Just got a Canon S120. Playing with the video. I’m concerned with how much time I have before the battery runs down. The manual tells me this about movie recording time:
Approx. 30 minutes ("Time under default camera settings, when normal operations are performed, such as shooting, pausing, turning the camera on and off, and zooming");
Approx. 1 hour of continuous shooting “Time available when shooting the maximum movie length (until recording stops automatically) repeatedly.”
Why should I get more time shooting continuously than I would if I turn it off or pause periocically?
Also, does shooting in HD use more battery? Yes, I know it uses a lot more memory, but what about 60p vs 30p for example.
Turning the camera off probably parks the autofocus lens and maybe closes a cover over the front lens.
Zooming (assuming optical zoom) runs a motor that moves lens elements - this is quite a significant drain on power.
When it’s first turned on, it will consume a little more power booting up or resuming than it would if it was just recording.
The file size is a file system constraint, and IIRC the time constraints are due to import duties imposed by the EU on digital cameras that record video. If they allow recording longer clips they are taxed at a higher rate when imported. If you break the clip up you won’t be hitting this barrier.
In short, I don’t think the problem is battery life.
The manual also has the following information…/QUOTE]
Where? This manual is impossible. The paper version is 213 misleading and poorly written pages long - for a “point and shoot” camera!!!
Did you buy a spare battery, or two? (And charger?) It’s been my experience to always have one battery in the camera and one/two fully charged batteries ready. Same for spare SD cards.
As for the manual, you are experiencing the typical manual that has no bearing on user reality. The manual was probably written by a techie where English is not their primary language.
As Telemark has mentioned, this is not a battery issue, it’s a bureaucratic one made between the WTO and ITA. Video cameras are taxed at a higher rate, and DSLRs were limited to this arbitrary 29 minutes 59 seconds so they would fall under a lower duty.
The 59 minute 59 seconds video recording time limit is allowed for lower VGA resolution, (as opposed to HD or FHD).