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.

[Davy]

BeefJerky

Whats the Sony HX50 like at Macro have you tried any close ups.... might be interested myself or one of the Panasonic range. don't mind if it's a couple of Shekels dearer.

Dave

[BeefJerky]

Davy,

The macro shots seem good to me on the HX50V. That said, I don't really use that mode very often.

I've actually been through three different cameras recently, so I will give you my viewpoint on them.

1) I started with the Panasonic ZS30/TZ40 and ended up returning it due to a few (what I consider) big issues. The image quality was quite bad, especially in low light. The flash is placed in such a way that you end up with a shadow in the lower left corner if shooting a flash photo at wide angle. Also, the GPS receiver wasn't very good; it wasn't even able to get a reliable signal from within a car.

As far as the image quality, the noise really affected the chroma in an awful way. For example, if you take a picture of the silver front grate of a typical table fan, the noise would make the silver parts look "colorful." It wasn't silver anymore, but a multicolored smudge. So, I'm thinking a lot of it has to do with the type of noise that bothers me. Note that this would show up even at an ISO of 200. Here's a perfect example:

http://www.techradar.com/us/reviews/cameras-and-camcorders/cameras/compact-cameras/panasonic-tz40-11...

But, even in brighter scenes, details still tended to be smudged out. I took a couple of landscape pictures while on vacation with it, and the details that should have been there just weren't. It was almost as if it had a mild watercolor effect. I do note that none of the information on this camera specifiies that the sensor is backlit in this camera. If it is not, then I suspect that may have a lot to do with the image quality issues.

That said, it wasn't all bad. It was very fast and responsive, and also had excellent video quality. In addition, it was very compact and fit in my pocket the best of all three cameras. It also had very good battery life. Overall though, it was not the right camera for me.

2) Next was the Canon SX280. We all know the image quality is excellent, and thats the main positive this camera has. However, the unreliability of the battery life (especially when shooting video) made it a poor choice for me. But to be clear, if it wasn't for the battery issue, I would have kept it!

3) Finally, I am currently using the Sony HX50V. Overall, the camera is my favorite of the three so far. The 30x zoom is great, and can really get you in close. It does have a bit of trouble focusing at the telephoto end of the lens in low light, but then so did the Canon and Panasonic. However, when comparing like zoom to like zoom (i.e. 20x on all), the Sony comes out ahead in that regard.

The camera is reasonably fast, but not as fast as the Panasonic. The image quality seems quite good, though not as good as the Canon in low light. In bright light, I would say the the Sony actually does have a bit more detail than the Canon, but in lower light, the noise takes away from the extra megapixels the Sony has. Noise creeps in earlier than the Canon, but doesn't seem to be as bad as the Panasonic. Also, the noise is much less obtrusive and offensive to my  eyes compared to the Panasonic.

The battery life is excellent on this camera, and you can actually shoot video on it without it shutting down! 🙂

That said, there are a few negatives. It is noticeably thicker and heavier than the Canon and Panasonic. I can still fit it in my pocket and carry it around easily, but it is really pushing the limits. I'm having a love/hate relationship with the flash. It is positioned in a way that the large lens will not interfere with the light distribution (like the Canon). However, it is not an automatic popup flash like the Canon. Again, I'm not sure which design I prefer. I like that the Canon is automatic, but it also tends to hit my finger as it comes up then stop and complain about the flash not being in the right position...so I then have to turn it off and on again. The one on the Sony is manual (I have to push a button to pop it up), so I don't have that issue. But I worry that I might forget to pop it up and miss a good photo that would have needed the flash.

Finally, I do have a couple of issues that really bother me as far as the camera's software responsiveness goes. First is its responsiveness to me hitting the playback button. Sometimes I want to go right to playback mode to view and zoom in on the photo after I took it. However, it will ignore any keypress until after it has shown the preview of the photo (which also can't be turned off) and gone back to live mode. So, even if I hit the button while it was previewing, I have to hit it again once it is "ready." The other two cameras would go right into playback mode as soon as I hit the button. Second, when you go to zoom in on a photo in playback mode, there is a few second delay before it actually starts to zoom in. Once it starts to zoom in it is quite responsive though. Also, it only goes to 4x zoom; it would be nice if it went higher, but I find it fairly adequate.

So yeah, I still need to play with the Sony a bit more to see if it's what I stick with. I think with this camera, it's fairly minor issues and me just being overly picky. Plus, I'm not really sure there's any better alternative for me. If I change cameras again, I will keep you updated.

[Desky100]

I really felt the need to add to this thread to make it as big as possible to prevent anymore disappointed customers. 

Couple of days ago I bought sx280hs black with a '3' in the special serialnumber position. It has the low battery on filming problem. I tried updating anyway but it said it didn't need it/was up to date. I spoke to a support rep. and he said that they thought they fixed it but now people keep coming in with it unexpectedly. Perhaps unintentionally, I hope, he tried to lure me into a procedure where I wait for a response. No way!  I'm still in my return grace period and I'm getting the hell out of this situation while I can.

Canon has not got a handle on this problem and clearly it's growing over their head. 4 firmware versions and still broken camera's out there.

Too bad, I really liked the concept of it but I wish I could buy one that works. Now I don't really know what to get.  Good luck everyone!  In fact, i'm sorry for the money but I may go Sony dsc hx50. My Ixus 120 broke a bit too soon as well, and needed repairs twice, so maybe it's time to try another brand. Canon board, eat your heart out if you read this

[ange07]

So guttered. Had done my research and based on the specs the SX280 was exactly what I was looking for, but not willing to purchase with the ongoing battery issues. Shame Canon hasn't fixed the battery problem yet. 

[HR]

Maybe they can't fixed it.

Think about it.

If it was fixable, why not do it and spare the bad publicity.

[dswansonil]

I think that's the basic assumption.  The battery capacity isn't sufficient to support the video and zoom functions without a voltage drop which triggers the low battery warning.

[Davy]

BeefJerky

Thanks for the info, much appreciated. Just that I wanted a zoom cammy I have the Canon A650 as you probably know the zoom is only  x6, it is a decent camera, if only they fitted a x20 lens on that and forget about keeping up with the trend,  forget about GPS, that is just a gimmick as far as I'm concerened they just help drain the battery.

The HX50 sounds as though it will do me providing the Macro is equal or better, just like when the A650 came out I kept hanging on and hanging on I'll see if I get some sample photos. Mighty glad I didn't rush out and buy this lemon of a SX270/80.

I wouldn't be messing about sending them back and you could bet I'd be calling the best solicitors should they send me a refurbish one in place..... I take the attitude I bought a new one, I want a new one. It seems to avoid all this aggro a refund is the only answer because you never know what camera you are going to get in return.

Thanks for the reply & good luck.

Dave

[ruko]

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@HR wrote:

Maybe they can't fixed it.

Think about it.

If it was fixable, why not do it and spare the bad publicity.

---

Maybe they should admit they can't fix it and take em all back!

[LSousa]

Believe me Canon doesn't, loose more time with that camera anymore...

[dswansonil]

Special 3 page Canon flyer in the Thanksgiving sale papers today in the US.  Guess what camera is conspicuously absent.