Battery Issue with 5D Mark IV

[drnshaw]

I bought my Canon 5D Mark IV in 2017; it's been an awesome camera.  I have seven lenses:

Canon 50mm f/1.4, Canon 28-300mm L, Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro, Tamron 15-30mm f/2.8 G2, Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 G2, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 G2, and a Tamron 150-600mm G2.

First, I only shoot RAW and at the highest setting.  ISO is set to auto and for scenic shots I use AP and for action SP. 

I had two Canon batteries and I always left the camera on (with automatic shutoff after 30 seconds) and a battery would last for an entire shoot without having to change.  In fact, most often, one battery would last several days of shooting.  Well, in 2023, that changed - the batteries would die within an hour if the camera was left on.  So, I checked the batteries and both were basically toast (three orange bars); I replaced them and the camera shows that they are very good with all green bars.  That said, if I use the camera as I did before, even though the camera shows the batteries are good, they still die quickly (dead within a couple of hours).  If I shut the camera off, the batteries do not die as quickly.  I'm thinking that something has gone bad on the body.  I do not have GPS, wireless, or anything else turned on.  Right now, I primarily use three lenses: my 24-70mm, the 28-300mm L, and my 150-600mm lenses.  Any ideas/thoughts will be appreciated!

Regards,

Nick.

[rs-eos · Accepted solution]

Have you reset the camera back to factory defaults? Perhaps there is some setting that has been enabled.  Have you also double-checked that no connection is being maintained with a smartphone?

[drnshaw]

rs-eos,

I considered your suggestion to reset; however, before I would do that, I wanted to document the changes I had made to my camera so I could set them back up.  When I got to the yellow tab, I saw what turned out to be the issue - the 'auto turn off' that was normally set to 1 minute was, instead, set to 'never auto turn off'.  I must have accidentally changed it when I was in that section.  I reset the setting to auto turn off after 1 minutes and after several hours, no drain.  Ergo, I suspect the issue is resolved and I thank you for that.

Regards,

Nick.

[drnshaw]

Evening, rs-eos,

I considered your suggestion to reset; however, before I would do that, I wanted to document the changes I had made to my camera so I could set them back up.  When I got to the yellow tab, I saw what turned out to be the issue - the 'auto turn off' that was normally set to 1 minute was, instead, set to 'never auto turn off'.  I must have accidentally changed it when I was in that section.  I reset the setting to auto turn off after 1 minutes and after several hours, no drain.  Ergo, I suspect the issue is resolved and I thank you for that.

Regards,

Nick.