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.

[MarioV]

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@ethanol wrote:

It has 3 levels -

- Full (all 3 bars)

- Half full (2/3 bars)

- Red (1/3 bars)

Once it reached the Red level, it struggled to take any video. Could still shoot a few photos before it died.

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Thank you for the clarification.    Sounds like all it needs is to increase the parameters for Red indicator a couple percent (ie reduce the 2/3 level parameters by a couple percent), to give the user enough warning to swap battery.

Although..  I wonder if you got a third party battery with higher mAh? It might give you enough leeway to swap battery once it hits 1/3.

[ethanol]

It did start to flash red during video taking on the 2/3 level (I guess as a warning), but never shut down. Upon restart, was still showing 2/3. 

It was only when starting on the red level and also receiving the warning indicator that it actually shut down.

[MarioV]

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@ethanol wrote:

It did start to flash red during video taking on the 2/3 level (I guess as a warning), but never shut down. Upon restart, was still showing 2/3. 

It was only when starting on the red level and also receiving the warning indicator that it actually shut down.

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Oh I see.  It does sound like a pre-warning just before it gets close to 1 bar.  

Thanks for all your help.

I'll be looking forward to trying it out once it hits the stores.

[MarioV]

It might be worthwhile trying the following batteries.  Some users have said it has improved their SX280's battery performance, so hopefully should be even better in the SX700.

Vivitar 1700 mAh

http://www.amazon.com/Vivitar-Capacity-1700mAh-PowerShot-Replacement/dp/B00DVPGBDG/ref=sr_1_3?s=elec...

or

STK 1600 mAh

http://www.amazon.com/NB-6LH-1600mAh-Battery-Powershot-SD1300/dp/B00449F6I4/ref=cm_rdp_product

or

I dont know if Wasabi's are more reliable and have more sensible/accurate mAh rating (1300)

http://www.amazon.com/Wasabi-Power-Battery-Charger-PowerShot/dp/B0049XV5LM/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&...

[lvillal]

Have you ear about Canon gifting SX700 cams to SX280 customers?

or is it just a face refresh washing for their brand?

are we celebrating that SX700 works as you bought it for?

well, Im shure that there is a lot of desaponted people with a SX280...and CANON. 

Do we have to spend more money in a SX700 in order to obtain what we paid for our SX280??

if canon do not solve this issue with the real SX280 owners, they are showing that do not care about them.

[ethanol]

This one looks like a good deal : 1700 maH + international shipping - $5.19

http://dx.com/p/dste-nb-6l-replacement-3-7v-1200mah-battery-for-canon-ixus-85-is-300-310-200-210-bla...

I've already got a 1600 maH genric battery which I will try and see what it gives compared to the included Canon - probably won't be until next weekend though that I can give it a full workout.

[bradmoss]

I do not trust those batteries's specifications, if it were that easy to get to 1600 or 1700 mAh why Energizer or other well known brands state for their best N6-BL replacements 750 mAh?? 

[MarioV]

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@ethanol wrote:

This one looks like a good deal : 1700 maH + international shipping - $5.19

http://dx.com/p/dste-nb-6l-replacement-3-7v-1200mah-battery-for-canon-ixus-85-is-300-310-200-210-bla...

I've already got a 1600 maH genric battery which I will try and see what it gives compared to the included Canon - probably won't be until next weekend though that I can give it a full workout.

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I saw the DSTE one, but without any kind of user feedback, I would steer away from it.

I think the Wasabi brand is probably the most popular out of the high mAh replacements.. and its 1300 mAh is probably the most realistic capacity.  Vivitar seems popular.  STK has a small but significant percentage of people complaining the battery wont fit properly (not sure if it's because it expands after charging, which would NOT be a good sign).

[iamgeorge]

MarioV is right...steer away from DX stuff with no user feedback. I must admit that I have bought excellent batteries from DX that I use to build by own chargers and battery packs for tools but all of them had excellent user feedback.

Wasabi's are good and I do own the Vivitar pack for the SX50. Can't go wrong with these....

[MarioV]

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@iamgeorge wrote:

MarioV is right...steer away from DX stuff with no user feedback. I must admit that I have bought excellent batteries from DX that I use to build by own chargers and battery packs for tools but all of them had excellent user feedback.

Wasabi's are good and I do own the Vivitar pack for the SX50. Can't go wrong with these....

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Thanks for the feedback.  I had also checked the Wasabi and Vivitar user feedback on the SX50 replacements (10L) and theres a lot of praise for both brands. 

Regarding the 6L's, my untested theory is that the Vivitar has higher capacity but higher drain. The Wasabi has lower capacity but slower drain (high quality Japanese cells. Japan makes great batteries, eg. Eneloop)..  so they may be overall similar in performance.