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.

[HR]

Hello

I read on a german amazon review, that if you tape the middle contact on the battery you get no warning light when shooting a video.

Downside is that the battery indicator are not working anymore.

I was interested to buy the Camera, but the battery problem is to big for me.

I think i wait til next year and hope that there are no battery issues for the sx300 or whatever the name is from next years canon superzoom.

[byronbay]

Thanks for the tip. It works perfectly with tape over the middle battery pin. I had already purchased 2 extra batteries thinking that was just weak batteries but now I will be able to record some decent length videos without it shutting down.

I can even record and zoom without it shutting down on me now which is perfect.

Everything else about the camera I really liked so thanks for the information.

[filipb]

Aha, interesting development, after tons of repeating messages! 🙂

So taping the middle contact, eh?

Question is what will happen if the battery is really low or drained?

Will the camera start behaving strangely (malfunctioning) or will it still detect this condition and do emergency shutdown at the very last?

For we win nothing when in the middle of shooting a movie the movie gets corrupted - or worse the camera/card gets damaged, right?

Regards,

Filip.

[filipb]

... and not to forget: battery heating up dangerously after using for too long time at too low level?

[flyingski]

IMHO tape on the battery sounds like spitting in the back of a tube type radio or adding mothballs to the gas tank.  Isn't part of the battery warning/shutdown feature there to protect the camera's circuits from operating on power below a certain level?  Tape does nothing to fix a the basic problem.

[LSousa]

That middle pin what he really does? 

[Bluestar48]

The only solution to the problem is simple, return the dud camera for a refund.  Canon has no fix and don't intend to do anything about it, so why trying a bandage solution with an inherently flawed camera? 

Otherwise, the message you'll be sending to Canon would be: Keep releasing flawed cameras, no worries, we are going to keep buying them from you for top dollar.

[Beetle]

Some cannot return it, like me and others, we didn't notice until return privileges were expired at the place of purchase.  I neglected to return mine thinking the update would solve it so I waited,  I found out about a month too late but I have sent it to canon and will post results as soon as it is returned or exchanged.

[UnionStation]

Thanks, Beetle, but those of us who have been here from the beginning already know how your story ends. Canon will send the camera back to you in a week or two and say it's fixed. You may see better battery life, but the flashing red light will still appear prematurely when you're shooting video. Thanks to this new tape hack, you can make the flashing stop. But you'll never know for sure whether your camera is going to record for 25 minutes or 25 seconds before dying on you. That's no way to live.

[Beetle]

D'OH!!!! Tape? Hmmmmm, will Canon supply us with tape? If they do, it probably won't stick.