SL3 Battery Drain When Off

[crf59]

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Hi folks,

I've had my SL3 for 3 months and absolutely love it. Best of all worlds in my opinion.

One issue I discovered recently is battery drain when the camera is off. I don't mean in sleep mode, I mean fully off. I had used the camera 3 weeks ago, put it away and today discovered the battery was completely drained. When put away the battery was >90%. 

Is there a background process going on? Has anyone else experienced this? I've had this problem with other brands I own, but not for any of my other Leicas (M11, SL2, SL2-S, M10-P).

[Ken Abrahams]

I was going to suggest that the GPS may have caused the drain but thought I would leave the replies to other members here. It's worth a check to see how the GPS in Fotos is configured as this is the only thing "still on" when you shut down the camera. I have had a couple of glitches with SL3 and SL2S cameras however all is working well now. One camera when switching off did not go off all the way and instead a feint glow in the top screen after the mechanical off was activated (SL2S) The SL3 also had a glitch at first but that has gone now. I do however watch for the top screen after shutting down cameras and if screen remains glowing I will pull the battery. I have both SL3 and SL2s configured for Fotos app and when I am out shooting with both cameras they are connected to Fotos and the GPS is flawless now. The SL2S seemed to settle into its configuration in Fotos "Always on" setting. 

[GFW2-SCUSA]

I have the phantom battery drain on my SL2 also. I was wondering if popping the battery out when leaving it for a while would be a solution. Then I wondered if there is some need for the battery to be in for some reason. I wasn't thinking of taking it all the way out, just the first pop. Any thoughts??

[KenTanaka]

Disabling all connectivity (WiFi, etc.) should greatly curtail the battery drain.  The radios in cameras can draw considerable power particularly when they detect weak signal. I do no use any RF connectivity in my Leica cameras and have not experienced the steeping-ish idle drain with my SL3, although I can say that I’ve experienced similar drain with other cameras when I’ve left the radios active.  Hope this helps.

[crf59]

I'm going to try checking settings in the camera for GPS/WiFi. I'm also experimenting with swapping batteries and seeing how long it takes to drain to 50%. We'll see. Otherwise I love the SL3. The IQ from my M11 is great and I thought would be unbeatable. But honestly the SL3 has all that IQ and more. 

[T25UFO]

As advised in another thread:

> Fotos > Connectivity.  You then have three options.

> Performance mode: bluetooth and wi-fi permanently activated.  Most power hungry, shortest battery life.

> Eco mode: bluetooth permanently activated, but wi-fi enabled only during file transfer.  Some battery drain.

> Off (aka airplane mode): all radio frequency connections deactivated.  Longest battery life.

[billhart]

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I too used my SL3 about a month ago and when I turned it on the battery was completely drained. The battery is the new one I got with the SL3.  I have the new firmware and I don't use the GPS (Fotos). Can I pop my battery out (first click only) and will that cause the settings to erase?