Prevent camera from shutting down

thierrywalt

« on: 15 / March / 2009, 19:02:51 »

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I have a serious issue with my A570 IS: it's too sensitive to voltage dropping. I used CHDK, and observed that my batteries start at about 2.6 volts... Then, they start dropping very fast, and when it reaches 2.0 volts, the camera shuts down automatically, even though there is 60% charge left.

That`s awfully sad. I know the camera is supposed to work at 2.4 volts, but, isn't there any way to control it through CHDK, to stop making the camera shutting down?

I also checked the battery menu in the OSD configuration, but I am confused now... What are those "max/min" voltage settings? And the "step" size?

Can someone help me? There are no eneloops here in Brazil, and I can't stand watching my camera turning off when there still is 60% charge left...

Thank you!

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fudgey

1705
a570is

Re: Prevent camera from shutting down

« Reply #1 on: 16 / March / 2009, 17:20:56 »

There's been half a dozen threads like this recently.

In short: no, CHDK can't help in you trying to brown out the camera by making it work from lower voltages than its capable of. Yes, some models (a570 and a590 to name the top from recent posts) seem to sometimes shut down trigger happy even if CHDK tells you the batteries are at 2,4 V and the blinking battery warning icon is mightily annoying as well.

Yes, you need a different set of batteries or/and a better charger, and before that you may find help from cleaning your battery contacts.

If the batteries go below 2,0 V according to CHDK even when you know there's 60 % charge left, the batteries are not suitable for use in a digital camera even if you can still draw current from them in some other, lower current device. 1 volt per cell from a NiMH (I'm making an assumption here from your start voltage...) pretty much equals an empty cell.

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C64

Re: Prevent camera from shutting down

« Reply #2 on: 04 / August / 2009, 05:06:19 »

I was just going to ask a similar question, and I see others have this problem too.

Mine is even worse: I have a A460, which shuts down the camera at 2.3 V or around that value. So there is still no alternative to this issue apart from buying a new set of batteries?
The most annoying part for me is not the blinking red battery icon at all... it's the lack of such a warning in advance (or sufficiently in advance - such as it is with mobile phones). Sometimes the camera would just shut down without any warning, in the middle of taking a picture, or wading through the menus.