release a firmware update that had both fixes.  Now that it is out, I guess only from now on new camera's and repaired ones will start having it?

This also explains why Canon (which rep?) said that the vast majority of the camera's out there did not have the problem, because they would have the 1.0.1.0 release (thought to be bugfree)?

Of course Canon (here) has a horrible communication problem, both externally and internally (between the sites)!

And it seems that they are still not fully aware of the problem.  But we can't tell, since they don't communicate.  Same with listening to customers complaints with ergonomy in general.

What is also strange is that no technical expert has come in here, where in other threads, they do - why is that?  Maybe the engineers felt that the battery was under-dimensioned, but where overruled by Canon management and now they can't speak up?

That's the problem with communication, you can't do it properly without a great degree of honesty! 😉

Canon, this could be a great camera, please come out in the open, and be a company who leads the way for 21st century business, i.e. transparancy and responsivity is key!

[completelocks]

or maybe they just dont give a flying crap, as there are a few of us, and millions of paying customers who have working ones

[videophan]

filipb...This could explain many issues:

1. Two people I note, RCJ and the poster who took graduation pictures saw a "significant" improvement with firmware 1.0.2.0 whereas I did not as well as MANY others who posted. The two may have had firmware 1.0.0.0 so the update improved their issues at least to the level I was experiencing which was still not satisfactory to me since I already had firmware 1.0.1.0 as many posters confirmed with their cameras prior to the firmware update release.

2. If I had read the release notes for 1.0.2.0 CAREFULLY, I would not have anitcipated any change as to when the low battery indicator appeared, only longer video time when zooming. What, in fact, I saw was that the firmware update did something more than Canon seems to claim. Before the update, after using the camera for a relatively short period of time, switching the mode from still to movie mode, the battery would go from full to low battery indication. This occurred before movie capture was ever initiated. After the update, this occured much, much later. In fact, I started a movie with the battery indicating full in movie mode, zoomed once and the flashing red low battery icon started, zoomed a second time with the camera shutting down and "recharge the battery" indicator. To me it seems 20% more movie capture where optical zoom is used has been achieved by changing the level that is deemed critical to initiate the low battery level and has made using the battery indicator even more difficult.

3. It could also explain why some of the early posters who sent their camera in got it returned stating there was nothing wrong with the camera. They already had version 1.0.1.0 and that is all Canon had to offer at the time. Why the Canon CS rep couldn't have asked them for their seiral number to determine which firmware version they had, a priori, before returning the camera for "repair" is baffling. I know CS never asked me my serial number and I spoke with at least three different reps.

Another "gripe" I have about Canon  USA is that there is no changelog/release notes offered at their site for firmware 1.0.2.0. I had to go to the Canon UK site to find the information. I have never seen firmware updates released with other products I own that do not have release notes so that you can decide whether you really need to update or not.

[filipb]

videophan, it is on the USA site, but not immediately visible when downloading indeed - it is a product advisory, but how to navigate to it easily, I don't know:

http://usa.canon.com/cusa/support/consumer?pageKeyCode=prdAdvDetail&docId=0901e024808f7d56