SX280 - battery life shooting video

factoryguy
Apprentice

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.

 

 

 

1,334 REPLIES 1,334


@scupking wrote:

I will update you guys once I get the ZS30. I will order after I get my refund back from amazon. Just wish the ZS30 had 10 or 12 mp. Over all after reading a lot of reviews the zs30 seems to be the best 20x pocket camera.



If you remember reading the reviews for the SX280, you may recall having that same happy, sunny hope.

Update #2 - after firmware update, attempted to record, and even though battery read full (on the display) it almost immediately started blinking red. So I replaced the battery with a fresh factory battery fully charged and I got 18:39 of video before it started blinking red, with occasional zooms and such.

When the red camera stated blinking, I did not stop the camera, I let it run until 23:44 (4gb in size) when it stopped (isn't that the longest video segment this camera can record?), I then started recording again and got another 5:51 of recording time before the camera shutdown and displayed "Recharge Battery"

So it looks to be just over 1/2 hour with a fresh battery.. I think this is respectable for the size of the battery.

I should note that I NEVER got this much recording time with my original camera..

If it holds up like this I'll be happy..

Okay.. another update.. So after the 1/2 hour of video recording, and the camera shutting down saying to recharge the battery, I began taking pictures.. I'm up to over 200 pictures on the same charge that I began with earlier in the evening, with the factory 1000maH battery. I keep trying to take more pictures, but I have run out of things to snap.. and I need to go to sleep... Whew.. I'll take some more in the morning..

For everyone keeping score, we now have a grand total of 3 people who seem satisfied with the sx280 firmware update.

union: You're on the verge of troll status. Maybe get a new hobby. 


@UnionStation wrote:
For everyone keeping score, we now have a grand total of 3 people who seem satisfied with the sx280 firmware update.

I don't know who you are counting, but count me in!

 

I did the firmware update with a fresh battery (3m of power drain, how much?) and started shooting movies only in the garden, zooming like hell (really!) and got 15m of recording (3 movies) before the battery light started flashing.  Then I could shoot another 12m until my card was full and also the battery almost empty (after deleting stuff shooting a movie and zooming would shut it down).  That's 27 minutes - taken into account the 3m of firmware update and the frantic zooming, I'd say 30m of video shooting is a reasonable expectation here.  Flashing about after 20m is also to be expected.  So after 2/3.  Don't know how consistent this will be.

 

So I now learn to see the indicator as "what you are currently doing will give you 'soon' a drained battery".  Pitty the indicator does not adjust back upwards when you start doing something more calm!  That would be a great improvement.

 

Oh and the battery was warm, but the whole camera body also, because yesterday it was hot and sunny ...

 

So I think I am satisfied, especially when I expect mostly to shoot short clips.  The occasional longer sessions, I'll prepare myself and keep a spare battery ...

 

So I am happy with the update.

 

Of course there are still other ergonomic issues, but I am getting used to it.

The quality of the pictures is so fantastic that it's worth adapting ...

 

Regards,

Filip.

Filipb: Good to hear. Your experience sounds like many other people's. I read the battery meter the same way. And it's nice to know that even after the battery is tapped out on video, it'll still shoot many, many still shots without trouble. 

Yes. the Lumix ZS30, as shipped, comes with a USB cable and a power adapter to plug the USB cable into for charging.  You can also plug the USB cable into your notebook and, with the camera off, the battery will charge. The latter is a nice feature if you are out taking photographs and need to top the battery but no AC power is close. If it bothers you not to be able to charge the battery externally, buy an aftermarket charger.

 

Another nice feature of the ZS30 is the touch screen and, with it, the ability to bring any object you wish to bring into focus in a frame by touching the object on the screen. This focus feature works both in still and movie mode. My experience with the SX280 was that you had to reframe often to get the object you wished in focus and even then, the hunt time was at times not short...not good when in movie mode.

 

It is true that every review I have read that compares the two cameras gives the SX280 the edge in image quality, but the difference at base ISOs is small. If you are really trying to take a super quality image, that is where you will be shooting. Also, if image quality is your main priority when purchasing a camera, you would not be looking at either of these cameras or anything in the point and shoot category.

 


@RCJ wrote:

I've been a fan of the Lumixes, but the reviews I've read of image quality on the 30 have been pretty mixed. Also the new Lumixes don't have an external charger, if I understand correctly, which seems nuts. Especially given the price! Anxious to hear about it though.




 

 

If pointing out the obvious - that a lot of people are still having problems with this camera - makes me a troll, then so be it.. A handful of users (4 now) seem to be happy, but there are many complaints that suggest Canon hasn't addressed the flaw(s) with the sx280. If you don't like my comments, click on my user name and click the button that ignores my remarks - which are aimed at people who are looking for a little balance in this conversation. This is a user forum, not a fan club. Canon tried to fix the sx280, and failed yet again, as far as a lot of people here are concerned. 

 

 

Exactly. USER forum. Which means for people who actually possess the camera and want to make it work, not simply cast aspersions about the company that so horribly wronged you. This "scorekeeping" is abject nonsense. People generally only log onto forums like this when they have a problem, not to report that something is working properly. Fact is, in spite of all your earlier predictions (Canon will never do anything. The fix won't be able to be applied through firmware by users. It made no difference. Yada Yada Yada), it appears that the camera is working for a lot of people now. Whatever "balance" some former user can bring to that conversation is mostly white noise. 
@UnionStation wrote:

If pointing out the obvious - that a lot of people are still having problems with this camera - makes me a troll, then so be it.. A handful of users (4 now) seem to be happy, but there are many complaints that suggest Canon hasn't addressed the flaw(s) with the sx280. If you don't like my comments, click on my user name and click the button that ignores my remarks - which are aimed at people who are looking for a little balance in this conversation. This is a user forum, not a fan club. Canon tried to fix the sx280, and failed yet again, as far as a lot of people here are concerned. 

 

 


 

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