my pmw-300

Jack Zhang · September 12th, 2014, 09:42 PM

Well, it's September and Switronix is still silent.

Losing hope we'll ever see this supposed battery and that Brent may be the only person in the world to own such a battery.

Jack Zhang · April 5th, 2015, 06:19 AM

Closing in on 2 NABs passed and nothing.

Buy a bunch of SWIT S-8U63s people and move on, people. Switronix has made the coded 96wh battery vaporware.

Alex Dolgin · April 5th, 2015, 06:22 AM

SWIT has their version of 96 WH in the works, will post when have delivery information.

Jack Zhang · April 5th, 2015, 06:24 AM

The Chinese SWIT? If they make a 96wh that would be the one to get since the USA Switronix has failed us.

Alex Dolgin · April 5th, 2015, 06:27 AM

Correct, SWIT, not related to Switronics of NY.

Jack Zhang · April 5th, 2015, 06:32 AM

Closing in on a year since I've had my SWIT S-8U63 and it hasn't failed yet. Hoping for the best that SWIT of Nanjing can make a 96wh battery that lasts just as long as the 8U63s.

Alex Dolgin · April 15th, 2015, 06:42 PM

SWIT is introducing a bigger brother to their S-8U63 battery, it is 86wh capacity, the same size and weight as S-8U63. D-tap/USB. Will be shipping later this Spring.

Jack Zhang · April 16th, 2015, 04:46 PM

Very nice! I'll be getting the 93 to future proof myself in the short term while selling my Switronix & Swit S-8U62 to finally rid myself of pigtails. I did jump the gun and bought a 63 before they updated them for the later cameras, but you can never catch up if Sony decides to keep changing the protocol.

Andy Sim · September 13th, 2015, 12:23 PM

Hey guys I made a little custom voltage regulator with one of these:

12v regulator

I replaced the in and out on the regulator with MJ204 bits and just attach it with velcro onto the back of my aftermarket batteries. I have been running it for 6 months and it works a treat.

Paul Anderegg · September 15th, 2015, 05:22 PM

Can I run a 100watt halogen camera light off the D-tap? :)

I can dream can't I!?

Paul

Jack Zhang · September 15th, 2015, 05:35 PM

Well, if you parallel 2 S-8U93s and run nothing else on those batteries, maybe. The maximum wattage got raised to 50W with the S-8U93's D-Tap.

Jack Zhang · October 29th, 2015, 02:57 AM

Just an update/observations:

The new SWITs (the new S-8U63 and S-8U93) will always have a risk of throwing a battery error when powered up after being externally depleted by D-tap, USB sources, or by battery plates on lights/monitors/etc.

This is because the battery misreports it's capacity/level based on what it was when the camera was last powered up and/or it resets it's readings to misreporting a full battery. If this is depleted when the battery is not powering the camera, it doesn't smart-update when cold-booting the camera until 2 bootups later, 1 of them where the camera is almost guaranteed to throw a battery error. (The camera will power up properly the first time in certain scenarios, and report a full battery with the proper minutes remaining, but the wrong voltage and charge percentage info, which also happens most of the time when hot swapping to any coded SWIT battery from any other coded or genuine battery. Genuine batteries properly store the last charge percentage when the battery is not in use. The next reboot causes the camera to throw a battery error almost guaranteed, as the capacity and actual charge level needed to be updated. Sometimes if a battery is just left to discharge, using it after a while will immediately cause a battery error.)

Dramatic changes between battery levels between 2 SWIT batteries might also cause this, so might switching between revisions of the 8U63. (for older cameras like the XDCAM EX cameras. I own both the first revision of the S-8U63 and the new S-8U93) This is most prominent during cold swapping batteries. As a theoretical preventive measure, I've been leaving the DC IN powered by the BC-U1 on bootup and while hot swapping to prevent this. You cannot reliably cold swap these batteries without voltage being fed to the DC IN and having the DC IN connected. (for a field operation, you may want a D-tap to XDCAM EX cable during bootup, then yank it after the camera boots up. Alex, this is incentive to provide a regulated 12V D-tap to EX series cable for troubleshooting these batteries on cameras with hot swap capability. Sorry PMW-100, 200 and PXW-X200 users, you'll have to cold swap and deal with battery errors.)

These observations were made with a PMW-EX1R on the latest firmware. YMMV with other cameras.

Christopher Young · October 31st, 2015, 01:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jack Zhang

Basically, you'd need a Hawk-Woods EX3 adapter to use V-mount, which is no longer in production and hard to get outside of the UK.

Jack if going V Mount I use these plates that have regulated 5v, 7.2v and 12 volt outputs.

Sony V Mount Battery Plate Power Supply LP E6 for DSLR Camera Rig 5D2 5D3 7D | eBay

I then buy these power supplies and cut the cables off. They are cheap enough. The cable end has the proper pin plug to suit the Sony EX/PMW cameras. I just terminate the cut cable with the supplied correct cable plug that fits into the 12 volt output on the V Mount plate. A bit of solder and heat shrink does the job!

Fit Sony EX3 EX1 PMW EX3 XDCAM EX Camcorder Power Supply Charger AC DC Adapter | eBay

Another plate I use is the Hawke Woods VL-CA4X which sandwiches between an existing V Mount and battery, it has a quality regulated 12v 50watt D-Tap output that on my FS700 can power a B4 servo zoom lens.

I do notice Hawke Woods do now list a V Mount unit called a VL-P300 that they specifically list for the PMW-300. I would imagine it has 12v out as is specifically listed for the 300.
VL-P300 | V-Lok Camera Adaptor - Sony PMW300 - 1x Power-Con - Hawk-Woods Ltd

Chris Young
CYV Productions
Sydney

Brent Kaplan · October 31st, 2015, 08:53 AM

I just ordered and a recived a Switronix EX-L96UD updated from BH photo and tried it on my pmw-300 and it worked, it gives me minutes meter in my viewfinder and im not using any special adapter. I was surprised

Jack Zhang · November 1st, 2015, 10:30 PM

The pigtail design still will cause issues in the long-run and the one I sold was getting tons of battery charging errors when it was bumped around with the pigtail plugged in. I had to give up on that battery and I sold it AS IS for $5.

The S-8U93 is great, but you still need a D-tap to Sony EIAJ connector to troubleshoot the batteries in case you boot up to a battery error.

Edit: Ooooh. A D-tap to PXW-X160/X180 adapter... http://www.hawkwoods.co.uk/Prods/Product/PC-19

September 12th, 2014, 09:42 PM	#31
Jack Zhang Inner Circle Join Date: May 2005 Location: Burnaby, BC, Canada Posts: 3,053	Re: my pmw-300 Well, it's September and Switronix is still silent. Losing hope we'll ever see this supposed battery and that Brent may be the only person in the world to own such a battery.

April 5th, 2015, 06:19 AM	#32
Jack Zhang Inner Circle Join Date: May 2005 Location: Burnaby, BC, Canada Posts: 3,053	Re: my pmw-300 Closing in on 2 NABs passed and nothing. Buy a bunch of SWIT S-8U63s people and move on, people. Switronix has made the coded 96wh battery vaporware.

April 5th, 2015, 06:22 AM	#33
Alex Dolgin Contributor Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Lexington, Ma Posts: 286	Re: my pmw-300 SWIT has their version of 96 WH in the works, will post when have delivery information. __________________ Alex Dolgin Dolgin Engineering Camera DC Power accessories, Fast 4 position Battery Charger http://www.dolgin.net

April 5th, 2015, 06:24 AM	#34
Jack Zhang Inner Circle Join Date: May 2005 Location: Burnaby, BC, Canada Posts: 3,053	Re: my pmw-300 The Chinese SWIT? If they make a 96wh that would be the one to get since the USA Switronix has failed us.

April 5th, 2015, 06:27 AM	#35
Alex Dolgin Contributor Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Lexington, Ma Posts: 286	Re: my pmw-300 Correct, SWIT, not related to Switronics of NY. __________________ Alex Dolgin Dolgin Engineering Camera DC Power accessories, Fast 4 position Battery Charger http://www.dolgin.net

April 5th, 2015, 06:32 AM	#36
Jack Zhang Inner Circle Join Date: May 2005 Location: Burnaby, BC, Canada Posts: 3,053	Re: my pmw-300 Closing in on a year since I've had my SWIT S-8U63 and it hasn't failed yet. Hoping for the best that SWIT of Nanjing can make a 96wh battery that lasts just as long as the 8U63s.

April 15th, 2015, 06:42 PM	#37
Alex Dolgin Contributor Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Lexington, Ma Posts: 286	Re: my pmw-300 SWIT is introducing a bigger brother to their S-8U63 battery, it is 86wh capacity, the same size and weight as S-8U63. D-tap/USB. Will be shipping later this Spring. Attached Thumbnails __________________ Alex Dolgin Dolgin Engineering Camera DC Power accessories, Fast 4 position Battery Charger http://www.dolgin.net

April 16th, 2015, 04:46 PM	#38
Jack Zhang Inner Circle Join Date: May 2005 Location: Burnaby, BC, Canada Posts: 3,053	Re: my pmw-300 Very nice! I'll be getting the 93 to future proof myself in the short term while selling my Switronix & Swit S-8U62 to finally rid myself of pigtails. I did jump the gun and bought a 63 before they updated them for the later cameras, but you can never catch up if Sony decides to keep changing the protocol.

September 13th, 2015, 12:23 PM	#39
Andy Sim Tourist Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Auckland Posts: 1	Re: my pmw-300 Hey guys I made a little custom voltage regulator with one of these: 12v regulator I replaced the in and out on the regulator with MJ204 bits and just attach it with velcro onto the back of my aftermarket batteries. I have been running it for 6 months and it works a treat.

September 15th, 2015, 05:22 PM	#40
Paul Anderegg Trustee Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: San Diego, Califonia Posts: 1,559	Re: my pmw-300 Can I run a 100watt halogen camera light off the D-tap? :) I can dream can't I!? Paul

September 15th, 2015, 05:35 PM	#41
Jack Zhang Inner Circle Join Date: May 2005 Location: Burnaby, BC, Canada Posts: 3,053	Re: my pmw-300 Well, if you parallel 2 S-8U93s and run nothing else on those batteries, maybe. The maximum wattage got raised to 50W with the S-8U93's D-Tap.

October 29th, 2015, 02:57 AM	#42
Jack Zhang Inner Circle Join Date: May 2005 Location: Burnaby, BC, Canada Posts: 3,053	Re: my pmw-300 Just an update/observations: The new SWITs (the new S-8U63 and S-8U93) will always have a risk of throwing a battery error when powered up after being externally depleted by D-tap, USB sources, or by battery plates on lights/monitors/etc. This is because the battery misreports it's capacity/level based on what it was when the camera was last powered up and/or it resets it's readings to misreporting a full battery. If this is depleted when the battery is not powering the camera, it doesn't smart-update when cold-booting the camera until 2 bootups later, 1 of them where the camera is almost guaranteed to throw a battery error. (The camera will power up properly the first time in certain scenarios, and report a full battery with the proper minutes remaining, but the wrong voltage and charge percentage info, which also happens most of the time when hot swapping to any coded SWIT battery from any other coded or genuine battery. Genuine batteries properly store the last charge percentage when the battery is not in use. The next reboot causes the camera to throw a battery error almost guaranteed, as the capacity and actual charge level needed to be updated. Sometimes if a battery is just left to discharge, using it after a while will immediately cause a battery error.) Dramatic changes between battery levels between 2 SWIT batteries might also cause this, so might switching between revisions of the 8U63. (for older cameras like the XDCAM EX cameras. I own both the first revision of the S-8U63 and the new S-8U93) This is most prominent during cold swapping batteries. As a theoretical preventive measure, I've been leaving the DC IN powered by the BC-U1 on bootup and while hot swapping to prevent this. You cannot reliably cold swap these batteries without voltage being fed to the DC IN and having the DC IN connected. (for a field operation, you may want a D-tap to XDCAM EX cable during bootup, then yank it after the camera boots up. Alex, this is incentive to provide a regulated 12V D-tap to EX series cable for troubleshooting these batteries on cameras with hot swap capability. Sorry PMW-100, 200 and PXW-X200 users, you'll have to cold swap and deal with battery errors.) These observations were made with a PMW-EX1R on the latest firmware. YMMV with other cameras. Last edited by Jack Zhang; October 29th, 2015 at 05:15 AM.

October 31st, 2015, 08:53 AM	#44
Brent Kaplan Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Los Angeles,CA Posts: 166	Re: my pmw-300 I just ordered and a recived a Switronix EX-L96UD updated from BH photo and tried it on my pmw-300 and it worked, it gives me minutes meter in my viewfinder and im not using any special adapter. I was surprised

November 1st, 2015, 10:30 PM	#45
Jack Zhang Inner Circle Join Date: May 2005 Location: Burnaby, BC, Canada Posts: 3,053	Re: my pmw-300 The pigtail design still will cause issues in the long-run and the one I sold was getting tons of battery charging errors when it was bumped around with the pigtail plugged in. I had to give up on that battery and I sold it AS IS for $5. The S-8U93 is great, but you still need a D-tap to Sony EIAJ connector to troubleshoot the batteries in case you boot up to a battery error. Edit: Ooooh. A D-tap to PXW-X160/X180 adapter... http://www.hawkwoods.co.uk/Prods/Product/PC-19