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.

[UnionStation]

Interesting point, Davy. Don't want to seem to criticize other cultures, but the Japanese sense of pride and honor seems to make saying "sorry, we screwed up and our product sucks" a very, very hard thing to do. Remember when Toyotas were literally speeding up on their own and killing people, and how slow the people at Toyota HQ were to admit the obvious problem actually existed? Maybe the same thing is at work here. My guess is that the sx280 is quietly phased out and the people at Canon hope we all forget how we were treated.

[HR]

It's not just Canon.

Other manufacturers have sometimes also problems with a specific camera.

Look at Nikons D600 and the oil/dust problem.

And there it is a pricy 2000€ camera and not only a 250€ camera.

[Davy]

Didn't Nikon honor their warranty? At least they fixed it... I could be wrong of course.

To be honest, we can't blame Canon USA, Canon UK or Canon anywhere it's Canon themselves the problem, they must not have put these through the 'washer' before release.

Today, it's all about beating your rivals that alone isn't any excuses for almighty blunders - this must be costing the company dear, I did start to count and make a pie chart on Amazon - I give up!

Wasn't there the Dell lappys that caught fire thanks to 'you know who' batteries.

Anyone can accept being sent a 'dodgy' device no matter what it is we can accept that but things like this on a calamitous scale where the company is not doing anything about it under warranty ought to be criminal.

Have they put a warning on the box recently? This camera will film moving videos for 25 seconds or whatever  PLEASE DO NOT USE ZOOM WHILST FILMING, "NO".

 Why not remove the movie feature altogther..... because the camera woudn't sell, can you use it at a wedding - I doub't it  could be relied on.

This isn't a one off it's on a widespread scale all over the globe - the product is at fault and Canons ignoring it and letting people buy it.  Its not fit for purpose and completely a deceivement on Canons side.

And Canon expects us to trust them on their new products...... like hell!

Dave

[UnionStation]

One of the posters in this forum said he doubted our word - and God knows how many others on Amazon and elsewhere on the net complaining about this camera. He reasoned that "professional" reviewers would've been all over this problem - if it really existed. He said he trusted in Canon to take care of him. And Canon's counting on people believing that there's no way a company that big and respected would put out a substandard camera, deny there's a problem, and then just ignore the ongoing complaints. But what would happen if Canon ADMITTED there was a problem and recalled all of them? It would be bad publicity for Canon - and a bad business precedent. Better to let people who haven't seen how bad this camera is to think we're a bunch of whiny cranks. I was a loyal Canon customer for years - and now I'm doing everything I can to warn everyone I know to take their business to a company that stands behind its products.

[Davy]

Reviewers, ah them people.... just like Antivirus reviewers - how do they make their money I ask, better still where do they get it from? I wanna know.

Many folk would believe zebras had spots and elephants could whistle if the reviewer told em'  that.

Davy

[lostlake]

Agreed! The battery issue is confusing as I was only able to take 20 plus minutes of video with the red warning flashing most of that duration.  We've been a Canon family going through 4 different ones in the last 10 years, trying to catch up with the technology.  We are still using a Canon G5 but I need a pocket camera for a weeklong vacation coming up, so I bought two more replacement batters of 3.7v with 1600mAH output hoping it would help, and hopefully I would be able to make a decision about keeping it or returning it by the time I come back from the vacation.

 The photoes I've been testing in both indoor and out so far are way better than a Nikon Coolpix my hubby bought last Christmas.  So I am hoping this Canon issue is fixable.

[lostlake]

 The photoes I've been testing in both indoor and out so far are way better than a Nikon Coolpix my hubby bought last Christmas.  So I am hoping this Canon issue is fixable.

[pawl]

Wish I could take a poll on this. I'm leaving on Friday (end of this week)  a weekend trek in the back country. What are the chances that this firmware fix will be available before I go. I've bought two extra back-up batteries, but really, do I want to be worrying about the camera shutting down (it did for me once the current camera firmware made up its mind that there was no more juice in the battery...even after turning the camera fof then on again (and trying to shoot ANYTHING...including stills).

Please Canon. If I could commence a recall all of the first batch of these sx280s until the time when you release a firmware update, I would.

[dswansonil]

I think mine will be going back later this week.  Even if they fix the battery warning light and maybe the auto image issue with a firmware change, I doubt very much they can change the actual battery drain of the video and the zoom lens.  I know they can't redesign the ergonomic issues related to the location of the battery door, the pop up flash, etc.  Canon has tried to put 10 pounds of it in a 5 pound bag and failed. 

In my opinion, Canon has focused too much on increasing the zoom rather than on the general useability of their cameras.  I have been using 5(?) year old Powershot S5 IS which has 12x and have rarely wished for more magnification.  I use it primarily for shooting indoor video (I have a 40d for still photos) of volleyball and basketball but it obviously lacks HD.  It uses 4 AA batteries and, with the high maH disposable ones, I can probably shoot at 3-5 hours or more of video or thousands of still photos before they need to be replaced.  If I could get half that performance with HD video, I'd be ecstatic.

I think I'll have to consider going with a camcorder to get the HD video with a reasonable battery life but everything I've read so far says the still photo quality coming out of Canon's more reasonably priced camcorders sucks.

[pawl]

I have a Delorme InReach that will drain a battery licketysplit when the battery setting is incorrect (put in alkiline when the settting is on lithium, quick drain). So, couldn't the camera's usage problems be corrected with a firmware?

Besides, the 270 and 260, both of which have pretty much the same specs as the 280 have had none of the same issues, as far as the reviews go. Doesn't make sense that the bells and whistles of the 280 would be the culprits here. Or am I missing something here?

[smith]

Well that's encouraging. Hopefully a firmware update will make us all happy!