Seeking 1D(S) Mark III owners experience with using new battery LP-E4N

[kasperj]

I recently bought the LP-E4N battery pack to replace the original (LP-E4) I got with the 1DS Mark III. According to Canon, this new battery pack is compatible with the 1D Mark III and IV cameras models:

http://www.learn.usa.canon.com/resources/articles/2013/lp-e4n_battery_pack.shtml

I would like to hear from people that are using this battery with these cameras if anyone have experienced the same issue that I am having. I have bought 2 LPE-4N's (new, manufactured in July 2012), and with both batteries the camera will occasionally lock-up. The power will stay on, but the camera is completely freezed and the only way to shot it down is to pull out the battery.When I the insert the battery again it will work as normal for a while. I have had never experienced a similar issue with the LP-E4.

The issue happens sporadically and appears to be completely erratic, at least I have no idea what causes it and I can't reproduce it at will. I have tried different shooting modes (one-shot and AI servo) and drive modes and even lenses.

I made a complete calibration and recharge of the batteries when I bought them on my LC-E4 charger. I am starting to wonder if issue with the new battery pack could somehow be caused by the higher capacity or safety changes to comply with the Japanese standards... At this point it seems to me that it must be a compatibility issue with the new battery, as I have never experienced any issue with my original LP-E4.

Thanks in advance for your feedback to anyone using this camera/battery combination!

 

[charlesa]

Using the LP-e4N interchangeably between the 1DS III and the 1DX. No issues to report up till now.

 

[eml58]

I recently bought the LP-E4N battery pack to replace the original (LP-E4) I got with the 1DS Mark III. According to Canon, this new battery pack is compatible with the 1D Mark III and IV cameras models:

http://www.learn.usa.canon.com/resources/articles/2013/lp-e4n_battery_pack.shtml

I would like to hear from people that are using this battery with these cameras if anyone have experienced the same issue that I am having. I have bought 2 LPE-4N's (new, manufactured in July 2012), and with both batteries the camera will occasionally lock-up. The power will stay on, but the camera is completely freezed and the only way to shot it down is to pull out the battery.When I the insert the battery again it will work as normal for a while. I have had never experienced a similar issue with the LP-E4.

The issue happens sporadically and appears to be completely erratic, at least I have no idea what causes it and I can't reproduce it at will. I have tried different shooting modes (one-shot and AI servo) and drive modes and even lenses.

I made a complete calibration and recharge of the batteries when I bought them on my LC-E4 charger. I am starting to wonder if issue with the new battery pack could somehow be caused by the higher capacity or safety changes to comply with the Japanese standards... At this point it seems to me that it must be a compatibility issue with the new battery, as I have never experienced any issue with my original LP-E4.

Thanks in advance for your feedback to anyone using this camera/battery combination!

Interesting, I had this exact issue in March 2013 on Safari in South Africa, 2 x 1Dx Bodies, both with LPE-4n Batteries, and one of the 1Dx units kept locking up as you described, had to remove the Battery to unfreeze the Camera, problem persisted for about 4 or 5 times, then went away, hasn't come back, so who knows, I've not had the issue with the 2nd 1Dx Body, and I'm now using the same Battery in my 1DMK IV, no issues.

 

[kasperj]

Thank you to those who chimed into this thread with their points and suggestions.

In the mean time I have further tested the LP-E4N's and am pleased to report that the lock-ups/freezes I experienced appears to be a thing of the past after a few more days of extensive usage and recharging the batteries on my LE-E4 charger

Whilst I cannot say that I have identified the culprit of the issue with any certainty, I suspect it is the batteries higher capacity which the LP-E4 charger doesn't support that may have caused the camera to freeze initially. oh well....

 

[jrista]

Using the LP-e4N interchangeably between the 1DS III and the 1DX. No issues to report up till now.

Up "till" now or up "through" now? Saying "till" now makes it sound as though you did encounter an issue, as till intrinsically means "to the end of"...it has a finality about it by definition. "Through now" means that you are experiencing ongoing interchangeability without issue.... Did you eventually encounter an issue?

 

[privatebydesign]

Using the LP-e4N interchangeably between the 1DS III and the 1DX. No issues to report up till now.

Up "till" now or up "through" now? Saying "till" now makes it sound as though you did encounter an issue, as till intrinsically means "to the end of"...it has a finality about it by definition. "Through now" means that you are experiencing ongoing interchangeability without issue.... Did you eventually encounter an issue?

Not where I come from. Everybody I grew up with would say and understand "up 'til now" the 'til being used with an apostrophe for until. However not one person would say "through now" but then I am from the UK and that might make a difference.

 

[eml58]

Using the LP-e4N interchangeably between the 1DS III and the 1DX. No issues to report up till now.

Up "till" now or up "through" now? Saying "till" now makes it sound as though you did encounter an issue, as till intrinsically means "to the end of"...it has a finality about it by definition. "Through now" means that you are experiencing ongoing interchangeability without issue.... Did you eventually encounter an issue?

Not where I come from. Everybody I grew up with would say and understand "up 'til now" the 'til being used with an apostrophe for until. However not one person would say "through now" but then I am from the UK and that might make a difference.

Yep, "up 'till now" sounds like where I grew up, Maybe the Op is an Aussie, either way, totally understood what he was asking, I think the issue was his Battery problem, not his grammar.

 

[eml58]

Thank you to those who chimed into this thread with their points and suggestions.

In the mean time I have further tested the LP-E4N's and am pleased to report that the lock-ups/freezes I experienced appears to be a thing of the past after a few more days of extensive usage and recharging the batteries on my LE-E4 charger

Whilst I cannot say that I have identified the culprit of the issue with any certainty, I suspect it is the batteries higher capacity which the LP-E4 charger doesn't support that may have caused the camera to freeze initially. oh well....

And I think you may have the issue covered here, I remember that when I removed the Battery initially it didn't resolve the "Freeze" but when I replaced the Battery with a newly charged one, the issue went away. When I checked what chargers I had taken with me I had inadvertently taken a Charger for the LP-E4n (1Dx) and the other was for the LP-E4 (1DMK IV), So it's likely a Charger issue and seems to be resolved if you only use the Charger for the LP-E4n for Both Batteries.

 

[jrista]

Using the LP-e4N interchangeably between the 1DS III and the 1DX. No issues to report up till now.

Up "till" now or up "through" now? Saying "till" now makes it sound as though you did encounter an issue, as till intrinsically means "to the end of"...it has a finality about it by definition. "Through now" means that you are experiencing ongoing interchangeability without issue.... Did you eventually encounter an issue?

Not where I come from. Everybody I grew up with would say and understand "up 'til now" the 'til being used with an apostrophe for until. However not one person would say "through now" but then I am from the UK and that might make a difference.

Hmm, strange. Sad how grammar and spelling have fallen off a cliff:

Definition of until (conj)
Bing Dictionary
un·til [ un tíl ]
up to time: up to a time or event, --> but not afterward <--!!
before: before a time or event <--!!

I've added the arrows here. The definition quite explicitly states "but not afterward". Until and till are synonyms, they mean the same thing, so dropping an l and adding an apostrophe doesn't really change anything. I've always understood the word "until" or "till" to have a finality to it...to mean: Up to that point case A, beyond which case B. Anyway...I think my question was legitimate given the context, spelling, and grammar, and the official definition of the words in question. ;P

 

[charlesa]

Up till now means to this very minute, been using the combination and never had issues.

 

[privatebydesign]

"Hmm, strange. Sad how grammar and spelling have fallen off a cliff:"

Only if you are unfamiliar with a very long standing colloquialism that is perfectly understood by large swathes of the native English speakers world wide and confuse the difference between colloquialisms and standards, to us your "through now" makes no sense and "Hmm, strange." is very far from a grammatically correct sentence.

But somebody as eloquent as yourself should be able to ask a follow up clarification considerably less confrontationally than you did, we recently lost a very active and interesting member due to the grammar and spelling police. This is an international forum where we predominantly communicate in English, but no set regional variation of English, for many involved here English is a second or third language, we are poorer for it if we fail to make allowances for that, along with the colloquialisms, dialects, slang, and different levels of experience, education and understanding of English we encounter, and that all ignores the ever growing issues of input devices "intelligent" auto corrects!

 

[jrista]

"Hmm, strange. Sad how grammar and spelling have fallen off a cliff:"

Only if you are unfamiliar with a very long standing colloquialism that is perfectly understood by large swathes of the native English speakers world wide and confuse the difference between colloquialisms and standards, to us your "through now" makes no sense and "Hmm, strange." is very far from a grammatically correct sentence.

But somebody as eloquent as yourself should be able to ask a follow up clarification considerably less confrontationally than you did, we recently lost a very active and interesting member due to the grammar and spelling police. This is an international forum where we predominantly communicate in English, but no set regional variation of English, for many involved here English is a second or third language, we are poorer for it if we fail to make allowances for that, along with the colloquialisms, dialects, slang, and different levels of experience, education and understanding of English we encounter, and that all ignores the ever growing issues of input devices "intelligent" auto corrects!

Yikes. Wasn't trying to be rude...just accurate.

I've worked more often with people who are fairly prescriptive in their use of language (particularly Indian software engineers who are not native speakers), so I don't deal with colloquialisms all that often. A precise use of language can be important to getting the correct point across, ESPECIALLY in diverse groups with international speakers who don't use English as a first language (something I've had to do frequently during the last several years of my job.)

In my experience, colloquialisms, slang, and a lack of knowledge about the actual meaning and proper usage of words has diminished language, particularly English. I honestly find it sad how frequently I come across blatantly incorrect use of words and grammar (and I'm not saying charlesa's use of 'till' was blatantly wrong...it wasn't, it just left me a little confused), when it is clearly the result of a misunderstanding about what a word really means or how the language works. People also frequently misspell words as they phonetically work them out in their minds along with misunderstanding them. That indicates they have likely never been taught the word, never looked up its meaning, and picked up what they thought it meant from some other individual who likely incorrectly used the word in an improper context. I honestly find that to be a SAD state of affairs, when so many people don't know the true meanings of the words they use (and we aren't talking a few here and there...were talking tens of thousands, if not millions, of people who natively speak English...facebook, youtube, etc. have countless examples.)

I actually BLAME spellcheckers, abbreviated text messaging and the like for dulling the average American's ability to communicate or even understand what the words they use mean and might potentially communicate in conflict with their intentions. That isn't the only reason English spelling and grammar for native speakers has become so poor, though. There is definitely a lack of education or poor educational techniques involved, which is why it's so sad. It just demonstrates the decline of America and the American people (and no, I'm not talking about classic differences in spelling between American and British use of English words...color/colour don't bother me.) In all seriousness, people should know and understand their language in totality, there shouldn't be so much room for misinterpretation or misuse; there shouldn't be such a lack of knowledge and understanding.



I have no problem with people who are clearly not native speakers of English, I understand their difficulties. I don't believe charlesa has any such problem, their English is fine, outside of having the potential to be misunderstood. In my understanding, the use of the word until means to this moment, yet quite explicitly NOT after this moment. Replacing "until" with "to" or "through" eliminates the finality of until, meaning the state of things to or through the current moment continues. If that is still confusing, or you feel that is still incorrect, then a better alternative would have been "so far":

"I have been using the LP-e4N interchangeably between the 1DS III and the 1DX. No issues to report so far."

My question was honest, and I had no intention of being rude. It honestly sounded like charlesa was saying she suddenly encountered a problem, yet never elaborated the point.

 

[RGF]

Back to the topic, not grammar or spelling, I found this useful. I bored a 1Dx and plan to order one. At least I can use my old 1D M4 batteries in it.