Battery Grip BG-E14 Canon EOS 70D

Recently purchased the Canon BG-E14 battery grip to replace a third party battery grip for my new EOS 70D. The reason for replacing the third party grip with the more expensive Canon grip was a problem with using AA batteries with the third party product. At the time, I thought the reason the AA batteries were not working was because the grip was not a Canon product.

Turns out the Canon BG-E14 battery grip also does not work with AA batteries, but I not sure now if it's the grip or the camera causing the issue. I need to use AA batteries because of camping for long periods of time (no access to electricity) in remote areas. The battery indicator will show “Full” for about five minutes, then quickly go down to empty. The camera will shut down after about 6 minutes and if you keep turning the camera back on then you can continue shooting a few more pictures. I have use other Canon battery grips in the past with AA batteries with no issues, so again maybe the issue is with the new EOS 70D.

Does anyone have any knowledge on what could cause this issue of the AA batteries not working with the EOS 70D battery grip BG-E14? AND how is Canon fixing this issue (since this is an expensive Canon product that is not working as designed)?
Thanks,

What batteries are you using? You'll need good quality alkaline and even then, the battery life won't be stellar; the expected life is less than half the LP-E6.

Buy an extra LP-E6 or two. Seems like a better solution, and less to carry than a entire AA battery tray and spare batteries. You'd need at least 12 of them to give you the shooting power of 2 LP-E6 batteries. You have to carry MORE to use the AAs.

EOS5DC wrote in post #16616916
Buy an extra LP-E6 or two. Seems like a better solution, and less to carry than a entire AA battery tray and spare batteries. You'd need at least 12 of them to give you the shooting power of 2 LP-E6 batteries. You have to carry MORE to use the AAs.

^ This.
I tend to think of the AA tray as a last resort, if I really have to I'll use it. But two LP-E6's in the grip generally gets me a couple of days of fairly active shooting, though I tend to be frugal with LCD use.

+2 for extra LP's. They do last a long time. I have 4 for each body and of the 8, 4 are Wasabi batteries off Amazon. Just disable GPS and wifi and you should be good.

I have tried Energizer MAX, Duracell Ultra and Rayovac Advanced, all with various resources. My Powerex 2700 NIMH rechargeable batteries don’t work at all in the BG-E14 grip. I used the AlphaPower model BC700 battery charger to test and refresh several sets of my Powerex batteries, but the BG-E14 with the 70D does not recognize the batteries (no power). The EOS 70D English “Basic Instruction Manual” page 32 states “With size AA/LR6 alkaline batteries at room temperature approx. 490 shots with no flash” when referring to the BG-E14 battery grip. This number seems reasonable, but the battery level indicator on the camera will show 100% down to 49% within a few minutes with fresh batteries than down to 20% after about six minutes. A fully charged set of Powerex will immediately display between “10% to no battery level” on the indicator when these batteries are placed in the camera. I have tried several sets of Powerex with the same results. I need to use AA batteries because of camping for long periods of time (no access to electricity) in remote areas, as an example over 10 nights I might have one night to access an electrical outlet. Do you know if there is any software reasons why the 70D/BG E14 doesn’t recognize certain battery brands (like Energizer and Powerex), but seems to have half power with brands like Rayovac and Duracell?

Thanks,

Yes, the manual does suggest 490 shots with alkaline, but also note the very important caveats in the box at the bottom of that page.

I'd expect your results with NiMH - this really isn't the application for them.

For alkaline, maybe you just need to more actively manage power - I'd be switching off the camera until I was about to use it rather than leave it in standby, not use live view at all, probably switch off the rear LCD too. Minimal image review and only if I thought it necessary, probably dim the display too.
Oh - double check WIFI is off...

As suggested above - I'd be investing in a few spare LP-E6's, they're expensive but worth it and in the long run probably a saving over the AA's. Maybe an extra charger to speed charging turnover.
I'd think that easier to manage than lots of AA's myself.
Tip: Because of the way the camera switches between them, running two LP-E6's in the grip could get you a few extra shots than running one battery at a time. Won't be a huge difference, but a little bit.