Sony A1 (Post FW 2.0) Battery Drain

[arbitrage]

I’ve just finished upgrading my A1 and my A9III :

• A9III : from 1.00 to 2.00. Using a CF Express A card. Very fast, around 5 minutes. The configuration is kept.
• A1 : from 2.00 to 2.01. Using the UBS-C port. About 25 minutes. The configuration is kept.
  Note : if you didn’t upgrade to 2.00, you still have to update to 1.35 first and then to 2.01. Is this case the configuration is lost and you have to re-enter it manually.

Could you not do the 2.0 to 2.01 via memory card?

EDIT: Nevermind, downloaded both FW and see the A9III is a totally different type of file to do via card.
Dumb that Sony didn't give the option to do 2.01 from 2.0 via the card. Maybe didn't want to confuse people as they know a lot didn't get onto 2.0 yet before they pulled it.

 

[PhD69]

Could you not do the 2.0 to 2.01 via memory card?

Even if the "Software Update" button was available after the migration to 2.00, the procedure to migrate to 2.01 mentioned on Sony site is to use the USB-C port.
I didn't try using the CF Express A card.
No need to take additional risks

 

[mlustbader]

A question just for those of you who have updated to FW 2.0 before it was suspended.....

How fast is your battery power draining after the update?

Mine is draining somewhere between 1.5 - 2x faster than it did before the update. I have done the battery out and initialise process and it makes no difference. I have double checked that all of my settings are the same.... and they are.
I have one friend who is experiencing exactly the same issue, same subjects, same location.

Before update, a morning 3/4 hour session shooting birds in flight would usually drain my battery by 40-60%

I am now seeing up to 100% drain in the same session, same subjects, same location and even having to change to a fresh battery

After jumping through all of the hoops and checks; Sony UK customer service simply refuse to discuss the possibility that it could be as a result of updating to fw2.0 so I would really appreciate feedback from anyone/everyone else with the same issue.

Same results. If I had it to do over, I wouldn't. And as long as I am whining, I don't like the changes to the customization menu either. More cumbersome than the original.

 

[TonyF]

After much testing (and about 24 emails now between me and Sony) I'm coming to the conclusion that this happens under certain conditions
IE when you use the auto power save set to one minute or more. The very high drain is happening during that minute (or other time if you set a longer delay) before the camera goes into sleep mode. You can expect circa 4.5% drain every 15 minutes in the time that the camera is waiting to go into sleep/power save mode. Thats a heck of a lot of battery drain on the days when you could be shooting birds in flight over the course of a full morning/day session.
Like I said before (when using an auto power save time setting of 1 minute) I am getting through two battteris after 2.0/2.01 when I used to use one when running 1.32

 

[Camatose]

I was on a shoot a week ago that produced about 2500 files, mostly in burst. I did have to change batteries at some point, but I didn't really track how many (dumb, I know). Still, that doesn't seem to be terribly out of whack compared to what I used to get with my other cameras. I'll try to pay more attention next time.

 

[TonyF]

I was on a shoot a week ago that produced about 2500 files, mostly in burst. I did have to change batteries at some point, but I didn't really track how many (dumb, I know). Still, that doesn't seem to be terribly out of whack compared to what I used to get with my other cameras. I'll try to pay more attention next time.

Yes I can get well over 1000 files without changing battery. I only have a problem when I'm using auto power save mode of 1 minute or more and when doing 3-4 hour sessions like urban peregrines. Even then I can get more than 1000 files per battery change when the action hots up for periods but my battery drain is double what it was at 1.32 under these conditions using the auto power save setting (so as not to miss any of the action)

 

[arbitrage]

It feels to me that 2.01 fixed my battery drain I was having on 2.0. But I will wait to shoot it a few more days before making a final conclusion. I've only used 2.01 for two mornings so far.
I run my Power Save at 30mins so it rarely gets to sleep. But that is how I've always done it.

 

[arbitrage]

It feels to me that 2.01 fixed my battery drain I was having on 2.0. But I will wait to shoot it a few more days before making a final conclusion. I've only used 2.01 for two mornings so far.
I run my Power Save at 30mins so it rarely gets to sleep. But that is how I've always done it.

I'm starting to feel that 2.01 didn't really fix my battery drain. It is a hard thing to test so just going off of gut feeling. It feels more like the 2.0 drain than it does 1.32 drain. More testing this weekend.

 

[TonyF]

I'm starting to feel that 2.01 didn't really fix my battery drain. It is a hard thing to test so just going off of gut feeling. It feels more like the 2.0 drain than it does 1.32 drain. More testing this weekend.

I've tested at 2.01 with a brand new (in April 2024) genuine battery. My static test is to purely measure battery drain when the auto power save is set to more than 15 mins and I get a result of 4% battery drain each time i wake it up / check every 15 minutes.
I've asked Sony what this should be and they wont tell me. Ive asked them to test it and they wont test it. I asked if Steve P would do it on his 1.32 body and got no reply.

My guess is that it would have been about 2% every 15 minutes at 1.32

Sony have perhaps 101 items on their list of excuses that either blame the customer, their equipment or both. My friend has the same problem and we got the same bull (word for word) from Sony's 101 item checklist even though our emails were totally independant of each other. After (I think now) 24 emails Sony suggested I always use a new battery because a battery with 0 cycles gives best battery life