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.

[peterdev]

Went out yesterday with the SX280 and took 140 pictures. Camera shut down on me twice - first time when zooming a few times to find my subject in bright light after 40 pictures, and again at 130 pictures - again from zooming. Most of the pics were at full zoom of birds and had some difficulty finding the subject on the screen because of the bright sunlight. (This makes me think that the sx700 with its higher zoom power will be even more difficult to zoom onto subjects, and maybe cameras with greater than 20X should have a viewfinder to avoid this problem.

Aside from these challenges - the actual picture quality exceeded my expectations. Examining them at 100% - most of them were in perfectly focused with great definition - even the thin contrasty feathers were well defined. Color was warm and accurate on a calibrated NEC screen. So I think the combination of the lens, sensor, and digic 6 processor produce excellent results. I had to throw away 10 pics due to focus issues and an additional 10 due to light/dark dynamic range issues.

My dilemma now is - do I return the camera in the 30 day grace period, or do I buy another battery and always have it in reserve for the first time the camera shuts down due to battery overload.

What advice??

[loveAZ]

You should not  accept a deffective product.   I never had this issue while taking pictures,  only on video.  I returned mine and got the SONY with 30X zoom and 20MP   ( HX50V).  Works great - still have not used the extra batteries and fits in my shorts.  Your pic looks good at 100% because the CANON is only 12MP.  I had to reduce ths size to 10MP in the SONY to achieve similar result (this is the only bad thing I noticed with the SONY).  I must also admit that I was not thrilled with the quality of the pics  with the deffective CANON.  If you want to stay at that price range, try the NIKON S9500  - I was surprised at how good the pics came out and the video was great too - it is only 20X but makes circles around the CANON, however it is fully automatic.If it weren't for the SONY's 30X I would had gone with the NIKON.

[JKS3]

Just wanted to add my two cents. I just bought this camera, without doing a more thorough research into the battery problem.

The serial number on mine has a 5 as the 6th number. I have not updated anything on it but I suppose it already has the latest firmware.

When I first put in the fully charged battery, I was able to shoot a total of about 10 minutes of video with zoom (separate clips, the longest was 5+ minutes) before the dreaded red flashing icon appeared.

It appeared after using zoom. Then, after switching off the camera, I was able to record more clips (about 6 minutes long) without the flashing icon reappearing provided I didn't use zoom. However, soon as I touched the zoom rocker by accident, the flashing icon appeared! Thankfully, it has not died suddenly in the middle of recording like many have reported.

Initially, I wanted to return it but since I got it for a good price (about USD200 with shipping via international courier from HK), I've decided to keep it. I got it mainly to complement my mirrorless ILC camera. I think it takes really nice videos for a compact, so it's a pity the battery issue is there.

The reason why I am keeping it is because, I don't take a lot of videos and if I do, I take only 1-3 minute clips and at most 5 minutes. Not being able to use zoom while recording (the icon would appear and camera's uptime would then become unpredictable) is a real pity but not a deal breaker for me.

It really sucks that Canon put this camera out on the market with this glaring problem. Fortunately, prices have come down significantly and if you are well aware of the problems and can live with them, I think it's a really good value as a stills camera (with the occasional 1 or 2 minute clip) at current bargain prices.

EDIT: Just wanted to add that after a total of about 15 minutes of video,the icon appears a lot sooner, less than a minute of recording and it starts flashing. The icon would appear within 7 or 8 seconds of recording after more clips and when this happens, I feel it was best not to go over 2 minutes per clip. I didn't record long enough for the camera to shut down automatically.

Also, I wanted to add to what I said about keeping the camera. That is just me, I decided to keep it simply because I don't do a lot of videos and I think it was a good deal. I like the 20x zoom and the image quality as a backup camera satisfies me. Also, it's a hassle to return it to HK. Would I recommend it to anyone though? On second thought, NO!

Based on how Canon is treating its customers (SX280 buyers) and has chosen to ignore this problem and continue to market this half baked camera, this will be my only Canon camera and LAST Canon cam too.

[JKS3]

Can you return it for a refund? Honestly, I'd go crazy if the camera took just 150 shots and shut down on me. If I were you, I'd send it back and never look at another Canon cam! Just because of how they've been treating this issue. That is assuming you could get a full refund and it was a no-hassle return.

I was able to take about 23 minutes worth of Full HD video and a further 10 minutes of HD video with mine, all the while with the icon flashing (it appeared within seconds after shooting a total of about 15-20 minutes of video). The battery has two bars now (in stills mode) after shooting about 33 minutes of video clips. The longest single clip is about 10 minutes (HD). I suppose battery life would be much more unpredictable and possibly significantly shorter if I used a compatible battery. Since I've decided to keep mine as videos are not the main reason why I bought this, I will need to load up on batteries.

Does the video quality - HD/Full HD - affect battery life?

[JKS3]

Here is an update to my SX280.

I just bought two compatible batteries for the camera, they are branded "Octopus Platinum", 950mah. I put one in and here's what I could do with it.

Record two clips about 6 minutes each. No flashing light. Record one more 6 minute clip, no light. Record another, flashing came on after about 2.5 minutes of recording.

So about the same performance as the NB-6L if used in the camera fresh off the charger.

I was then able to record another 2.5 minute clip but the camera auto shut off when I used zoom at that point.
Turning it on again, I was able to record for another 5 minutes with the icon flashing, no zoom. Using the zoom shuts it off. Thankfully, video is saved before it switches off.

Now that I have come to be more familiar with the camera, I must say I like the quality of the videos it can produce. The pictures are nice too, especially when I use it with i-contrast on.

So, with 3 batteries (the two compatibles were on sale so were quite cheap), I should be good for at least an hour of video and hundreds of photos.

I do not know if it makes a difference but mine is made in Japan.

[bradmoss]

There is one thing the people posting how much the SX280 with fresh batteries can record are forgetting.

When you are actually using the camera, your batteries seldom will have the full charge, your will have just the battery light indicator. So you will check the indicator and even as it will mark a full charge, the battery won't be fully charged. That will be an actual situation, when you probably will only get 1 minute recording before it shuts down.

[JKS3]

@bradmoss, I can't speak for the others but I am well aware of this fact. So I have to keep track of just how many minutes I've recorded. So far, I think the camera meets what's stated in the manual, about 25 minutes of video under normal operations (zooming, on/off and other operations). I have not and do not wish to test the straight recording (no zooming) claims of up to an hour. In no way am I defending this or Canon, as I said before, I shan't be recommending it to anyone or buy another Canon for that matter. And if it turned off after a few minutes even with fresh batteries like reported by some, I'd have returned it too. Still have a few days to test it in case that problem manifests after a while. Hope not.

BTW I was able to record another 18.5 minutes of video (straight recording, no pauses or on/off) before the camera shut off. Giving a total of about 49-50 minutes of video. The camera can still take stills but no more video (shuts down after a few seconds). At this point, I'd stop doing any recording altogether and switch batteries if I wanted to take anymore video.

[Bluestar48]

I can’t understand why some are trying so hard to blind themselves and to convince themselves at believing that the camera may be ok or they can find a trick to cure it when it is fundamentally flawed and there is no fix and there are so many cameras out there that you can trust. 

[bradmoss]

Mine definetly won't go more that 2-3 minutes, 25 minutes would make it an outstanding camera.

[JKS3]

@brad, That is worse than bad, can understand your frustration. I'd be really mad too. I would have sent it back immediately, assuming you could have. If people are getting such terrible times on theirs, and I am getting 49-50 minutes total on a compatible battery no less, then I think I really shouldn't be complaining at all, blinking icon or not! Maybe I was just lucky to get a good unit? The 6th number in the serial is a 5 and it's made in Japan, not Malaysia. Whatever it is, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone if the percentage of lemons is this high!!