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.

[mcasale16]

I have the wasabi batteries and I like them.

Today, I have decided that the Canon SX280 HS is a keeper! I went out just before sunset and took some fabulous pictures of my flowers using the special effect settings, I also took long range crisp shots of the neighbors flowers 3 doors down- took multiple flash shots - all this after I had taken 2 videos with plenty of zooming that totaled 34 minutes- and yes for the last 10-15 minutes of video the indicator was flashing. And finally- when I turned the camera back on there was 1/2 the battery left and I could watch movie playback and take more stills.

Was it a pain not knowing how many minutes/seconds I had left while taping? Absolutely!!!!!! But since I originally bought the camera for the stills, the sharpness of the photos, the excellent low light quality, the quickness etc etc -I can live with the blinking indicator.

Now I'm going to post my flowers on FaceBook using the wifi- good luck everyone- make an informed decision for yourselves!! without being swayed by the whiny Canon hater!

[Gus]

Well I purchased the Sx280 for my daughters birthday three weeks ago.   Her first new camera and she wanted to use it for a school project  Video and stills.    We discovered the video issue right away, and I saw that canon was working on a firmware update.   So since she loved the stills...  I loaned her my new SX50 to shoot the video for her project and waited for the firmware fix.

Just downloaded the fix today...    I had not followed any of  the posts here as I just assumed it would fix the problem.   

With new firmware and a full battery...   I get 2 1/2 to 3 minutes of video before the light flashes.  With my camera it only seems to go another 30 secs and the camera shuts down in the middle of a video shoot.   I can then switch to any camera mode and turn on the camera and it shows full battery power.   Switch back to video and it does maybe 30 seconds and it shuts down again.

Sadly I am past the 15 day window of return with Bestbuy..   (although I am going tomorrow to try and get my money)  I am past the 15 days because in good faith I assumed that if Canon said they had a firmware fix, that they really did.  My young daughter loves the camera part of this 280, as do I.  But since she wants to shoot video of her and her friends...  
I really wanted this to work.   I love my SX50 and was hoping this 280 would be as nice for her.

So if anyone is really counting...    I did the firmware and have seen no real improvement in the video / battery issue.

Thanks
Gus

[completelocks]

getting annoying this is now.... I turned subscriptions off, it says no posts to show. Yet, I get back from my hols to be greeted with over 100 emails from this site telling me about posts on this thread.

How the hell do I delete my account?

[Davy]

completelocks.

Here, here. I have the very same problem, unticking all the options didn't do anything, so I complained to Admin - that didn't do any good either... so what did I do?

I went into my settings and reset my Email to anything but not mine. I don't like doing this but I was receiving Newsletters I didn't ask for , since my complaints fell on cloth ears what else can I do? 

This was after I was told it would be looked into.... just like their SX280HS I guess.

Dave

[tprevett]

So I made my first significant use of my SX280 yesterday, taking 703 pictures as well as multiple videos.  Pictures look great, however, There are still some quirks with video (I did get 24 minutes as you can see in a previous post)..  but I have come to the conclusion, that if the battery is anything less then 100% full when you start recording video, it seems that you will get the red flashing battery almost immediatly and the camera will shutdown.. 

It's not perfect, but the pictures are incredible for what it is!.. I guess ill leave video to my Canon XA10

Picked up the Wasabi batteries and charger too..  I could have probably used a single battery to capture the 650 or so pictures.. a lot of the pictures were multiple burst photos.. all in all I'm pretty happy with the battery life for taking pictures.

[tprevett]

hmm.. I always just click the Topic Options pulldown at the top of this page and select unsubscribe.. works every time, but resubscribes you everytime you make a new post.

[UnionStation]

tprevett: Just to clarify for other users still experiencing problems (and Canon, which has been monitoring this thread), the firmware update did NOT fix the video problem on your camera, right? That is to say that anything less than 100 percent charge, you get the flashing red light and the camera shuts down prematurely. Correct?

[Davy]

Thats what I did, clicked unsubscribe.

I'm not so happy about Canon now... they seemed to have become 'sloppy' - just like their ink tanks getting smaller and smaller!

For the price of the camera they could have had very least checked the entire functions before release, three or 4 AA cells side by side would have given more room  for the cramped controls.... and help to move the flash out the way in the process.

Sack the designer I say, thanks, I've done here!

Dave

[rft_canon]

I have been thinking about getting the 280 but am now wondering about Canon in general. Today, my EOS 40D USB port broke and broke from normal use. It should last a lot longer. Yes, I could use a card reader but right now I do not have one that reads CF cards. In any case, why should I expect daily use of a CF card on a piece of crap to last any longer!

[UnionStation]

rft_canon, I doubt many here would suggest you buy the sx280. There are 60+ pages of reasons here not to do so. You can do better with your money, but if you do decide to buy it, at least you do so knowing this camera's considerable shortfalls.