A9 II power mgt

[BernardLanguillier]

Dear Sony experts,

I missed a casual shoot yesterday due to my a9II running out of battery.

I had checked the battery level before putting the camera in my bag and it was at 70%.

It seems I had left the camera turned on in the bag, and I guess that the shutter somehow got pressed, but still... never had such an issue with any other camera till date.

Is there a recommended setting to prevent such issues?

Cheers,
Bernard

[armand]

It's called: if you bring a bag you might as well have an extra battery at all times.

[BernardLanguillier]

It's called: if you bring a bag you might as well have an extra battery at all times.

Yes, but that’s not the point.

I am well aware of the need to carry extra batteries, but I was planning to shoot less than 50 frames over a more than half full battery.

And had not anticipated the possibility of such a basic issue with the much praised Sony.

Cheers,
Bernard

[Manoli]

And had not anticipated the possibility of such a basic issue with the much praised Sony.

What was the basic issue ?

It seems I had left the camera turned on in the bag, and I guess that the shutter somehow got pressed,

Oh dear ...

AFAIK, there is no setting for any Sony, Canon or Nikon that will compensate for such silliness oversight.

A sensible precaution though, apart from spare batteries, is to always have a battery (power) pack and cable to hand whenever you ‘travel’ away from home or studio. Not only can you charge the battery in situ, but can also run the cam directly off the power pack. At least with Sony Alpha’s.

But I’m sure you know this.

Edit:
Useful for cameras, laptops, iPads, iPhones etc etc ...

[BernardLanguillier]

What was the basic issue ?

Oh dear ...

AFAIK, there is no setting for any Sony, Canon or Nikon that will compensate for such silliness oversight.

A sensible precaution though, apart from spare batteries, is to always have a battery (power) pack and cable to hand whenever you ‘travel’ away from home or studio. Not only can you charge the battery in situ, but can also run the cam directly off the power pack. At least with Sony Alpha’s.

Guys... I have been shooting with various cameras for 35 years. I have forgotten to turn them off many many times for many many silly reasons. It has never resulted in a battery going down from 70% to 0% in 2 hours. Not even with my Nikon or Fuji mirrorless bodies. Perhaps a couple of times with early H6D-100c firmwares before they fixed a major power leak.

I am not expecting schooling on my siliness, that's a known fact.

I am expecting guidance from experienced Sony users on how to prevent negative impacts for such an easy mistake to make with a camera lacking a top screen.

Thanks.

Cheers,
Bernard

[Manoli]

I have been shooting with various cameras for 35 years. I have forgotten to turn them off many many times for many many silly reasons. It has never resulted in a battery going down from 70% to 0% in 2 hours.

If, as you say, the shutter was depressed during these two hours, then it would seem not unreasonable to discharge a 70% battery within those two hours.

If you’re even remotely convinced it’s a power leak I’d send it straight back to Sony BUT only after running tests back home to see if you can replicate the issue.

Edit:
And if you can replicate the issue, try changing batteries first.

[Martin Kristiansen]

Guys... I have been shooting with various cameras for 35 years. I have forgotten to turn them off many many times for many many silly reasons. It has never resulted in a battery going down from 70% to 0% in 2 hours. Not even with my Nikon or Fuji mirrorless bodies. Perhaps a couple of times with early H6D-100c firmwares before they fixed a major power leak.

I am not expecting schooling on my siliness, that's a known fact.

I am expecting guidance from experienced Sony users on how to prevent negative impacts for such an easy mistake to make with a camera lacking a top screen.

Thanks.

Cheers,
Bernard

I have been shooting with A7 series cameras for two years. Busy commercial photography and loads of personal work with travel for some variety. Couldn’t tell you how to prevent this problem as I have never had it happen to me not have I ever heard of it happening to anyone.

I suggest selling the camera and sticking to Nikon. Why on earth you even have a Sony in your bag considering your loyalty to other brands in a mystery to me.

[BernardLanguillier]

I have been shooting with A7 series cameras for two years. Busy commercial photography and loads of personal work with travel for some variety. Couldn’t tell you how to prevent this problem as I have never had it happen to me not have I ever heard of it happening to anyone.

I suggest selling the camera and sticking to Nikon. Why on earth you even have a Sony in your bag considering your loyalty to other brands in a mystery to me.

Martin,

I am not sure why you are turning this concrete and simple question into an overall Sony vs Nikon issue.

I have been working with Sony cameras for many years. I don’t care about brands the least bit.

The a9II is a great camera that does some things better than the Nikon, starting with eye AF. I am simply trying to prevent an annoying issue.

I notice once again that some Sony owners here behave more like sect members than like photographers.

Cheers,
Bernard

[BernardLanguillier]

If, as you say, the shutter was depressed during these two hours, then it would seem not unreasonable to discharge a 70% battery within those two hours.

If you’re even remotely convinced it’s a power leak I’d send it straight back to Sony BUT only after running tests back home to see if you can replicate the issue.

Edit:
And if you can replicate the issue, try changing batteries first.

Thanks for the advice.

Is there a setting preventing shutter press when the lens cap is on?

Cheers,
Bernard

[Martin Kristiansen]

You are being disingenuous. When you use phrases like such a basic issue on the much praised Sony it certainly appears that you have a axe to grind. Any way here is a solution.

1 Carry a spare battery. They really don’t weigh much or take up much space.
2 Turn the camera off
3 Set auto power off to something like 15 minutes. That way if you forget points 2 and 3 above you should be fine. If you need the camera on constantly then set this longer or put it under your favourites in the menu or in in the function menu.

Or are you really looking for a setting on the A9’that will
Prevent you forgetting a spare battery and forgetting to turn the camera off while simultaneously packing the camera in such a way that the shutter button gets pressed? I don’t think there is a setting on the camera for that. Raise it with Sony though. They have been quite responsive. Who knows.

[BernardLanguillier]

3 Set auto power off to something like 15 minutes. That way if you forget points 2 and 3 above you should be fine. If you need the camera on constantly then set this longer or put it under your favourites in the menu or in in the function menu.

Thanks.

The “much praised Sony” was meant to say that didn’t expect this to be a camera issue, but more a camera configuration issue.

Cheers,
Bernard

[wcarlew]

Have you used the remote? Menu "setup" IR Remote Ctrl (A7R3 suitcase symbol page 3). Make sure this is off if not in use as I believe it prevents the camera from going to sleep.

[Cem]

Have you used the remote? Menu "setup" IR Remote Ctrl (A7R3 suitcase symbol page 3). Make sure this is off if not in use as I believe it prevents the camera from going to sleep.

Hi,

I have been having Bernard's problem too, my battery was going down in a very fast tempo since the camera apparently refused to go to sleep even though I have set up the Auto Power Off option.
Thanks a lot for this tip, I had the IR option set to ON indeed. Now that it is set to OFF, all is as it should be. 

[Manoli]

Thanks for the advice.
Is there a setting preventing shutter press when the lens cap is on?

No, there isn't, AFAIK.
There is a setting to prevent shutter release w/o lens and another to prevent shutter release w/o card.
Not sure if this is applicable to the A9 series though.

Did post #11 solve the riddle ?

[mcbroomf]

As wcarlew said the IR control MUST be turned off to enable the camera to go to sleep, and you must verify it is set to turn off automatically.  However it should not wear out the battery in 2 hrs even when not asleep.

Bernard did you verify the camera was taking shots in the bag by checking the card?  How many shots did it take?  There is no way to prevent the camera from taking shots when the shutter button is pressed.

[BernardLanguillier]

Thanks a lot for the feedbacks.

I was planning to wait for my Mac to come back from hospital to check, but I did check in camera and and it turns out that not a single frame was shot while the camera was in the bag. The power drain was therefore caused by something else.

I’ll check the remote control settings. I have never used one so it should be at default value. If the default is set to on then it would explain why default power settings were not taken into account.

Cheers,
Bernard

[hogloff]

You are being disingenuous. When you use phrases like such a basic issue on the much praised Sony it certainly appears that you have a axe to grind. Any way here is a solution.

1 Carry a spare battery. They really don’t weigh much or take up much space.
2 Turn the camera off
3 Set auto power off to something like 15 minutes. That way if you forget points 2 and 3 above you should be fine. If you need the camera on constantly then set this longer or put it under your favourites in the menu or in in the function menu.

Or are you really looking for a setting on the A9’that will
Prevent you forgetting a spare battery and forgetting to turn the camera off while simultaneously packing the camera in such a way that the shutter button gets pressed? I don’t think there is a setting on the camera for that. Raise it with Sony though. They have been quite responsive. Who knows.

I always...always...always carry a spare battery and spare memory card when shooting Canon, Sony or Fuji...just because SH*T happens.

[hogloff]

You are being disingenuous. When you use phrases like such a basic issue on the much praised Sony it certainly appears that you have a axe to grind. Any way here is a solution.

Yep...noticed this as well.

[BernardLanguillier]

Yep...noticed this as well.

Why am I not surprised that a fanboy looks at the world with the eyes of a fanboy?

I have already provided feedback on this sentence that must have represented less than 1% of what I wrote.

Your decision to focus on that speaks about you more than it does about me.

For what it’s worth your answer has not been helpful.

Cheers,
Bernard

[mcbroomf]

I completely understand the issue Bernard.  With what you described even if you'd had a 2nd battery you'd have missed the shot as the battery drain was completely unexpected.

If I were in your shoes I'd run a test with the camera left on but Auto Power Off engaged and the IR setting both on and off (I expect it to be on whether you changed it or not, but either way, test it both ways).  I would monitor the battery power recheck it every hour.  I have done this exact test with my A7R3 bodies some time ago to verify the IR was the culprit on draining the battery when I inadvertently (more than once) brushed my finger against the on/off switch as I placed a camera in the bag (I always turn it off) and found the camera on and the battery drained when I expected plenty of life, but in each case this was a day or more after using the camera.  As I recall from the testing though it would have taken a good bit more than a couple of hours to drain a battery so worthwhile testing your unit and getting it fixed under warranty if it drains fast.