Take Battery out prior to storing

[Bill Thesken]

Holy Cow
When I put the camera in the watertight travel case for the night, it must have switched to VCR Play.
Lucky thing I got it out to download the footage I took 1.5 hours prior.
It was on and very hot. I guess there's no 'auto power off' as in the Tv,Av,M etc modes.
I will from now on take out the battery prior to storing in the case.
Take care

[Bill Watson]

Good point. I didn't realise that either.

Something to watch out for.

[Bill Thesken]

And I always double triple check to make sure it's off before I put it in the case.
It sets snug in the cut out foam, and when I nestled it in there the switch must have turned.

[Tripp Woelfel]

The key to the original question is what does "auto power off" really mean? The camera will power down in both Tv and M modes. I know that from personal experience. But does it shut the power all the way off? Apparently not. Switching the camera to standby using the switch adjacent to the record button does. Or at least uses a much lower power state.

I never use the rotary dial to turn the camera off. Just the standby switch. I will occasionally leave the camera in standby mode overnight with the battery still in the camera after a late night shoot. No heat problems.

That said, it is always a good idea to remove the battery from your A1, or any camera or camcorder when not in use. Many of these will use minute amounts of current even when switched off. It can lead to nasty surprises. I don't know for sure if the A1 does this, but I prefer to err on the side of caution.

[Allan Black]

Guys here's another view. If you use A1 standby when putting the cam away, the tape and springs are still tensioned around the head and guides in the transport. I don't do that for that reason.

My A1 fits snugly in the Pelican 1510, I always double check it's switched off before putting it away. If it's set in PLay, I even flip the lid up and hit stop first, old habits die hard :)

With multiple batteries for my cams I always leave a battery attached to make sure the cams internal battery maintains its charge to keep the menu settings intact.

The A1 manual says the internal battery will last for 3 months BUT if you use the camera for only short times it will discharge completely. Also my experience is their capacity decreases after a couple of years. HTH.

Cheers.

[Nicholas de Kock]

Happened to me a few times at home, the VCR mode is not in your face, easily missed.

[Tim Ribich]

Originally Posted by Bill Thesken

I will from now on take out the battery prior to storing in the case.
Take care

Good advice, thanks for the tip.

Also, I expect the vets here do this routinely, but a Canon support guy reminded me to always take the tape out as well when not in use for prolonged periods.

[David Sands]

I opened my case to a very hot Sony a few years back. Now the battery and tape both come out before storing.

It's easy to become complacent after a long day of shooting and just put away the camera without stripping it. Thanks for the reminder to do so.

[Bill Thesken]

Hmmm, never thought to take the tape out also. Thanks for the tip.

[Jeff Kellam]

This thread got me thinking.

Maybe I shouldn't get a case!

I just leave the whole thing on the tripod & throw it in the car.

[Douglas Joseph]

Good idea, Jeff! My friend once lost his bag to his XL2 and had to seatbelt it in.

[Jeff Kellam]

Of course I do have a couple bags. But, what I have found myself using a lot lately are some 18" X 24" ziplock bags (from McMaster Carr) for some trips.

I shoot a lot of beach and water stuff and you really can't take the normal bag to these shoots and put them down in the sand or you track sand all over the place.

The A1 fits easily into the ziplock bag and it laps over one time and you can seal it. You then have pretty good sand and water protection and put the bag in a pocket while shooting.

This size bag also fits over the cam while on the tripod really well to temporarily shield it between shots.