100-400 F4.5-5.6L IS draining camera battery?

I just received the 100-400. My camera is the XSi/450D. I did a few test shots and put the camera away with the lens attached. Next morning the battery was fully drained. Strange…perhaps I did not notice the level before putting away. Last night I put it away with near full charge an camera definitely off; next morning less than ½ charge.


I am going to leave it sit with a known full charge for a day or two just to make sure. But I am certain there is a problem. My other lenses are the 17-40 and 70-200 F4 IS. I don’t have an issue with either of them. I am always amazed long the battery lasts with both of those lenses and they certainly don’t drain the battery when the camera is off.


On the Canon website a reviewer had a similar problem (2nd review):
http://www.usa.canon.c​om …0_400mm_f_4_5_5​_6l_is_usm


Curious if anyone has experienced this? I am planning returning the lens—I bought it from B&H. Now worried if I should forget about this lens and get the 400mm prime.


Thanks,


Jon

I've never had a problem like this with my 100-400 on a 20D, 5D or 7D. It's a great lens, so maybe you should get a replacement if it's brand new.

Just curious, have you tried turing the IS off and seeing if it does the same thing? That might narrow down the problem if the IS is running continously like a short.

I have an older version "US" of the lense and have not had any probelms in the past two years.

Well, FWIW, I shot over 2500 photos on a full day or airshow shooting down at Miramar last October.

I came away with over 50% battery remaining on my 7D(gripped). Camera was on the entire time, IS used, AI Servo, high-burst, 100-400L + fair amount of chimping.

If there is a problem it would seem it's quite rare/isolated and might be happening with your copy .

You didn't store the camera in a bag did you? If you did, perhaps the bag/enclosure managed to put pressure on some of the buttons, causing the battery to drain.

jonosisoft wrote in post #11925675
On the Canon website a reviewer had a similar problem (2nd review):
http://www.usa.canon.c​om …0_400mm_f_4_5_5​_6l_is_usm

I also notice that reviewer said that Canon fixed his lens under warranty, and said that they had never come across the problem before. It doesn't suggest that this is a normal property of the lens.

jonosisoft wrote in post #11925675
Curious if anyone has experienced this? I am planning returning the lens—I bought it from B&H. Now worried if I should forget about this lens and get the 400mm prime.

I generally leave the 100-400L on one of my bodies when they are packed away in the bag (they fit in better that way) and have never had a problem with the batteries draining, even over a few weeks.

I don' t see any need to forget about this lens and go with the 400 prime, if you really want the zoom. If it does turn out to be faulty, just return it for another 100-400L. There is no significant risk that a second one will have the same rare fault.

Just be sure that the battery did actually drain overnight, and that the larger lens isn't causing the camera to sit differently and pushing a button somewhere, in the bag. If there is a definite fault, just swap it for another one.

By any chance do you have a battery grip on your camera body ?

Thanks for all the quick responses.

Thanks for mentioning turning IS off. I tested this by accident--shut it off the prior evening trying do photograph a bird in flight. Now that I think about it I think the battery was not drained. I'd have to try again to see if this is the issue, but will send it back to B&H before trying this if my current test drains the battery.

My camera bag is pretty roomy, plus switch is off. Pretty sure nothing was pushing any buttons.

No camera grip.

Also, thanks for confirming this is likely rare (if it is actually occurring). The shots I've taken so far suggest IS is worth it, plus I actually got a good shot of a bird in flight only because of the zoom. I purchased this lens over the prime because of these two features and will stick with this lens.

I'll let you know how my next test goes. Thanks again.

Jon

Definitely something wrong. I installed fully charged battery, only turned the camera on twice to check battery level. Fully discharged in 40 hours.

The lens is on its way back to B&H for a new one.

Jon

I got a replacement lens from B&H and all is good. The lens has been on the body for 3+ days, I've taken a few hundred shots and battery is still indicating full.

One other observation. The faulty lens resulted in incorrect EXIF. The faulty lense reported 380mm when fully exetened. The new lens correctly shows 400mm. (Note--fully extended not going by the barrel markings).

Also, B&H made this exchange very easy.

Jon