Battery Drain on Pixel Vertax Grip for 5D3?

[drjlo]

Another funny thing I found was that even if the grip is turned "off," the camera body turns on and still functions completely fine. I wonder if this is part of the battery drain problem.

[ChrisAnderson]

Another funny thing I found was that even if the grip is turned "off," the camera body turns on and still functions completely fine. I wonder if this is part of the battery drain problem.

This is normal behavior - the "Off" switch position just disables all the buttons on the grip, to prevent accidental presses.  On my camera, having the grip set to OFF makes the multicontroller behave normally, instead of super-sensitive when the grip is enabled.

[te4o]

I left the battery in the camera overnight, without the grip and there was no change from 100%. Haven't tried 24 hrs.

[smithy]

My grip arrived yesterday, and I'd say that there is a slight battery drain happening.  I don't think it's the end of the world though.  My main comment about the grip is that I find it quite uncomfortable to hold in the vertical position.  Since it's nearly identical to the Canon grip, I'd say it's not the fault of the Pixel grip, but more my personal preference on comfort.  A 1-series body would be a better option for me, probably.

[drjlo]

My grip arrived yesterday, and I'd say that there is a slight battery drain happening. 

Time 72 Hrs:
Battery 1 53%
Battery 2 63%

Even with almost half the batteries drained at 3 days, the battery indicator on top still shows 3 out of 4 bars, so one MUST go into "Battery Info" in menu to check the actual battery charge in order to be sure. 

[kevl]

Canon says not to store batteries in the camera or grip when the system is not in use in the manual shipped with the 5D3 because of battery drain. In fact is says to leave the batteries in for no more than 24 hours prior to a shoot.

Perhaps the drain that is been seen is excessive, but is it really an issue? If you're not going to use the camera for 5 days take the batteries out like Canon says you should.

[justsomedude]

Canon says not to store batteries in the camera or grip when the system is not in use in the manual shipped with the 5D3 because of battery drain. In fact is says to leave the batteries in for no more than 24 hours prior to a shoot.

Perhaps the drain that is been seen is excessive, but is it really an issue? If you're not going to use the camera for 5 days take the batteries out like Canon says you should.

The drain with the Pixel Vertax grip is real, and they've since acknowledged the issue.  I wrote a blog post on my site specifically about the problem and the resolution:

http://www.akphotodenver.com/pixel-vertax-bg-e11-battery-drain-issue-canon-5d3/

Pixel has fixed the problem in newer grips.  If you have a grip with the battery drain problem, simply contact them for a replacement.