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.

[RCJ]

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@pawl wrote:

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@RCJ wrote:

Hey Pawl, I'm still interested in your repair! I've done more shooting with my camera and have asked myself: If I picked this up today, without knowing any of what's gone on, would I be satisfied with it? I had to say yes, although others might not. BTW I appealed to B&H to waive their 30 day return window on this camera, for store credit. They ultimately said OK, which is a credit to them. But at this point I think I might just keep mine. There's nothing else out there in the same class for about the same price that doesn't have some small thing I don't like. 

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I suspect I'll be okay with it (until I'm not?), but will report my findings here. I'm just a casual photographer, so I may not have as rigorous a testing as others, but will try to keep track of what I do to test the update. I chose the repair over doing it myself because it was already set up to send in, I didn't need the camera right away, and I figured, let Canon spend the time dealing with it (the update did not seem as easy to me as many other firmware updates on other electronics I have had). 

Regarding B&H, mine was about 30 days past the 30 day window. I understand that they're more flexible when it's within a week or even two. (How far past the window were you when you asked them?)

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I think I'm well beyond 30 days past the 30 days. 

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[videophan]

Back for a question:

If you are capturing video, will pressing the display button get the battery level display on the screen? I know it displays when you first turn to video mode, when you wake up the screen, or when battery level has become critical. I am almost sure I tested this with firmware version 1.0.2.0 (answer was no, I think) but can't remember if I tested with 1.0.1.0. I would be interested in the answer with both firmware versions.

[Davy]

Righto, lets sort the chaff out on the SX280HS.

We all know the problems by now of the battery indicator on movies, lets put that aside.

What is the SX280HS like 'stills', are there anything better in this  price and catagory,  lets exclude DSLR's and EOS types.

Just that I was looking at the Panny TZ40 and Cameralabs give it one less on image quality than the SX280HS - whatever that means, would it be noticeable I ask?

The Panny TZ40 scores 88% whilst the Canon SX280 only scores 83% total, of course, this is for the touch screen and other 'goodies' .... I mean lets face it the GPS although better on the Panny doesn't help with the photo quality does it?

I'm lost so still holding off, maybe leave it for the next generation.

Now if I was hell bent on movies, surely I'd be wanting a 'camcorder'..... just like the news reporters on TV with a rucksack for the battery...lol.

But sure Canon are skimpying on batteries.... from the photos I noticed they were 700mA, think someone mentioned they were 1000mA/Hr type  many pages back,  Canon could have had a change of heart in increased the capacity though.

Under normal conditions a battery is charged 1/10th of it's capacity for 8 hours, so a 700mA cell would need 70mA for 8 hours.  If these are fully charged in 2 hours I think was mentioned they're drawing heck of a charge current. I agree there are some fast chargers but these reduced the number of times the battery can be recharged drastically.

Might as well mention this, it could be said they won't last long either if they  keep being rapidly discharged by drawing two or three timse it's rated current capacity, which raisies the question of current consumption in the camera.

The clue to the power consumption is the battery runs warm in operation...  my A650 uses 4 x  AA batteries, I normally use Duracell  they do last ages but they too get warm after a lengthy photo session.

One thing to remember  with any camera the screen backlight takes a fair share of power and is always ON at 'power up'.

Dave

[dswansonil]

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@Davy wrote:

Now if I was hell bent on movies, surely I'd be wanting a 'camcorder'..... just like the news reporters on TV with a rucksack for the battery...lol.

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I guess I'm one of those people who are "hell bent on movies" but who doesn't want to carry a rucksack with multiple cameras in it.  I'm spoiled by my ancient Canon S5 IS which like your A650 uses 4 AA batteries that last and last.  I want what the SX280 supposedly offers as a travel zoom; a combination of good still pictures and video with enough battery life included to get a day's worth of stills or an hour or so of HD video. 

I want to use the camera for travel where I might take a mix that is heavier on stills than video and I want to take it to a sports event where the mix is the opposite.  In neither case do I want to have to stop and dig into a rucksack to swap cameras to get a fleeting shot.   I'd rather carry extra batteries if the battery monitor would reliably indicate when I needed to change them and each carried enough juice to last 45 to 60 minutes. 

Canon's announcement of the SX280 (and the SX270 which isn't available in the US as far as I know) states that they are " the ideal travel companions for recording everything from panoramic landscapes to family holidays, in stunning detail and Full HD 60p video".  There's no footnote that says "as long as you don't mind charging or changing the battery after every 15-20 minutes of video" and then a footnote to that saying "unless you avoid using the zoom function during video operation".

To me, it's akin to an automaker advertising an SUV loaded with performance and comfort features and omiting the fact that you'll need to stop every 50 miles for gas because their EPA mileage number was determined by driving the vehicle with all the features disabled and going downhill.

 

[pawl]

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@dswansonil wrote:

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To me, it's akin to an automaker advertising an SUV loaded with performance and comfort features and omiting the fact that you'll need to stop every 50 miles for gas because their EPA mileage number was determined by driving the vehicle with all the features disabled and going downhill.

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Perfect analogy!

[RCJ]

C'mon. Camera ads are always hype. Not just camera ads, all electronic ads. Have you seen listed battery times for smart phones, then actually used one? Divide by two or three for actual time.

You have to use some common sense. Someone promises HD video, look at the battery size and rating and do the math. Batteries are the limiting factor in all current electronic gizmos. 

[Mika]

This is a reply to message 110 concerning how reviews are rejected.

I submitted the following review this week for the SX-160 IS. I tried twice - got rejected both times with the same terse and unhelpful email. The review was originally for 4 stars! However I related my experience with the desktop SW as realistically as I could, which was pretty negative. So I gave up with Canon and posted the review to CNET. Dropped it to 3.5 stars because of the rejections. Considering posting a two star review to Canon with no detail of any kind for them to reject. They should consider quitting while they are ahead... there are many sites which accept realistic reviews.

"We've had a series of Sure-Shot and Powershot cameras for quite a few years. We like that Canon cameras are very point-and-shoot friendly, yet allow custom settings as well. It is amazing how quickly we adapted to the new SX-160 IS, with the same controls and locations as the previous A-610, yet impressed by the increase in picture quality. The SX-160 IS resolved tree foliage over a block away at maximum optical zoom and has nifty onboard software for the ultimate in getting successful snapshots. We can still remain true to our devotion to AA battery cameras (thank you, Canon for remembering us). We are willing to forgive the larger size and shorter discharge time that you can expect from AA batteries because of the flexibility to carry some extras and keep on shooting. The 3-inch screen is outrageously clear. One thing we will miss on occasion is the twisty-turny swivel screen on the A-610 that we could see while snapping the LA Marathon over the crowd's heads.
The four star review does NOT apply to the PC software that comes with the camera. The installation not only hung but took over my PC so that even Task Manager couldn't kill it. I had to do a battery-out shutdown, then I chose Custom Install, taking just the User's Manual (which is only provided as a digital file). We have not found the PC software essential to using the camera, since Windows is adequate to download our pictures."

[hharwood]

Can anyone tell me whether the firmware update worked? How is the battery life?

[Naomi]

Hi everyone,

We want to address the comments we’ve seen regarding the early battery warning on the PowerShot SX280 HS in movie mode even after installing the latest firmware.  Because a greater amount of power is consumed by recording movies than for shooting stills, the battery warning is designed to appear early in order to safeguard your recordings.  This is more likely to occur if the zoom is used frequently during movie recording and when the video quality is set to FullHD Mode.  However, movie recording can still be carried out for the officially stated length of time (25 minutes on a full charge).  If you need further support, please don’t hesitate to contact us directly.  For contact options, please click here.

Thank you.

[hharwood]

So that means the problem is officially fixed? Thanks for replying to me so quickly.