SL2 C4K Frustrating Low Battery PROBLEM!

[bpLeica]

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I've had a very embarrassing problem recently using the SL2 as a B-Roll Camera. Hoping for some input from this group.

Setup:

Shooting Talking Heads.

SL2-S on C4k L-Log as the main camera

SL2 on C4k L-Log as the B-Roll.

SL2-S working flawlessly without a glitch. (Other than the constantly hunting autofocus that is always set on Manual! Even can't keep focus on a still, talking head)

SL2 has full battery with a strong Powerbank connected to the camera. It works for the first 20 or so minutes of continuous recording then the problems start. Battery level still at above 80% it now constantly stops recording with the Low battery for 4K recording message. After a lot of trial and error, only after leaving it off for 30 minutes, it does another 10 minutes before the same error comes up again and still with over 80% battery level with a power bank connected.

Latest 6.0 firmware. No overheating issues or warning on camera.

The important interview turned into a fiasco with all the interruptions.  ** NOTE: on previous firmware and similar setup, I shot an entire feature-length documentary without any incident!!

swapped batteries, turned off IBIS and Autofocus (of course) no fix.

Has anyone else encountered this issue? Is this a FW6.0 problem?

I'm scared to use this camera for video now.

.... 

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[stephenmick]

I can't add much to this, other than to say I can perform a test tomorrow with my SL2 and SL2-S (with the latest firmwares) to see if I can recreate your issue. I'll report back with results.

Let me know what exact framerate and video settings you were using so I can accurately test. 

Edited August 4, 2024 by stephenmick

[Photoworks]

THink is nothing new. 
To remedy the issue Leica came out with a new battery with 20% more capacity. they are the same batteries in the Q3, SL3.

The real issue is that the camera consumes more power under 4K video than the battery can offer. 
The initial solution was to add a Powerbank with PD to the USB-C connection, which delivers a trickle charge to the main battery.

However many cables and powerbanks did not deliver the same results, Leaving many people to a testing and guessing game.

Solution:

Get the Leica SL dummy battery and a USB cable to a 99w battery, you can run it for 2h without any issues until overheating becomes a problem.

[LocalHero1953]

I don’t have a SL2, but regularly record long videos at C4K on the SL2-S without problems, either using the battery on its own, till it dies (which it does, as expected, after about 50 mins IIRC) but more often with a USB power supply from a wall socket. Again, with no problems. 

Where I did encounter problems was when tried to power the camera via USB from a hub. It just wouldn’t charge. I concluded the hub was trying to deliver using Power Delivery protocols, which the camera could not handle. 

i tell my experience not because it is obviously related to yours, but to suggest it might be worth testing without the power bank (but with a USB connection to a simple wall socket) and see if that helps at all. 

[bpLeica]

20 hours ago, stephenmick said:

I can't add much to this, other than to say I can perform a test tomorrow with my SL2 and SL2-S (with the latest firmwares) to see if I can recreate your issue. I'll report back with results.

Let me know what exact framerate and video settings you were using so I can accurately test. 

Thank you stephenmick, I am in C4K L-Log All I @24pfs nothing special.

[stephenmick]

9 minutes ago, bpLeica said:

Thank you stephenmick, I am in C4K L-Log All I @24pfs nothing special.

Okay, I'll test and report back. 

[bpLeica]

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Thank you folks for your input and feedback. From these notes, it seems like the current Firmware of the SL2 is no longer useful to use unless you are plugged in!!??

I am baffled as between 2021 and 2023 I shot a documentary (on whatever FW was on at that time) and the only limitation was the battery reaching around 25% capacity before this error would pop up. There was never an overheating issue with my SL2. I can say the camera was used exclusively with batteries and heavy use throughout long days of shooting.

I suspect three issues. ** Given my history with this specific camera, I'm sure that the SL2 is capable of shooting L-Log, C4K @24fps for long durations up to the 25% battery limitation. This was tried and tested. So there are 3 possibilities in my mind;

1-  MOST LIKELY, FW 6.0 has screwed something up and there is no one else except me using this camera under these conditions!!??

2- The batteries that are a couple of years old have been depleted in capacity. Very unlikely as they have been maintained, the same set of four batteries rotate between my SL2-S and SL2 and the former has no problems with battery capacity. 

3- and I am really stretching it; it might have something to do with using a non-Leica lens (in this case Panasonic 70-200/2.8) where the other camera (SL2-S) is using native Leica Sl Lens (24-90). Now given the uselessness of the Leica autofocusing even with talking heads, I have everything in Manual focus.

*** ONE MORE IMPORTANT NOTE: This does't happen right away. in this recent shoot, the camera worked normally with the first two or three takes were above 15 minutes each and suddenly the camera started acting up with not enough juice in battery for 4k recording but the battery had just a sliver reduced in the display (I guess around 85%) and a tried and tested powerbank was connected to the camera.

Edited August 5, 2024 by bpLeica

[stephenmick]

Okay, so here's my semi-scientific test results…

Both the SL2 and SL2-S were set to .MOV / C4K / 24FPS / ALL-I. 

Both cameras set to manual exposure, manual focus, IBIS off.

Both cameras using fully-charged Leica BC-SCL4 (original flavor) batteries. 

SL2 used with Leica 24-90mm lens.

SL2-S used with Leica 35mm APO Summicron-SL lens.

Both cameras were recording to identical SanDisk Extreme Pro 256GB SD cards. (New cards, bought about a month ago from a reputable seller.)

 

SL2:  Recording stopped at 1h10m21s due to “Battery Power not sufficient for 4K recording and continuous shooting.”

 

SL2-S:  Recording stopped at 1h25m when card ran out of space.

 

Now, based on the tech differences between the SL2 and the S, this makes sense. But I can't quite figure out why you're having this issue. My only thought is that perhaps it's something between the power bank and the camera, and how it tries to feed power to the battery? 

I can try additional testing tomorrow with an old power bank I have laying around, if that would help. 

[Photoworks]

Power banks don't deliver enough Battery to keep the battery charged unless you have the SL3

If you want to use the external power use the Leica DC-SCL6

3rd party lenses use more power, especially Sigma lenses and adapters.

[stephenmick]

3 minutes ago, Photoworks said:

Power banks don't deliver enough Battery to keep the battery charged unless you have the SL3

If you want to use the external power use the Leica DC-SCL6

3rd party lenses use more power, especially Sigma lenses and adapters.

The OP says he has been able to film this way in the past. So the question is…what has changed?

[bpLeica]

4 hours ago, stephenmick said:

Okay, so here's my semi-scientific test results…

Both the SL2 and SL2-S were set to .MOV / C4K / 24FPS / ALL-I. 

Both cameras set to manual exposure, manual focus, IBIS off.

Both cameras using fully-charged Leica BC-SCL4 (original flavor) batteries. 

SL2 used with Leica 24-90mm lens.

SL2-S used with Leica 35mm APO Summicron-SL lens.

Both cameras were recording to identical SanDisk Extreme Pro 256GB SD cards. (New cards, bought about a month ago from a reputable seller.)

 

SL2:  Recording stopped at 1h10m21s due to “Battery Power not sufficient for 4K recording and continuous shooting.”

 

SL2-S:  Recording stopped at 1h25m when card ran out of space.

 

Now, based on the tech differences between the SL2 and the S, this makes sense. But I can't quite figure out why you're having this issue. My only thought is that perhaps it's something between the power bank and the camera, and how it tries to feed power to the battery? 

I can try additional testing tomorrow with an old power bank I have laying around, if that would help. 

Thank you very much @stephenmick for your thorough follow through. in my case it wouldn't even go beyond 15 minutes and once it got started with the error it wouldn't go behind a couple of minutes before giving the error.

The only difference between my setup is that I am using the Panasonic 70-100/2.8 (with latest lens FW) and you are using a native SL lens.

ALSO: I didn't use the power bank before the problem began and in the middle of a sensitive interview, I scrambled with adding the power bank and it stayed on throughout. 

The only remedy was to leave the camera off for 30 minutes (fortunately we were on the last take) and it gave me another 12 or so minutes before starting again. 

Please confirm if you are using FW6.0.

Of course it is of no use because my setup needs to be mobile but I will run a few tests with a powerful 100w direct mains outlet connected to the camera and see what happens. 

AGAIN, I can confirm that with previous FW I shot very lengthy and difficult shoots with the same setup and the battery would go all the way to below half capacity (at least) before giving error.

I remain of the opinion that this has something to do with FW6.0 but no way to prove it. of course the 70-200 might also be the culprit. I will run a test using native Leica lens.

thanks again... 

Edited August 5, 2024 by bpLeica

[robb]

Absolutely Same issue as OP.

i use two sl2-s cameras as A and B camera without any issues.  I have gone an hour without stopping and I always love the results.

I add one or two sl2 cameras as C or D cameras but had the same issues with you.  You can have an almost full battery and still get the stupid “not sufficient battery to continue 4k shooting”

So i basically can only record 15 min with a new battery on the sl2

leica does not seem able to fix this issue as they have tried in multiple firmware updates.

i wish they would let the firmware designer for the sl2-s just take over the sl2 firmware designers job…

i will never treat it as a video camera and will just use it for what its great at… stills and multishot.

otherwise sl2-s all the way for cine

Robb

[Geoff C. Bassett]

Just get the DC-SCL6 and bypass the power issues. The SL2 has always had power issues, even in photos with specific lenses. Just go around these issues with the dummy battery.

[robb]

I have two grips.  But I don’t typically use them for video.  I don’t have the continuous shooting error when using the grip and second battery so yeah that’s a workaround.  If I HAVE to use the grip, then I have to get another plate for the tripod and it weighs more in the bag.
 

and I am not planning on plugging in a power cord to use this camera.  Nor am I plugging in a car sized battery…

just trying to figure out why we are having the exact same problems and StephenMick doesn’t have the issue.

but if we are on the latest firmware, this was supposedly solved by Leica.

Robb

 

[LocalHero1953]

@bpLeica as an elimination test, have you tried the SL2 with a native lens? Though since @robb has found the same problem, I'm not optimistic.

[stephenmick]

9 hours ago, bpLeica said:

Thank you very much @stephenmick for your thorough follow through. in my case it wouldn't even go beyond 15 minutes and once it got started with the error it wouldn't go behind a couple of minutes before giving the error.

The only difference between my setup is that I am using the Panasonic 70-100/2.8 (with latest lens FW) and you are using a native SL lens.

ALSO: I didn't use the power bank before the problem began and in the middle of a sensitive interview, I scrambled with adding the power bank and it stayed on throughout. 

The only remedy was to leave the camera off for 30 minutes (fortunately we were on the last take) and it gave me another 12 or so minutes before starting again. 

Please confirm if you are using FW6.0.

Of course it is of no use because my setup needs to be mobile but I will run a few tests with a powerful 100w direct mains outlet connected to the camera and see what happens. 

AGAIN, I can confirm that with previous FW I shot very lengthy and difficult shoots with the same setup and the battery would go all the way to below half capacity (at least) before giving error.

I remain of the opinion that this has something to do with FW6.0 but no way to prove it. of course the 70-200 might also be the culprit. I will run a test using native Leica lens.

thanks again... 

Confirming that BOTH the SL2 and SL2-S have the latest firmware 6.0.0 installed. 

[jaapv]

The Sigma 70-200 is quite power-hungry as it has dual AF motors. Maybe the camera misreads the power consumption 

[LBJ2]

19 hours ago, stephenmick said:

Okay, so here's my semi-scientific test results…

Both the SL2 and SL2-S were set to .MOV / C4K / 24FPS / ALL-I. 

Both cameras set to manual exposure, manual focus, IBIS off.

Both cameras using fully-charged Leica BC-SCL4 (original flavor) batteries. 

SL2 used with Leica 24-90mm lens.

SL2-S used with Leica 35mm APO Summicron-SL lens.

Both cameras were recording to identical SanDisk Extreme Pro 256GB SD cards. (New cards, bought about a month ago from a reputable seller.)

 

SL2:  Recording stopped at 1h10m21s due to “Battery Power not sufficient for 4K recording and continuous shooting.”

 

SL2-S:  Recording stopped at 1h25m when card ran out of space.

 

Now, based on the tech differences between the SL2 and the S, this makes sense. But I can't quite figure out why you're having this issue. My only thought is that perhaps it's something between the power bank and the camera, and how it tries to feed power to the battery? 

I can try additional testing tomorrow with an old power bank I have laying around, if that would help. 

 

On 8/4/2024 at 2:25 PM, bpLeica said:

I've had a very embarrassing problem recently using the SL2 as a B-Roll Camera. Hoping for some input from this group.

Setup:

Shooting Talking Heads.

SL2-S on C4k L-Log as the main camera

SL2 on C4k L-Log as the B-Roll.

SL2-S working flawlessly without a glitch. (Other than the constantly hunting autofocus that is always set on Manual! Even can't keep focus on a still, talking head)

SL2 has full battery with a strong Powerbank connected to the camera. It works for the first 20 or so minutes of continuous recording then the problems start. Battery level still at above 80% it now constantly stops recording with the Low battery for 4K recording message. After a lot of trial and error, only after leaving it off for 30 minutes, it does another 10 minutes before the same error comes up again and still with over 80% battery level with a power bank connected.

Latest 6.0 firmware. No overheating issues or warning on camera.

The important interview turned into a fiasco with all the interruptions.  ** NOTE: on previous firmware and similar setup, I shot an entire feature-length documentary without any incident!!

swapped batteries, turned off IBIS and Autofocus (of course) no fix.

Has anyone else encountered this issue? Is this a FW6.0 problem?

I'm scared to use this camera for video now.

.... 

I don't use the SL2 for video, but after reading OPs issues, thought I would test the SL2 + Leica SL 35 APO. The results of one basic video test:

-SL2 v6.0.0 and SL 35 APO v4.0

-Using @stephenmick settings: .MOV / C4K / 24FPS / ALL-I,  manual exposure, manual focus, IBIS off

-Recording to 128GB Sony Tough UHS-II V90 SD card

-Fully-charged Leica BC-SCL4 but has been sitting for several weeks--so maybe a few percentage less than fully charged

-Recording stopped at 1h04m52s due to “Battery Power not sufficient for 4K recording and continuous shooting.”

*Previous to the power management fix/enhancement via SL2 firmware update, I did experience the original SL2 "Battery power not sufficient for continuous shooting" with all my Leica SL APO primes lenses at about the 20% battery level. 

Edited August 6, 2024 by LBJ2

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[Photoworks]

I did a test with 2 SL2 with Panasonic prime lenses and SL3 with sigma zoom. Just to test different lenses.

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The results look inconclusive every camera stopped at 1/2 battery power for high temperatures.

SL2 did 34 min

SL3 did 59min

The temperature in NY today is 90 F and 33C

 

[LBJ2]

38 minutes ago, Photoworks said:

I did a test with 2 SL2 with Panasonic prime lenses and SL3 with sigma zoom. Just to test different lenses.The results look inconclusive every camera stopped at 1/2 battery power for high temperatures.

SL2 did 34 min

SL3 did 59minThe temperature in NY today is 90 F and 33C

 

Interesting test set up. Nice touch with the iPad display. Good point about ambient temp too. I tested about 25C or about 77F ambient, something I should have mentioned.

Currently setting up another few SL2 video tests to include in-camera battery supported by USBC PB charging to the camera ( similar to OP I think) , but I don't have any non Leica Lmount lenses to test. I also want to do the same test I performed above but this time with the Leica BC-SCL6 battery and compare to my results above from the Leica BC-SCL4.

Edited August 6, 2024 by LBJ2