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.

[loveAZ]

Sent it back,  got  a NIKON S9500 instead for $218 (more expensive)  no free  16GB memory, no free bag.  Was testing it outdoors yesterday on AUTO mode  (since it does nto have manual) , did excellent in zooming ( 22X) and the 18 P   comparing to 12 P  of CANON helped when cropping.  I liked the pictures much better  (and I mean MUCH BETTER) than CANON's , but on video the CANON was better (if you were able to take it that is 🙂   )

The voltage find makes a lot of sense...

[Davy]

We're only talking 0.6 Volts.... but one never knows. How about  measuring the voltage of a fully charged battery.

My guess this is the charging voltage.

Dave

[ruko]

Check out post 869. I measured the fully charged voltage.

[bradmoss]

Maybe some of the experts know, when does the charger stops charging the battery?

Because I fully charged the battery until the green light turned on, then unpluged the charger, took the battery off the charger put it on it again, plugged it again and then the charging light (orange) turned on.

Thank you for enlightening me !

[bradmoss]

This link Australian NB-6L battery charging

says the NB-6L has a recharge time of 4 hours when used with CB-2LYE Battery Charger but mine is ready in just 1 hour!!

[Davy]

Charged time depends on varying factors, battery condition, temperature as well as charging voltage and charging current.

Some chargers are 'fast chargers' they charge the battery at a higher current... to charge a battery in a hour sounds to me like a fast charger.

For a rule normally you charged a battery for 8 hours at 1/10th of it's capacity, so a 2.2A /per hour cell (2200 mA/hr)  would be charged at 0.22 A/hr or 220 mA/hour, this rule is for NiCads not Li-on.

These are small batteries, could it be asked if they suffer when they start to heat up due to fast charging

Sorry ruko I didn't see that post on your battery test.

Have you got a spare one????? Charge it up and discharged it at it's rated capacity, using resistors light bulbs whatever to draw the required current!

Maybe they want us to be forever buying Canon batteries just like them using chipped ink tanks and smaller cartridges, afterall thats's where the true money is.

I use a Li-on 3.7V camera battery to force power supplies and CCFL inverters ON  in LCD TV sets to check them, the  voltage is just about right for the 'Power ON signal'.

[bradmoss]

I use the original Canon charger that came with the SX280 HS, what happens if after the charger completes the charge and the green light is on, I repeat the charging procedure? Would it charge more amperes to the battery??

[dswansonil]

Now you guys are really "getting into the weeds" as they say. 

Whether the difference in the labeled and measured battery voltage is of consequence is not significant. The camera and battery are what they are and won't change, and the perfomance of the system is what it is.  Either the SX280 works for your use or it doesn't. 

The constant message in this thread is that it works if you want to shoot stills and like the picture quality, but that it doesn't work if you want to shoot a lot of video and know how much shooting time you have left..

[bradmoss]

I was told the new version of the Canon NB-6L (the one that comes with the S120)  has a 1060mAh capacity instead of the 1000 mAh the old version had. Could it be what Canon is doing to try and improve these cameras's performance ?

[Limmie]

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@bradmoss wrote:

I was told the new version of the Canon NB-6L (the one that comes with the S120)  has a 1060mAh capacity instead of the 1000 mAh the old version had. Could it be what Canon is doing to try and improve these cameras's performance ?

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6% battery performance increase?  So now we go from an unknown number of video minutes remaining to an unknown number plus one or two?  I don't think it will get us all repurchasing our 280s.