Here are some battery runtime tests I have run with the various GoPro camera models from the HD Hero to Hero2 and Hero3 black.

Standby tests (camera on but not recording) measured with a stop watch, all video tests measured by total length of video files recorded, all tests recorded at room temperature close to 20c.

HD1 firmware v01.01.54

Standby no bacpac 3h:30m

no bacpac 1080p30 video test 2h:03m.46s


HD2 firmware HD2.08.12.50

Standby no bacpac 2h:14m


HD2 firmware HD2.08.12.58

Standby no bacpac 2h:21m


HD2 firmware HD2.08.12.124.WIFI.R33.00

Standby no bacpac not recording camera on 2h:29m

Standby with LCD bacpac attached but switched off 2h:24m

no bacpac 1080p30w video test 2h:09m.45s

LCD bacpac attached but turned off 1080p30w video test 2h:06m.21s

LCD bacpac min brightness 1080p30w video test 1h:34m.50s

LCD bacpac medium brightness 1080p30w video test 1h28m.50s

LCD bacpac max brightness 1080p30w video test 1h:16m.01s


HD2 firmware HD2.08.12.198.WIFI.R47.00

no bacpac 1080p30Tw PT ON video test 2h:01m.07s 29.6GB

no bacpac 1080p30w pt off video test 2h:12m.32s 13.9GB


HD3b firmware HD3.03.01.09

no bacpac wifi off 2.7k30T PT ON cam raw video test 1h14m.25s 23.4GB

Batt Bacpac wifi off 2.7k30T PT ON cam raw video test 1h49m.43s 35.9GB

LCD bacpac wifi off 2.7k30T PT ON cam raw video test 0h56m.50s 17.9GB


Batt Bacpac wifi off 1080p30n pt off video+photo @ 5 sec 3h18m.27s 27.8GB + 2,379 photos 867MB

no bacpac wifi off 1080p30n pt off video+photo @ 5 sec 1h56m.32s 23.4GB + 1,377 photos 368MB

LCD bacpac wifi off 1080p30n pt off video+photo @5 sec 1h18m.55s 11.0GB + 944 photos 297MB

no bacpac WiFi On 1080p30w pt off video test 1h28m.44s 12.4GB

no bacpac wifi off 1080p30w pt off video test 1h33m.35s 13.1GB

no bacpac wifi off 1080p30Tw PT ON video test 1h31m.18s 22.3GB

Batt Bacpac WiFi On 1080p30w pt off video test 2h37m.35s 22.1GB


no bacpac wifi off 1080p60w pt off video test 1h10m.47s 14.8GB

no bacpac wifi off 1080p60m pt off video test 1h10m.59s 14.9GB

no bacpac wifi off 1080p60n pt off video test 1h22m.59s 17.9GB



I will add to this list as I complete more tests in the future.

As I suspected the GoPro HD2 in standby uses not much less battery then whilst its recording.

VERY Nice One Marty.

True for diving with LCD. Me with LCD BP and surely max brightness, I did not get more than 1 hour 20 minutes.
True for recording without LCD and let card be full, one wont get more than 2HR 10 - 15 for me at 30C ambient.

Surprised to see stand-by actually consume so much power yah ? This I never never suspect. I would tot 3 hours would be possible.

I guess the processor already working and all, except writing to memory card, which probably need so little power.
Unlike cassette based mechanical video recorder, we know that type........... on stand by can last much longer.

Nice nice....thanks
.

In standby tests I noticed the camera getting almost as warm as when its recording, I suspect that this is in some way trying to overcome the cold bug by allowing the device to heat up so it will work in a very cold environment.

Most likely the CPU is being stressed in some way to generate extra heat in standby mode, if this is the case it would be nice if there was an option to disable this because its only needed in low temps 5c or less. At other times there would be no real reason to need the processor to work so hard in standby as to generate so much heat.

I noticed the cold bug with my HD1's in the snow when I lent it to my sister, this would at times give the purple pink corrupted video for the first 30 seconds to minute and half but once it ran for a while the video would go back to normal. So if your in the snow and its very cold a good tip is to turn it on a few minutes before recording to avoid the bug, HD2 is meant to have fixed this in firmware v.70 and this could be why standby is so bad I think, I will have to try HD1 standby to see if it lasts longer.

could you please try a FW Version before V.70 then and re-test Standby/ Idle Battery Time?
would be really interesting, if FW Versions before V.70 actually allowed it to be used for longer time in standby

Alex

I will try hd1 and revert back to an older firmware to test the standby time on the hd2 to see if it has made an effect.

I will also try some timelapse tests as I am pretty sure I have had longer runtimes then the standby times in this test before.

However since my first gopro hd1 I always avoided standby modes because the gopro always sucked lots of battery at idle, I didnt expect it to be that close to actual recording times though. It will be interesting to see if it has been effected much by firmware versions.

sounds cool!
yeah, definately interesting!
IF it affects battery run-time by quite a margin it would be time for a petition to gopro to add a "disable warming processor loading feature"
like you desscribed above...

eager to see the results

Alex

After a full charge on my gopro 2, wifi backpac, & remote - today while filming rc airplanes I was able to only get 65 minutes of 1080p recording time before my battery was dead. I charged all from my usb computer??? So.... I just ordered two 1600mah batteries w/110v charging station, from amazon.com hoping this increases the longevity between batteries. Anyone else getting this short amount of video time??? oh..... and after updating to new firmware I also had my camera freeze for the first time and had to take out the battery to reset =l

Did you have it in standby mode for long? As my tests have shown this goes through almost as much battery as while the camera is running. For 65 minutes of recording I would think you must have had the camera on for about 2 1/2 hrs. I dont have the wifi yet but as you can turn the camera on and off with the remote you would get longest recording times this way.

The bacpac has its own battery so if both were fully charged in theory you should get close to my standby time still for the camera, each minute the camera isnt recording but left on eats into your total recording time off when not filming is good practice. If the wifi bacpac isnt fully charged prior to use it uses up the cameras battery most likely at a rate close to what the LCD bacpac does.

I added some more battery tests to the Original Post

HD2 standby test with v50 and v58 firmware which did no better then v124 actually slightly worse then with the latest firmware.

HD1 standby test which was 3h:30m a full hour longer then any HD2 tests so far. Camera was considerably cooler to touch during test the HD2 cameras in standby modes.

HD1 1080P video test similar time to all other no bacpac results

Corrected this figure below as I noticed another older file was in the video folder giving an incorrect result before.
No bacpac 1080p30 video test 2h:09m.45s (corrected figure)

Hi martcerv,
very helpful information - would be great if you could add some tests with the wifi bacpac as well.

Thanks again - Peter