UnionStation, I would hope that no one thinks the firmware update has completely resolved all low battery level indicator issues, but some (and it seems the number is growing) think it resolved enough to make the camera usable for them. And some, but I am sure not all, have reached the conclusion because they reached a point where they could not return the camera and the firmware update did improve functionality for them. Even RCJ, when giving advice about purchasing an SX280, said if he had it to do over again, he would probably not purchase the SX280. That isn't exactly an endorsement for the camera. And I think he is right in that whining, and I have been guilty of some of that, really doesn't help the situation and probably very little posted here, postive or negative, is going to convince Canon to do the right thing. What may help is posting honest reviews at vendor sites and hopefully that will impact sales. Also, honest reviewers pointing out issues with the camera will certainly impact sales but consumers have little control over that apsect.
I think very few people come to a forum like this and certainly not potential buyers. I found it after purchase and because I physically was dealing with the low battery level issue. I also think there are very few people who are reading this thread. Registered members logged on is always in the single digits, and I am always listed because I fail to log out most of the time. They have no "guest" stats here as with other Lithium powered forums so who knows about that. There are certainly Canon reps that monitor the forum but it is basically consumers helping consumers. You see how little help has been given by Canon reps for this thread.
With the knowledge I have now, and from what I have read from 280SX owners at other sites who have updated frimware from 1.0.0.0 to 1.0.2.0, a lot have seen an improvement in functionality. My camera came with version 1.0.1.0. I feel that my camera lost functionality with the update to 1.0.2.0. With version 1.0.1.0, when you switched from any still mode to movie mode after some battery drain, the battery level indicator switched from full to the flashing red low battery warning. If you really believed the indication was correct, you needed to swap/recharge the battery. With 1.0.2.0, after more battery drain, the battery indicator seemed to always stay at full indication in movie mode if it started at full in still mode. As long as movie capture was not in progress at that point you could zoom the lens in and out 1-2 times and the battery stayed a full indication. Once capture started it became a crap shoot: sometimes just touching the zoom ring would take the indicator from full to low, and a couple of zooms would shut the camera down with a "recharge the battery" indication. I could not live with that and returned the camera. With what I know now, either by reading other users experiences or my own experiences, if I bought an SX280 today, I would pray to the camera gods it came with firmware version 1.0.1.0 and I would not update it. I would rather have a low battery warning happen too early than it happen too late when I am in the middle of a video. The problem with the SX280 as I see it is not that it has below average battery life. The SX260 had that and I wasn't expecting the SX280 to be any better. In fact the specs for stills and movies are lower for the SX280. The problem is the battery level indicator. Once that is crippled, then knowing when to change batteries is a guessng game.
UnionStation wrote:
Keeping in mind that Canon is probably monitoring this thread, how many people here:
A) Are happy with Canon's firmware fix and believe all the issues have been resolved?
B) Believe the camera is still flawed and want Canon to get to work on making this camera work as advertised?
Scorekeeping, RCJ, is the only way to let Canon know there is still a problem, let fellow users with the problem know they're not alone, and let potential purchasers out there know they may want to think twice before plunking down $269-$350 on a camera that may not meet their needs.
The camera is NOT "working for a lot of people now." It seems to be working acceptably for a couple of people who purchased larger capacity batteries or avoid shooting video, or don't mind the flashing low-battery symbol and just hope the camera will keep on shooting.
