Internal battery charger on G6?

[uberG]

I got my re-furbished G6 a couple of days ago and am pleased to see I can use many of my existing G3 accessories with it. I see the battery charging system is now external. However, i do have the power adapter CA-560 which charged the battery in the G3. It doesn't appear the G6 has the same facility for internal charging?? What is the purpose of the CA-560 when connected to the G6? I can't find much info on it in the manual.


Also, there is limited info on “AiAF”. I see everyone making recommendations to turn it OFF. How is that accomplished?


Thanks.

[uberG]

Tough questions ??

[Roumen]

I got my re-furbished G6 a couple of days ago and am pleased to see I can use many of my existing G3 accessories with it. I see the battery charging system is now external. However, i do have the power adapter CA-560 which charged the battery in the G3. It doesn't appear the G6 has the same facility for internal charging?? What is the purpose of the CA-560 when connected to the G6? I can't find much info on it in the manual.
Also, there is limited info on “AiAF”. I see everyone making recommendations to turn it OFF. How is that accomplished?
Thanks.

G6 doesn't have internal power charger - this is one of the reason it is smaller. Check this link - it is confirmed in text:
http://www.canon.co.jp/Imaging/psg6/003-e.html
"The battery pack cannot be charged with camera body and CA-560 (Compact Power Adapter)."
The 560 power adapter could be still used when the camera operates a long time or when it is connected to a computer.

Regarding the AiAF - read the manual p.89 (RTFM).

Greetings,
Roumen

[Robert_Lay]

The AF Frame Selector button is the upper left button of the group of 4 buttons under the Omni Selector.

[uberG]

Thanks on the battery charger info.

I was reading pg89 in the manual...I guess that was the problem. It appears that it has to be de-selected everytime and can't be permanently switched off. Am I missing something?

Thanks.




To turn off the AiAF, in the manual mode, select menu and then select the pink camera icon on the far left and you will see the option for AIAF. Select off and that should solve it. Yeah, the AIAF is not reliable at all. Canon messed up on this one for sure.



Is this info accurate?

[283CID]

That's too bad about the lack of internal charger. I have a '560'..which I 'used to' use for charging my batteries, outside the camera. I found that mine NEVER charges batteries as fully as the internal charger on my G-1(s). The result is that I had a couple batteries that I thought were about gone, when all they really needed was to be FULLY charged! [as occurs IN my camera] I wish you luck with the 560... it works well for quick, on-the-road-in-the-car work, as it was probably designed for, but....at home...Hmmm.. for me, not so good.

[uberG]

Yeah, I am now finding the batteries charged with the rapid charger (included with the G6) are very short-lived compared to the in-camera charging of my old G3. :( The G3 charging was much slower. I prefer a slower recharge if it means longer battery life which appears to be the case.

The charger I am referring to, CA-560, is just the power suppy/battery charger for my broken G3. I guess the CA-560 can be used with the G6 if you were doing an extended slide show/video display.

Thanks.

[283CID]

Dunno about that last statement... just don't. My 560 is a Two-Battery-Slot thing that still uses the actual 'charger' that came with my camera. Canon sold it as part of a Car Charger.. For some time I was convinced that while Lithium Ion batteries don't have the 'memory' thing that NiCads do, that the very act of charging was the 'shortener'. I was taking care to really run 'em down to DEAD, before a charge...to make the number of charging events less... But...I think I got myself let down the Rosey Path on that. Since I bit the bullet and use the camera for charge, all those symptoms of worn out battery have gone away. Maybe none of this is useful to you, but it IS what has happened here...

Good Luck.

[uberG]

Power Adapter CA-560
3171A007AB

In Stock
Price: $125.00

Provides AC power. (This is a replacement part.)
Contents: Compact Power Adaper CA-560 & AC Cord.

Models:
PRO90 IS, Pro 1, G1, G2, G3, G5. G6
OPTURA PI, OPTURA 100MC, OPTURA 200MC, ZR10, ZR20, ZR25MC, ZR30MC, ZR40, ZR45MC, ZR50MC




This is what my CA 560 looks like, it's simply a transformer with a detachable cord:

[283CID]

MMM... yes, I see. And I just went out and got my Car Charger gizmo from the garage. It is a "CG 560".. Note the "G", not "A". It is a 3.75 by 2.75 by 1.5 inches.. Slots for two BP-511's. You plug your cA 560 into it to charge two batteries, when at home. In the car, you plug a cord from your cigarette lighter to the cG 560. I have found it works with Canon, and Sterling-Tek batteries. I have a couple other make batteries... "MH-......" numbers, which do NOT charge in it. 'Must be some 'coding' in the sensing that tells when to stop charging one battery and switch to the other.

Maybe one of these would be useful to you. Where are you? Want to try this thing ?

p.s. I don't know how to post a picture of it [blush]

[uberG]

I am watching a couple of those dual chargers on eBay. I might grab one but my concern is that they are "rapid" chargers, too. That's what a I don't want. My re-furbed G6 came with a wall charger (flip out plug, single battery, rapid).

My G3 would easily take 4 - 6 hours to charge an empty battery. The "rapid" charging doesn't appear to fully charge the battery. I notice the exact same phenomenon with my cell phone: it has a rapid charger or you can do an in-phone charge. The batteries last much longer when charged in the phone and, yes, it does take much longer for a full charge.

[Bryan Bedell]

I get at least a full day of G6 shooting/viewing/tinkering on my standard canon battery using the quick charger that came with it, I bought an extra battery and I've never come close to using one up before having time to charge the other, even on vacation where I'd maybe use up both batteries over the course of a long day and then charge them overnight...

I don't know what kind of shooting you guys do, but I've been utterly impressed by the long battery life, and how fast the batteries charge, I'd much rather just switch batteries and keep shooting, than to get another 20 minutes out of a battery at the expense of not being able to use the camera while it charges. It'd be nice to have both options, but as it is, I'm more than happy with it.

Bryan

[283CID]

Sure... Well, as for speed of charge, my Two Place CG560 Unit is powered by the CA560... so as far as I can see, no charging takes place any faster than would be using ONLY the CA560...

I'm with you Bryan...except that I am SO 'cheap' that I can't bear to throw out a battery that works... at all ! So, I have a box with seven batteries all charged up, that goes with us. We just reach in and grab a new one.. which might be good for a long time...or maybe not, anymore. Then, when we get home, I bring all the Dead-Soldiers back up to 'ready'.

And, we ARE talking running two (2) cameras here.

I definitely would NOT buy one of these, unless I could 'test drive' it and see if the service was what I wanted.

[DavidM]

Trying to "capture" the cat that keeps crapping on our patio the camera is set up to take a picture every minute for several hours at a time, without the mains connection this would be impossible.
this is an extreme but practical example.
Batteries : I always carry a fully charged spare with my G6 but have never had to use it.....

[Bryan Bedell]

You gotta use the right tool for the job:

http://tinyurl.com/apdwp

Bryan

[uberG]

It's not like I don't have enough batteries, I think I've got 5 or 6 of them. I've never been forced to carry batteries when heading out with my ex-G3. It caught me off guard that I killed a battery in 1 day with the G6. I will attribute it to the charger.

Does the BP514 fit the G6?