G2 batteries

[Tworoads]

Hi people.

My question concerns the Canon G2 batteries. The booklet that came with the camera says that the batteries should be able to record 400 pictures (impressive), but I'm lucky if it lasts 40 before the Lb (low battery) warning begins flashing. Is the 400 exposures really just gross exaggeration? Maybe I'm not getting as much because I sometimes review the pictures? Would the resolution setting affect the battery charge? Has anyone else noticed this?

On the same line, if I have a fully charged battery (green light) and take just a few (like say 5) pictures, it takes several minutes just for the charge light to turn orange and another couple of hours for it to turn green again. Is that normal?

Any comments will be appreciated. Thanks.

[justincase]

the battery in my G2 lasts forever and i don't doubt the 400 shot rating and the review of the G2 at www.dpreview.com confirms as much. the battery does take a few charge/discharge cycles to reach peak efficiency but, even then, mine never depleted as quickly as yours. perhaps you have a defective battery?

and, i believe it trickle charges when it is nearing full charge so it does take longer, even after just a few shots with a freshly charged battery.

good luck!

[martijo]

When I got my g2 I bought an extra battery. Haven't used it yet!

I was just in Key West on vacation. One day we went to an out-island where over the course of the day I filled up my 128mb flash card. At the end of the day I was just starting to get the low battery warning. During the day I previewed pics, used the flash, had the display on, etc.

The battery is incredible. If your battery is not capable of that, then it may be defective.

by the way, recharging it after that day took several hours to get it to solid orange, then an equally long time to go from solid orange to green. Frequently I don't bother getting it to green...takes too long.

John

[suemccartin]

You might have a bad battery. If you're using flash all the time then the battery goes faster (I get about 25 shots at night full quality with flash on medium flash distance subjects (not closeups)). Go out on ebay, there are tons of that battery being offered as low as thirteen bucks, just read the descriptions/look at the photos carefully, the batteries on ebay range from the stock 1100mah to the pricey 1300 mah units. I've gotten a 1200 and a 1250 mah off ebay they both work great and they were around 20 bucks with shipping each, not the exhorbitant 60 bucks most places want for a canon battery.

[DKeon]

This is something I discovered on my own after several emails went to Canon with no reply.

I don't have an external charger so therefore I always charge my batteries in the cam. I noticed that when I had the charging unit plugged into a power bar or surge protector (say along with my computer or whatever) then I would get a steady orange (90% charge) indicator after about 10 minutes, steady green approximately 1 hour after that and the batteries would then die after taking about 5 shots (LCD + Flash).

However, if the charging unit is plugged directly into the wall, I get a perfect charge every time. It takes the normal 90 minutes or so to go to steady orange, an hour & a bit after that for green. In fact, I took my cam on a road trip to Ottawa last NHL playoff season and over an entire weekend that included over 200 pics at the game, I never needed the backup battery I had brought along.

So, I don't know if you're plugged directly into the wall or a power bar of some sort, but this is something to definitely keep in mind.

Hope maybe that helps.

[Thoe99]

Is that so? This is exactly what I wanted to hear!! I had the same problem too! I went ahead and bought one of those really cheap ebay batteries for $16 total. I'm really glad you found that out, thanx!

[calvinsea]

I have taken around 500 shots, all lasgest resolution and "fine" compression, plus over 10 video clips. I find the battery can last for around 120 to 130 pictures (about 190 MB) every time. No flash, always use LCD, playback is not so many. Is this normal, considering "400 shots"?

[rkhndjr]

It took me a while to realize how fast my G2 battery would deplete due to simple things such as leaving monitor on allthe time, checking images for quality often, using the edit features, setting EV or AEB, AF, etc. If you remember to turn the monitor off before shutting camera down, know in advance, if posssible, what settings you will change, and take pictures in that manner, THEN, connect adapter and charge the camera each time you use it for several times, it will give much better service. Try and see. LOL