Very recently I bought a Gitup Git2, right before I went on a week-long vacation, so I could capture some underwater videos and pictures. Being the tinkerer that I am, I read up quite a bit on it and noticed the issue with the battery charging when inside the Git2, which I hoped wouldn't affect me. Unfortunately, it did.
So, I've tested a few things and would like some help from you guys, @TechTronic9000 , or @gitup with sorting this out since there seem to be some different issues affecting the usage of batteries. Keep in mind the charging reported here was always done with chargers with enough power to charge the battery and with the 1.5v firmware installed.
When the camera came in the mail I did a full charge, inside the git2, which took a few hours and seemed to do the job. The battery held well to usage, with running time a bit below my expectations, but with the caveat that I run it at 1080p 60fps with gyro on, which obviously will make it last less than the reported 90 minutes on 1080p 30 fps.
During day two the battery seemed to last quite a bit less, maybe 30 minutes tops, which was surprising since I had charged it fully overnight. I had to resort to using it connected to a 10k mAh powerbank, outside the case. This still seemed to somewhat charge the battery and I was still able to use it underwater in the case, but time away from the powerbank was reducing with each usage.
Finally, on the third day the worse happened. After an overnight charge, the git2 turns on and within a few seconds reports an empty battery and shuts itself off. I've had to resort to using it always connected to the powerbank. A few seconds away from it would lead to a shutdown, since the battery inside doesn't seem to have any power at all. This also prevented me from using it underwater, but oh well, it'll get sorted at some point.
This is when another problem popped up. The following day, I was getting some shutdowns even when connected to the powerbank. I paid attention to it and it seemed like a bad contact on the USB port was happening, whenever the USB cable moved slightly the screen started to flicker and lose brightness, until the point when it shut down, without showing the shutdown screen or a low battery warning at all. It also seemed to affect the video, causing some interference in the image and in the sound. I think I have a file stored where this happens, in case someone wants to look at it just ask for it and I'll upload it somewhere. Regardless, I'm pretty confident I can replicate the interference if needed.
From this point onward I just decided not to use the git2 anymore until I could sort this out. Fast forward to the end of the vacation, I bought the usually recommended around here SJ4000 batteries with charger the external charger, here. To root out problems with the main battery, I charged it in the external charger and tried it in the camera this morning. The charge detection in the camera seems to underreport the battery level, as it within a few minutes goes to half-level, which should be a firmware issue. I'm pretty sure this has more power in it, and I can try and do some more testing on it. Regardless, usability seems to be back. It is holding steady at half-power level, with one 10 minute recording at my usual settings
Now, another problem popped up. I encountered the famed date & time reset this morning as I popped the battery in. Since I saw some discussion about the screw near the RTC battery and testing how long does it take to reset, I've tested it by removing the battery in increments of up to a minute and it seems to hold the correct date & time within that interval. I'm not sure how long is the RTC bat is designed to last, but I can at least tell you that it doesn't seem to last longer than 3 or 4 days if there's no battery in or the battery inside is completely depleted, in my experience.
So, these seem to be all the problems affecting my little young git2. Hope this helps orienting people facing the same problems as me.
Surprisingly, I've become quite fond of it and of this community where people actively discuss it, so I'm available to test some things further if someone has some theories. Also, I'd like some help from @gitup about returns and warranties. The camera is almost fully usable, but I was planning on making time-lapse recordings with it and those will not work in the current state.
Hope to hear some ideas from you guys!
Cheers,
Johanu
So, I've tested a few things and would like some help from you guys, @TechTronic9000 , or @gitup with sorting this out since there seem to be some different issues affecting the usage of batteries. Keep in mind the charging reported here was always done with chargers with enough power to charge the battery and with the 1.5v firmware installed.
When the camera came in the mail I did a full charge, inside the git2, which took a few hours and seemed to do the job. The battery held well to usage, with running time a bit below my expectations, but with the caveat that I run it at 1080p 60fps with gyro on, which obviously will make it last less than the reported 90 minutes on 1080p 30 fps.
During day two the battery seemed to last quite a bit less, maybe 30 minutes tops, which was surprising since I had charged it fully overnight. I had to resort to using it connected to a 10k mAh powerbank, outside the case. This still seemed to somewhat charge the battery and I was still able to use it underwater in the case, but time away from the powerbank was reducing with each usage.
Finally, on the third day the worse happened. After an overnight charge, the git2 turns on and within a few seconds reports an empty battery and shuts itself off. I've had to resort to using it always connected to the powerbank. A few seconds away from it would lead to a shutdown, since the battery inside doesn't seem to have any power at all. This also prevented me from using it underwater, but oh well, it'll get sorted at some point.
This is when another problem popped up. The following day, I was getting some shutdowns even when connected to the powerbank. I paid attention to it and it seemed like a bad contact on the USB port was happening, whenever the USB cable moved slightly the screen started to flicker and lose brightness, until the point when it shut down, without showing the shutdown screen or a low battery warning at all. It also seemed to affect the video, causing some interference in the image and in the sound. I think I have a file stored where this happens, in case someone wants to look at it just ask for it and I'll upload it somewhere. Regardless, I'm pretty confident I can replicate the interference if needed.
From this point onward I just decided not to use the git2 anymore until I could sort this out. Fast forward to the end of the vacation, I bought the usually recommended around here SJ4000 batteries with charger the external charger, here. To root out problems with the main battery, I charged it in the external charger and tried it in the camera this morning. The charge detection in the camera seems to underreport the battery level, as it within a few minutes goes to half-level, which should be a firmware issue. I'm pretty sure this has more power in it, and I can try and do some more testing on it. Regardless, usability seems to be back. It is holding steady at half-power level, with one 10 minute recording at my usual settings
Now, another problem popped up. I encountered the famed date & time reset this morning as I popped the battery in. Since I saw some discussion about the screw near the RTC battery and testing how long does it take to reset, I've tested it by removing the battery in increments of up to a minute and it seems to hold the correct date & time within that interval. I'm not sure how long is the RTC bat is designed to last, but I can at least tell you that it doesn't seem to last longer than 3 or 4 days if there's no battery in or the battery inside is completely depleted, in my experience.
So, these seem to be all the problems affecting my little young git2. Hope this helps orienting people facing the same problems as me.
Surprisingly, I've become quite fond of it and of this community where people actively discuss it, so I'm available to test some things further if someone has some theories. Also, I'd like some help from @gitup about returns and warranties. The camera is almost fully usable, but I was planning on making time-lapse recordings with it and those will not work in the current state.
Hope to hear some ideas from you guys!
Cheers,
Johanu
