Leica SL2 overheats after 33min / Battery issue (2022, Firmware 4.1)

[Paul2660]

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You can run the SL2 with an external battery like the one shown below. The camera will show a tiny power cord icon next to the battery icon on the main screen which lets you know you are running off the external cell. When the camera is powered off and the external battery is attached, you will get the blinking green light as it’s now charging. 
 

Paul 

 

 

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[Photoworks]

just to be clear the external USB-C does only a trickle charge when it is on. most of the time not enough to record and keep it going forever.

 

If you record in camera the battery goes down faster then using external recorder.

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[OleBe]

I have just order this: https://alvinscable.com/products/usb-c-5v-2a-power-cable-for-blackmagic-design-micro-converter-d-tap-to-type-c-cable-alvin-s-cables-60cm-24inches?_pos=6&_sid=ea478d62f&_ss=r

Regulated D-tap to USB-C Adapter. Will give it a go with my V-mount battery and see what it can do for the SL2-S. 

Would be the basis for my SL2-S cine rig...Power supply must be sufficient. 

[Slender]

Legend has it (i saw it only once) that if the usb-c power is the "best" one possible, then you also get a "plug" icon showing up on the top screen of the camera. In addition to the one on the back screen

(whatever that is, Leica doent say.... And the worst part is they should make a dummy battery like they did for Leica S)

[LBJ2]

3 hours ago, Slender said:

Legend has it (i saw it only once) that if the usb-c power is the "best" one possible, then you also get a "plug" icon showing up on the top screen of the camera. In addition to the one on the back screen

(whatever that is, Leica doent say.... And the worst part is they should make a dummy battery like they did for Leica S)

" ...if the usb-c power is the "best" one possible, then you also get a "plug" icon showing up on the top screen"

That's interesting, I don't think I've ever seen the plug icon on the top display on the SL2. I tried fiddling with various camera settings and so far, nada. I only see the plug icon in the rear screen and EVF since I can remember. FWIW, I'm using the RAVPower PD Pioneer 20000mAh 60W Portable Charger 2-Port Power Bank with any Apple USBC charging cable and all works as expected with the SL2 with what seems like plenty of power and fast in-camera battery charge-up. 

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[BernardC]

Check other threads. People have reported success with Anker and RAVPower batteries. You would also need a good USB cable.

6 hours ago, OleBe said:

Regulated D-tap to USB-C Adapter. Will give it a go with my V-mount battery and see what it can do for the SL2-S. 

Would be the basis for my SL2-S cine rig...Power supply must be sufficient.

Many V-mount batteries have built-in USB, as do some V-mount brackets, but they don't often support USB-PD. I use the Sigma fp with an Atomos Ninja for long-duration recording, they can both be powered from the same V-mount battery via various adapters. My V-Mount battery just has plain USB (5v 2A), along with two D-Tap connections, so it doesn't allow USB fast charging.

[LocalHero1953]

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5 hours ago, Slender said:

Legend has it (i saw it only once) that if the usb-c power is the "best" one possible, then you also get a "plug" icon showing up on the top screen of the camera. In addition to the one on the back screen

(whatever that is, Leica doent say.... And the worst part is they should make a dummy battery like they did for Leica S)

I'm in the middle of testing various USB cables and mains power adapters with my SL2-S to see how long I can record video for under different settings.

My first test was with an Amazon Kindle charger, about 10 years old, and the first USB cable I put my hands on.
The plug icon showed up on the rear LCD immediately - I didn't check the top screen.

Nevertheless the power supply was insufficient to run the video on its own. I started with a half-discharged battery, and recording stopped when the battery discharged totally. Then, irritatingly, it recharged to full again while the camera was asleep.

I am now using an Anker PD supply 45W outlet and the thickest USB cable I have (I have no idea if any of my USB cables are suitable for PD). It's been recording for exactly an hour and the battery level shows no sign of dropping from full.

Make of that what you will. 

Edited June 27, 2022 by LocalHero1953

[OleBe]

vor 42 Minuten schrieb BernardC:

Check other threads. People have reported success with Anker and RAVPower batteries. You would also need a good USB cable.

Many V-mount batteries have built-in USB, as do some V-mount brackets, but they don't often support USB-PD. I use the Sigma fp with an Atomos Ninja for long-duration recording, they can both be powered from the same V-mount battery via various adapters. My V-Mount battery just has plain USB (5v 2A), along with two D-Tap connections, so it doesn't allow USB fast charging.

Let us see how the regular output of the converter works. If it tops up, I am fine. If not the V-mount battery I use is no help anyway. Then I would need to buy a Fxlion Nano, they have build in USB-PD. That battery by the way is the one that one guy in the Leica sample video was using in his rig.

[Nico1700]

43 minutes ago, LocalHero1953 said:

I'm in the middle of testing various USB cables and mains power adapters with my SL2-S to see how long I can record video for under different settings.

My first test was with an Amazon Kindle charger, about 10 years old, and the first USB cable I put my hands on.
The plug icon showed up on the rear LCD immediately - I didn't check the top screen.

Nevertheless the power supply was insufficient to run the video on its own. I started with a half-discharged battery, and recording stopped when the battery discharged totally. Then, irritatingly, it recharged to full again while the camera was asleep.

I am now using an Anker PD supply 45W outlet and the thickest USB cable I have (I have no idea if any of my USB cables are suitable for PD). It's been recording for exactly an hour and the battery level shows no sign of dropping from full.

Make of that what you will. 

Are you recording to an SD Card? What Resolution, Framerates and Bit depth do you record`? How long can you record until the battery dies? 

[LocalHero1953]

3 hours ago, Nico1700 said:

Are you recording to an SD Card? What Resolution, Framerates and Bit depth do you record`? How long can you record until the battery dies? 

I'm not recording anything stressful: FHD, 25fps ALL-I, 10bit. It recorded for 82 minutes till the first SD card was full (128Gb Sandisk ExtremePro 300Mb/s V90 II), then stopped, with no drop in battery level. It got very slightly warm.

I had the SD cards inadvertently set to 'backup' so only one card was used.

I have previously recorded a concert with a battery that lasted 106 minutes (1080p60. .mov, ALL-I)

Edited June 27, 2022 by LocalHero1953

[LocalHero1953]

20 hours ago, LocalHero1953 said:

I am now using an Anker PD supply 45W outlet and the thickest USB cable I have (I have no idea if any of my USB cables are suitable for PD). It's been recording for exactly an hour and the battery level shows no sign of dropping from full.

With this combination, 1080p25, .mov, 10bit, All-I, L-Log, it recorded 168 mins till I filled up 2x128Gb cards. As before, the camera became only slightly warm - all over from the USB port on the left to the battery on the right. 

Doing exactly the same but with C4K. I recorded 84 minutes before running out of card space. The temperature remained much the same.

 

[LocalHero1953]

Similar tests, but using batteries rather than USB-C power:

1080p25, ,mov, 10 bit, All-I, L-Log: lasted 118 minutes before the battery gave out. Recorded 170Gb

C4K, 25fps, ,mov, 10 bit, ALL-I, L-Log: after 84 minutes it ran out of space on the SD cards (256Gb).

[OleBe]

Have received the converter today. Is charging the camera when turned off and when turned on is showing the plug icon on the display. Converter also gets warm, so it is doing something obviously.

Also checked an iPad charger and a MacBook Pro charger, they are doing exactly the same. No plug icon on the shoulder display... So assume it is working, but will need to take a longer test run to verify.

[Nico1700]

@LocalHero1953 As you can see in my first post, i have tested the FullHD 60fps ALL-I. 1 full SL2 battery lasted 1h45min and the camera didn't overheat.

The problems about overheating occured in C4k 60fps internal recording. It is also in C4k 60fps that the batteries didn't last very long. 

[LocalHero1953]

2 hours ago, Nico1700 said:

@LocalHero1953 As you can see in my first post, i have tested the FullHD 60fps ALL-I. 1 full SL2 battery lasted 1h45min and the camera didn't overheat.

The problems about overheating occured in C4k 60fps internal recording. It is also in C4k 60fps that the batteries didn't last very long. 

Yes, I realise that my tests were not as intensive as yours.

I have just run another: C4K, 50fps, L-GOP, 10bit, external power, internal recording. It ran for 174 minutes till my two 128Gb cards were full. It got warm, but not what I would call 'hot'. The battery level dropped, but did not get close to zero.

I have been recording in segmented video, manual focus, auto exposure, but just on a tripod pointing at the trees out of the window.

I'll try once more with just the internal battery.

Edited June 28, 2022 by LocalHero1953

[Nico1700]

10 minutes ago, LocalHero1953 said:

Yes, I realise that my tests were not as intensive as yours.

I have just run another: C4K, 50fps, L-GOP, 10bit, external power, internal recording. It ran for 174 minutes till my two 128Gb cards were full. It got warm, but not what I would call 'hot'. The battery level dropped, but did not get close to zero.

I have been recording in segmented video, manual focus, auto exposure, but just on a tripod pointing at the trees out of the window.

I'll try once more with just the internal battery.

That's weird. My camera would have overheated before, even though i haven't tried a 50 fps, but i guess it's close enough to 60fps to be comparable. You didn't get the overheat message? 

Thank you! i'm curious to know how it goes with the internal battery. If it is not overheating i would point the finger at my SD card

Edited June 28, 2022 by Nico1700

[LocalHero1953]

16 minutes ago, Nico1700 said:

That's weird. My camera would have overheated before, even though i haven't tried a 50 fps, but i guess it's close enough to 60fps to be comparable. You didn't get the overheat message? 

Thank you! i'm curious to know how it goes with the internal battery. If it is not overheating i would point the finger at my SD card

No message. Or rather, I only watched it every now and then to check the temperature, and it ran till it was out of SD card space.

My cards are 2x128Gb Sandisk Extreme Pro 300mb/s, V90 II.

The weather here is cool for the season - about 20C.

[LocalHero1953]

3 hours ago, Nico1700 said:

That's weird. My camera would have overheated before, even though i haven't tried a 50 fps, but i guess it's close enough to 60fps to be comparable. You didn't get the overheat message? 

Thank you! i'm curious to know how it goes with the internal battery. If it is not overheating i would point the finger at my SD card

With the internal battery and internal storage, and C4k at 50 fps, I got 95 minutes before the battery went flat - 137Gb. I wasn't around when it ended so I can't tell how hot it got, but the battery was definitely at zero.

[LocalHero1953]

As an aside, on the matter of battery life....

Last weekend I came across a professional video maker, making a short documentary about the recording of a piece of music by an orchestra and choir (I was in the latter), in a church in south London kitted out for such audio recordings.

He was set up with three Blackmagic Pocket Cinema 6K Cameras. He told me they have a battery life of 15 minutes! 
I can reliably get 80+ minutes with the SL2-S for C4K, and 40+ minutes with my Sigma fp for 4k and CinemaDNG. Which is not to say that one is better than the other, but you need to pick the kit that works for your needs. I am an amateur mainly recording musical and stage performances in random venues, so battery life is important to me. If I was making documentary-type videos with short clips, recording stamina would be less important, and other things would come to the fore.

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[Nico1700]

@LocalHero1953 shure!  I was not complaining about battery life, i was complaining about the fact that there was no possibility to run the camera by external power, but this issue has appearently been fixed by a firmware update allowing usb-pd.

If Leica would update their manuals, or adjust the specifications, we wouldn't need to talk about it, or even run all this kinds of tests.