A thin strip of tape over the center tab on the battery works well. But it MUST BE REMOVED every time you charge it,or the battery will explode in the charger from being overcharged. The center tab is what the charger uses as a sensor to know when to cut of charging. Then simply replace the tape and reinstall it again.

I bought the sx280 last April and it is the very last canon item I shall ever consider! I'm even more disgruntled after viewing your video and learning that the firmware fix which doesn't resolve the battery issue may have even degraded my overall performance, that's even worse ... How could canon not have realized in testing that the processor required a more powerful battery?! Simply unbelievable!

Get a replacement camera thanks to Canon. Check out the Product Advisory detail they have on the Canon site about the Canon SX280 HS. It will be available until 2019. The advisory came out in Jan 2015, but I just found out about it today!!

I've also heard you can put a small piece of element paper inside the battery compartment on top of the battery and it will solve the problem your talking about.

Battery light / Failure fixed !! Hi there, I bought this great camera 2nd hand. Same battery problem and tried the tape over the middle contact - worked well but the camera started getting really hot on continuous video mode.(Also the battery life indicator disappeared). Realised that it was the middle contact in the camera body itself may not be contacting the battery properly so I gently prised it up a little with a flat jewellers screwdriver and the problem is fixed - battery lasts for ages and no shutdown of flashing at all!! Try and post back to see if you it works for you!!

I love that you waited to try the new battery until you filmed it for us. I would contact Canon about that issue. Thats almost false advertising on their part and they should be obligated to make it right. I know when I had an issue with my PowerShot, they ended upmsending me a voucher form $100.

The strange thing is if you look on the bottom of the camera it is rated at 4.3 volts and the batteries are 3.7 volts. I'm wondering if it could run off of an external 5V usb power bank with the right adapter... or is that TOO much voltage.

Here is possible solution of this problem: Canon Powershot SX-280 HS Akku Batterie Anzeige Battery Indikator Problem gelöst , Tutorial I don't understand German, but everything in the video is quite clear.

I kind of fixed it. I can record for a longer period on the powershot sx270HS i put a small piece of paper on the battery, between the battery and the battery hood. Im sorry for my English. Im dutch. But i went from 1.min filming to 3.50 min without any battery low indicarion.

It's a firmware issue. The update is available on the Canon website

I already have the 1600mAh battery, but I came here looking for a fix because it hasn't worked in my case. I returned my camera to Canon for repair under warrantee. They changed a part and sent it back. It still has the same fault. This is the second canon camera I've owned, and both had major issues. I bought the SX280 specifically for the video capability. I will never ever buy another canon, and neither will my husband, who has the same model (and the same battery issue)!

My camera is new and still there is this problem. I've read I would not need the update if the 6th number of the serial number is higher than 2 (mine is 4), but that seems not be what it is. I have also bought an extra battery, and have tried your trick with the original battery, and it works. But I'm afraid of the damage it may cause to the camera when reading some of the comments...

I have similar problems also while taking pictures. somtimes the camera refuses to start licking on the battery contacts helps always.So there is hardly any pressure on the contacs. I think the problem is bad contact between battery and camera. You can feel it by pressing the battery in the camera while holding the hook aside. The moment you can feel the battery touches the contacts ,the hook can already come in. . The battery should press the cameracontacts 1 mm that would be enough I think the problem is over. A tape between battery and the hook that fixes the battery could help I am going to test that.

But this is so true with this camera! It's so difficult to work, especially that it does die in the middle of recording!!

Turn the GPS crap off also.

How much longer would you say the larger battery would last.... say for just taking pictures. IE: if the original battery could take 300 pictures ... could the bigger battery take 5 or 600.?? thanks in advance.

The solution is to ignore the battery indicator. Seriously. And carry a spare battery. I think those battery indicators are calibrated for disposable Alkaline batteries which run at a slightly higher voltage than rechargeables. I have an older Canon that uses AA batteries - when I run NiMH rechargables, which Canon recommends, the battery indicator starts flashing when the battery is less than half discharged. Annoying but not a show stopper until the camera stops working. At that point switch batteries. No big deal - takes maybe 30 seconds.

Canon has released an advisory for this camera model. www.dpreview.com/articles/1971197249/canon-advises-powershot-owners-of-potential-battery-problem

nice (but sad) video. however, my problem is different: brand new, sometimes does not turn on! any ideas?

Taping the middle contact of the battery works , went from 45 seconds before the 'change battery' notice to over 10 minutes WITH THE SAME BATTERY without charging the battery again

One of the many reasons never to buy a Canon.

same issues with mine

did you update the camera