# 7D mark II battery drain



## VinniWongo (Nov 22, 2014)

So far been really pleased with the body till I found out that it drains the battery flat in about 4 days while turned off. This is with the new battery that has been charged twice. I have just put in a known good battery from my 5D mark II to see if it is doing it with that. Should know by the end of today if it is. All my previous canon bodies (30D, 7D, 1Dmkiv) have never done this.

Has anyone else had any similar issues?


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## Marsu42 (Nov 22, 2014)

VinniWongo said:


> So far been really pleased with the body till I found out that it drains the battery flat in about 4 days while turned off.



You double-checked gps is off? Otherwise "off" mean (nearly) no battery drain with such an expensive product, and I only expect cheaper companies like Yongnuo to kill your batteries if you don't remove them physically.


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## allanP (Nov 22, 2014)

VinniWongo said:


> So far been really pleased with the body till I found out that it drains the battery flat in about 4 days while turned off. This is with the new battery that has been charged twice. I have just put in a known good battery from my 5D mark II to see if it is doing it with that. Should know by the end of today if it is. All my previous canon bodies (30D, 7D, 1Dmkiv) have never done this.
> 
> Has anyone else had any similar issues?



Yes, a friend has the same reported.
Full battery discharged (20% in only 1 Day) although the camera was off (GPS was off too).


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## Old Sarge (Nov 22, 2014)

allkar said:


> VinniWongo said:
> 
> 
> > So far been really pleased with the body till I found out that it drains the battery flat in about 4 days while turned off. This is with the new battery that has been charged twice. I have just put in a known good battery from my 5D mark II to see if it is doing it with that. Should know by the end of today if it is. All my previous canon bodies (30D, 7D, 1Dmkiv) have never done this.
> ...


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## East Wind Photography (Nov 22, 2014)

Old Sarge said:


> allkar said:
> 
> 
> > VinniWongo said:
> ...



Mine does not have this problem. With GPS off, off is off and battery was still full after 3 days. It is power hungry when on and so I also bought a battery grip and extra battery for it so i can get through the day of shooting.


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## gjones5252 (Nov 22, 2014)

My 5dm2 has just started doing this. But its much shorter. Not sure exactly what is going on but i just started a habit of taking the battery out of it. I am ok with it for that camera but a brand new one? no...


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## VinniWongo (Nov 22, 2014)

Just checked after getting home and the battery from the 5D mkii is doing the same 99% down to 91% in 8 hours.

At least that's the battery eliminated from the equation.

Guess it's time to talk to Canon on this one before returning.

Firmware 1.0.2


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## gkaefer (Nov 22, 2014)

for me this would not be acceptable.
My Canon 400D from 2008(2009?) with 2 original Canon NB-2LH Lipos and all 6 non Canon replacement batteries does not have this issue. Even months later not using the cam the batteries stay fully charged!. So caused from the Body or the battery - whichever is causing this - in both cases I would contact Canon for replacement and if this should be an Hardware Body issue (energy consuming/wasting) than I would Switch to another Body series....
Georg


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## East Wind Photography (Nov 22, 2014)

Marsu42 said:


> VinniWongo said:
> 
> 
> > So far been really pleased with the body till I found out that it drains the battery flat in about 4 days while turned off.
> ...



I need to rig up a test on how much these cameras drain batteries with different features turned on and off. SHould be "fairly" easy to measure the current draw from the battery in different situations including power off.

In the OPs case I think there is something wrong with his rig. Even with GPS on my battery is still 90%+ after 3 days.


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## Don Haines (Nov 22, 2014)

Just got back from a road trip.....shot 404 pictures over 11 days (mostly in the rain) and the change on the battery is down to about a quarter... Gps is off. Not quite the battery life of the 60D, but certainly much better than the OP.

There was a lot of playing with the menus and a lot of looking at pictures on the screen, so that probably explains some of the loss of battery power.....


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## East Wind Photography (Nov 22, 2014)

Don Haines said:


> Just got back from a road trip.....shot 404 pictures over 11 days (mostly in the rain) and the change on the battery is down to about a quarter... Gps is off. Not quite the battery life of the 60D, but certainly much better than the OP.
> 
> There was a lot of playing with the menus and a lot of looking at pictures on the screen, so that probably explains some of the loss of battery power.....



Yes I'm finding there is a lot of new camera syndrome where the user is chimping more than shooting. Though no doubt the 7DII is a power hog. I knew that going in so I ordered with a grip and spare battery.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Nov 23, 2014)

VinniWongo said:


> So far been really pleased with the body till I found out that it drains the battery flat in about 4 days while turned off. This is with the new battery that has been charged twice. I have just put in a known good battery from my 5D mark II to see if it is doing it with that. Should know by the end of today if it is. All my previous canon bodies (30D, 7D, 1Dmkiv) have never done this.
> 
> Has anyone else had any similar issues?


 
As noted, turning off the camera does not turn off GPS. That is usually the cause of short battery life. Another cause can be 3rd party battery grips.

Finally, cameras do have defects that appear, so exchange it for another rather than sending it off to Canon.


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## VinniWongo (Nov 23, 2014)

Hi all, thanks for the replies so far. I should have stated from the beginning that gps is off, canon original battery, no grips.

I have trawled quite a few forums on battery drain when off and various models seem to appear and looks like it's a possible firmware, hardware combo issue. I stumbled across one guy that videoed his display flickering with a Tamron tele-converter on and also stated that it drained his battery when off. Logic dictates that when a camera is off it should mean no power to anywhere in it's body. However, I currently have a Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 on the 7D mark II. This lens normally resides on my 5D mark II without any battery drain issues. Last night I put it back on the 5D and stuck a canon 100mm macro on the 7D. Checked the battery % and 11 hours later it is still the same %.

Obviously this takes some time to do these checks and I would want a more conclusive time period for each test, but I will go through all my lenses attached to the 7D to see if it is one model or make that is causing this. None of these lenses cause a battery drain issue on the 5D.

Lenses are Tamron 24-70 f/2.8 VC, Tamron 150-600 f/5-6.3 VC, Canon EF100mm Macro, Canon 70-300 f/4.5-5.6L IS

As I find more results on this I will update, but it will take time.


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## Valvebounce (Nov 23, 2014)

Hi VinniWongo. 
Nice bit of detective work! 
I think since the introduction of the transmissive LCD screen in the viewfinder there has always been some power to the camera when off, proof, look through the viewfinder with the power off then drop the battery out and watch the screen dim! Certainly is like this on my 7D. 
I don't know why they keep it powered, does it take too long to start from cold, wouldn't be able to quote start time less than 0.2 seconds (or whatever it actually is). 
To me, and others looking at GPS, off really should mean OFF. 

Cheers, Graham. 



VinniWongo said:


> Hi all, thanks for the replies so far. I should have stated from the beginning that gps is off, canon original battery, no grips.
> 
> I have trawled quite a few forums on battery drain when off and various models seem to appear and looks like it's a possible firmware, hardware combo issue. I stumbled across one guy that videoed his display flickering with a Tamron tele-converter on and also stated that it drained his battery when off. Logic dictates that when a camera is off it should mean no power to anywhere in it's body. However, I currently have a Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 on the 7D mark II. This lens normally resides on my 5D mark II without any battery drain issues. Last night I put it back on the 5D and stuck a canon 100mm macro on the 7D. Checked the battery % and 11 hours later it is still the same %.
> 
> ...


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## East Wind Photography (Nov 23, 2014)

Valvebounce said:


> Hi VinniWongo.
> Nice bit of detective work!
> I think since the introduction of the transmissive LCD screen in the viewfinder there has always been some power to the camera when off, proof, look through the viewfinder with the power off then drop the battery out and watch the screen dim! Certainly is like this on my 7D.
> I don't know why they keep it powered, does it take too long to start from cold, wouldn't be able to quote start time less than 0.2 seconds (or whatever it actually is).
> ...



Most of the models maintain some power during off. When you open the card door and/or replace cards the camera does a recheck when the door is closed. This is on all of the models not just 7d2. If you want GPS on but don't require instant updating, you can set the polling time for very long...like 30 minutes or 1 hour. That will also reduce the battery drain. Most of my cameras I've used will also do a read or reset when a lens is changed when powered off. So off does not mean off unless you remove the battery.


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## Marsu42 (Nov 23, 2014)

VinniWongo said:


> I have trawled quite a few forums on battery drain when off and various models seem to appear and looks like it's a possible firmware, hardware combo issue. I stumbled across one guy that videoed his display flickering with a Tamron tele-converter on and also stated that it drained his battery when off.



Yes, that would be it, I now remember reading about a similar issues with other camera bodies. If you google for it you find multiple links, afaik Tamron fixed it with a lens firmware update (has to be done by sending in the lens as it's got no usb port as Sigma).

http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=12222.0
http://www.flickr.com/groups/tamron24-70mm/discuss/72157632303742096/
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3355523


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Nov 23, 2014)

Marsu42 said:


> VinniWongo said:
> 
> 
> > I have trawled quite a few forums on battery drain when off and various models seem to appear and looks like it's a possible firmware, hardware combo issue. I stumbled across one guy that videoed his display flickering with a Tamron tele-converter on and also stated that it drained his battery when off.
> ...


 
Right. He can narrow the issue down by removing and lens, flash, etc on the camera to see if the issue goes away.


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## VinniWongo (Nov 26, 2014)

Well it is conclusive now. After lots of waiting and no use of the camera I have found I get around 1% drain over a 24 hour period with all lenses apart from the Tamron 24-70 f/2.8 which is about *10% in 8 hours*.

I will submit these findings to both Canon and Tamron and see what they come up with.

Thanks for the feedback also guys ref Tamron and a possible fix. I too got the very first copies of this lens. Gonna be interesting if Tamron UK acknowledge the issue that the USA seem to have some inkling of.


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## Marsu42 (Nov 26, 2014)

VinniWongo said:


> I will submit these findings to both Canon and Tamron and see what they come up with.



Esp. the answer from Canon will be worth a snigger, if they reply at all to a 3rd party compatibility issue at all. Did you check you have a Tamron lens with the updated firmware? This information is around somewhere in the quoted threads, you can have a look at your serial number and compare.


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## VinniWongo (Nov 26, 2014)

Marsu42 said:


> VinniWongo said:
> 
> 
> > I will submit these findings to both Canon and Tamron and see what they come up with.
> ...



If Tamron wriggle about it saying the body must be at fault then my reply will be then why doesn't the 150-600 do it!

My 5D mark II uses 0% of the battery over a long period on all lenses. The viewfinder doesn't go dark like these newer bodies do so that may be that's the main difference. Guess I will have to remove the battery from now on when it is idle.


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## Marsu42 (Nov 26, 2014)

VinniWongo said:


> If Tamron wriggle about it saying the body must be at fault then my reply will be then why doesn't the 150-600 do it!



Last I remembered, Tamron service seems to be helpful exchanging a lens or updating the fw - and their repair time at least where I live is faster than Canon (w/o cps). It's just that they cannot test their lenses without access to camera bodies before official release.


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## VinniWongo (Nov 26, 2014)

Found this now after we have narrowed it down: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcR3U6LmaMA


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## allanP (Nov 26, 2014)

VinniWongo said:


> Found this now after we have narrowed it down: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcR3U6LmaMA



Bull's-eye!
The lens on the 7D2 I mentioned, was Tamron 24-70 VC USD

...but I don't understand it.
Off should be OFF !


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## Marsu42 (Nov 26, 2014)

allkar said:


> Off should be OFF !



As I recently learned when my Yongnuo flash controller killed my batteries, off isn't off with most electronics.

It certainly isn't with your dslr. If you shot a lot of pictures and turn the camera "off", it continues to write the buffer to your memory card or you'd loose all these shots. With the 7d2/6d gps is another example that keeps on working and draining power even if your switch is set to "off".

I have no clue why the power to the lens isn't cut on "off" though, but let us know if you find out. Probably Tamron hasn't reverse-engineered the protocol and ignores the "camera is off" message from the camera to the lens.


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## allanP (Nov 26, 2014)

Marsu42 said:


> allkar said:
> 
> 
> > Off should be OFF !
> ...



Curious - my Youngnuo transmitter (622c) dont do that.
I don't notice a battery drain on my old 7D, but I haven't my own Tamron optics.
2 Days with 70-300 VC (borrowed to test) were no problem. Nevertheless I bought 70-300L


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## Marsu42 (Nov 26, 2014)

allkar said:


> Curious - my Youngnuo transmitter (622c) dont do that.



Yn did a botch job with their rt transmitter, imho it wasn't ready for release neither in hardware nor in software.



allkar said:


> I don't notice a battery drain on my old 7D, but I haven't my own Tamron optics.



It only happens with newer Cameras, Canon keeps changing/updating (and is free to) their proprietary lens communication. That's the big drawback of buying 3rd party flash/lens gear, and the reason why Sigma and Yn now have usb interfaces for fw updates.


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## monkey44 (Nov 26, 2014)

During my career, I've not always shot with Canon gear ... but this is an indicator of why I advocate brand to brand purchases whenever possible. The issue of minor incompatibility always exists between manufacturers and reverse engineering, and copy-cat connections often lead to miscommunication between brands. 

One can state - and with good reason - brands will operate successfully with 3rd party gear on major brands -- but this is one example of learning what complications arise when one does it. It depends on how much time you want to spend figuring out "why does my battery drain" when in fact, it doesn't. 

I admit, the GPS function will continuously drain (of course, it's working) but the idea that it should shut itself off means it will spend time and energy resetting itself each time you turn it on -- so, the lesser of two evils here.

Back to the point -- at present, I shoot with all Canon gear -- and can't fathom missing a shot in the field because the lens forgot to adjust in some minor way. It's not like "horseshoes" where close counts - either the gear works as its designed, or it doesn't - and the opportunity for the "doesn't" (even minimally) increases when you interbreed brands. JMHO ... 

An example: If you miss a shot worth $200 bucks because your Sigma lens missed focus on a moving target, and it was the game-winning basket with "ZERO" time on the clock = and the shot sinks with the clock behind it blinking ".01" on it -- the money you saved cross-branding just flew out the window.

And I'm not denigrating any brand here - they make great products -- but brand to brand will always produce brand to brand compatibility better than any brand to off-brand equipment.


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## Marsu42 (Nov 26, 2014)

monkey44 said:


> I admit, the GPS function will continuously drain (of course, it's working) but the idea that it should shut itself off means it will spend time and energy resetting itself each time you turn it on -- so, the lesser of two evils here.



Magic Lantern has a gps powersave option that turns gps off on camera off and remembers the state when turning it back on.



monkey44 said:


> Back to the point -- at present, I shoot with all Canon gear -- and can't fathom missing a shot in the field because the lens forgot to adjust in some minor way. It's not like "horseshoes" where close counts - either the gear works as its designed, or it doesn't - and the opportunity for the "doesn't" (even minimally) increases when you interbreed brands. JMHO ...



I've also avoided 3rd party lenses so far, and have a bad experience with the Yongno rt trigger. Having said that, sometimes there isn't really much of a choice. For example. only Tamron has a 24-70/2.8 zoom with IS and its half the price of the Canon mk2. If given the choice between a Tamron lens or no lens at all, I'll take the Tamron


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## pato (Nov 26, 2014)

That is a known issue with some of the first Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 lenses and the Canon 6D. I had it too. I had to send in the Tamron for a firmware update (or chip replacement) and since it's fixed. Was free to do, only porto costs.


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## East Wind Photography (Nov 26, 2014)

Marsu42 said:


> monkey44 said:
> 
> 
> > I admit, the GPS function will continuously drain (of course, it's working) but the idea that it should shut itself off means it will spend time and energy resetting itself each time you turn it on -- so, the lesser of two evils here.
> ...



Hmmm but there is no ML for the 7DII and likely wont be for quite some time. Further, use of ML has historically used more battery power due to more CPU usage to drive all of the enhanced functionality. So to say that gps save is a powersaving function is a bit of a "marketing" twist.

Also one of the things you buy when you pay the extra money is the time spent testing with other canon products. If Tamron spent the time to test their products with that care on every other system, then their price would be twice that of canon. You get what you pay for I'm afraid.


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## Marsu42 (Nov 26, 2014)

East Wind Photography said:


> Hmmm but there is no ML for the 7DII and likely wont be for quite some time.



Sorry, I forgot this is a 7d2 thread - but maybe there are some people with other cameras around here, too. Atm I don't see ML going anywhere beyond the 5d3, not even to the 70d.



East Wind Photography said:


> Further, use of ML has historically used more battery power due to more CPU usage to drive all of the enhanced functionality.  So to say that gps save is a powersaving function is a bit of a "marketing" twist.



ML doesn't drain significantly more power when it's doing nothing, i.e. you have no features enabled or very basic ones like the gps powersaver which only runs a short function on camera on/off. And you're free to disable it at any time on camera boot. The things that draw power are focus peaking and generally all live view visual operations.


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## East Wind Photography (Nov 26, 2014)

Marsu42 said:


> East Wind Photography said:
> 
> 
> > Hmmm but there is no ML for the 7DII and likely wont be for quite some time.
> ...



True but if you are not going to use those functions then why use ML? Dont get me wrong. I'm a big ML fan and probobly use Dual ISO on my 5D3 more than without. However since it's there its nice to have some of those other features enabled but there is a cost to doing so.

I wonder why Alex doesnt take someone under his wing to continue development when he's unable to. Anyway that's a discussion for another thread.

I hope it does make it to the 7DII eventually.


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## Marsu42 (Nov 26, 2014)

East Wind Photography said:


> True but if you are not going to use those functions then why use ML?



Basic usability: key remapping, rating with a key (for cameras that don't have a dedicated button), pic review brighten/darken, ... little things, but the very annoyances Canon uses to upsell people to more expensive models.



East Wind Photography said:


> I wonder why Alex doesnt take someone under his wing to continue development when he's unable to. Anyway that's a discussion for another thread.



I'm seeing ML sailing into troubled waters as alex is the bottleneck and all attempts to expand the dev base have failed so far. But it's indeed off topic, and probably not worth discussing anyway as nothing can be done about it. Point to remember here: Don't expect a stable and working ML on anything but the 5d3.


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## East Wind Photography (Nov 26, 2014)

So for those that use the 7D2 with the battery grip, a quick solution until this gets resolved is you can twist the battery tray lock 90 degrees to unlock which effectively disconnects the battery. Not so good for carrying around but if it's in your bag it's safe enough. Maybe add a strip of tape so the tray doesnt fall out on you.

It's a sloppy kludge but it works.


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## VinniWongo (Dec 6, 2014)

Last post on this from me. Lens was sent away to Tamron service UK (Intro 2020) and was only away for 4 days. They replaced the lens main PCB. Tested it overnight and all is well with no battery drain


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## Valvebounce (Dec 6, 2014)

Hi Vinni. 
That seems like a very good result, quick resolution of a problem is a good pointer for any company. 

Cheers, Graham. 




VinniWongo said:


> Last post on this from me. Lens was sent away to Tamron service UK (Intro 2020) and was only away for 4 days. They replaced the lens main PCB. Tested it overnight and all is well with no battery drain


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## fragilesi (Dec 6, 2014)

VinniWongo said:


> Last post on this from me. Lens was sent away to Tamron service UK (Intro 2020) and was only away for 4 days. They replaced the lens main PCB. Tested it overnight and all is well with no battery drain



Great detective work, and I agree with Graham a good response from Tamron.


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## Marauder (Feb 5, 2016)

Finally got a 7D Mark II in November 2015. Weather hasn't been great so I haven't shot with it too much, but very impressed already with the AF system. 

Still, finding the battery drain issue described, even with the camera off and GPS disabled. Charged battery last night and it was 100%, and by the next night it was down to 99% after just sitting in the box (brand new LPE6N Canon battery).
Found this link online:
http://community.usa.canon.com/t5/EOS/Canon-7D-II-battery-drainage/td-p/128736

About 4 down, there is a post from MickvK about it being the LCD in the viewfinder. I tried his test of Manual Focus with power off, then removing the battery and he's right--the OVF goes "gray" without the battery even when off. Not sure if he's onto something or not, but perhaps the more technical members can comment. 

Interestingly, I repeated the same steps with my original 7D as well and I get the same phenomenon of the OVF going gray when the battery is removed. Is his diagnosis likely? I never really noticed the original 7D battery losing power, but then I'd never checked the actual percentage figure before.


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