My SGM2X uses LR44 (AAA) batteries, my PD150 has phantom power, can I take the battery off and turn on the phantom power? I haven't tried that yet...

The microphone uses so little power that you will not be able to detect the difference in run times.

Garret, I don't know about your unit. If it has XLR connectors, then phantom power should not bother it in any way. I'd look at the manual first.

It does have XLR connectors, but I was wondering if I can "free" the Lr44 and just use the power off the PD150.

I am having big problems with my two additional batteries, in as much as neither of them appear to be charging up.

The battery that came with the 150 charges up okay via the charger and also the mains volatge power supply, but I can't get any of the other two batteries to charge up/respond.

The batteries and the DVCAM are less than a month old and both appeared to charge up a few weeks ago.

I recall the problem seemed to begin when I went to change out my first tape after it was full. I had to re-insert it a few times and in amongst all that, I accidently ejected the tape whilst the camera was on, though not recording. I am beginning to wonder if there is a reset I can perform to synchronise everything again.

Any help would really be appreciated as I only get about an hour with the battery that came with the 150.

Many, many thanks,
Neil

The stock battery will only give about an hour.
Ejecting the tape with the camera should have no bearing on the batteries, I do it all the time.
What kind of batteries did you buy, (the manufacturer) did you get a seperate charger for them, if not, are the batteries seated fully on the camera when you are charging them?
A little more info will help to clear up you power mystery.
Don

Hi Don,

Thanks for your reply.

I bought an additional two Digital Hi-Power 3500mAh Lithium-Ion battery packs and a SAKAR Rapid charger.

I'm convinced that the batteries are installed correctly, when I try and charge either of them up now with the charger, the red LED no longer comes on suggesting the batteries are charged. This is further replicated when I use the camera power supply to charge them.

After a minute or so, the small LCD screen indicates the battries are fully-charged, though it no longer displays the time. After switching the camera on with the mains still attached it powers up okay, then as soon as I switch off the mains supply, the camera dies on me.

Neil

HMMMM, not familiar with that particular brand of battery but, it sounds like it could be either you were really unlucky and got a couple of bad batteries (it's been known to happen) OR the charger is giving a false reading.

I think I would power the camera up with battery only just to see if it will and how long it will run. I'm guessing that the extra batteries you got should give at least 4 hours of run time. Open the LCD and do some zooming to see how much time you'll really get. In other words use the camera as if you were shooting a job and see what the battery is "saying". You might have to return the batteries and get new ones. I'm assuming there is some kind of warranty on the batteries?

The fact that the time isn't showing isn't a big deal, it doesn't on my 150's either until I do something with the camera, either zoom or start recording, then the amount of time left on the battery shows in the LCD.

Don B.

Hi Don,

I left the battery to charge for about three or four hours and it cuts out as soon as I switch off the mains supply.

Initially I switched on the camera with the mains power supply still on, then switch off the mains. As soon as I switch of the power supply the camera ceases to function and switches off immediately.

With the mains still connected, I tried to get the battery time on the LCD after panning and zooming for a minute but all to no avail.

Neil

Further to the above, I forgot to mention that the battery time is displayed as _ _ _ even when indicating a full charge on the display window and not the LCD.

Neil

The Sony battery that was supplied with the camera works. The two off brand batteries don't. That should tell you something right there.

Return them and buy Sony replacement batteries. If you can't chalk it up to experience. JMHO

Hi Bryan,

I'm seriously thinking about trying to swap them out for Sony batteries.

Cheers,
Neil

Yeah, I agree.
after reading what you just posted about the batteries, time to make them go bye bye and get some Sony's.

It makes no sense sometimes. We spend thousands on a camera and try and save pennies on the accessories. I'm the same way :)

Yeah, Neal, return those stiffs and get a refund. Then, buy just one Sony 960 battery, and skip the charger for the time being. Most people can't fully discharge that one battery in a day's worth of shooting.

After time, if you need a second battery, you may also want to get the Sony video light HVL-20DW2, and the beauty is, it uses the same batteries. Then I would suggest getting the slightly smaller 730 battery to power the light, or, as a backup to the camera. By then you will know if you really need the charger. I find I don't.

In my expereience, some "knock-off" brands fail to make proper contact with either the charger and/or the camera.


Get new batteries from SONY and you should not have a problem.

get a sony 960 here brand new only £37

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2931156444&category=23780

and get your HVL-20DW2 here
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2931343959&category=23780


stick a wide diffuser from a flashgun over it- kills the spot

Hi Neil,

Sure sound as if they are duds. I ended up getting three NPF-750's for mine instead of one large NPF-960. My reasoning was that the 960 would go all day ok fine but then you have to charge it, if you forgot, you ended up with one big flat battery the next day which is not much use to man nor beast.

With the three 750's(Plus the baby 330) I've got a reasonable chance of having a 'live' one ;) even if things start turning to custard cause I forgot to charge 'em.......

Wayne's right - follow the Sony instructions and buy genuine Sony Info-lithiums and you won't go far wrong. When I found there was no seperate charger with my TRV900 and VX2k I felt Sony were being mean and I'd have to buy one, but no. The 750 or the 960 go for *hours* and battery charge is now the least of my worries.

tom.

One of the forum members gave link to BBC Tutorials on VX2000--thankyou for this--many good tips for beginner like me (besides the wealth of info from this forum). The longer BBC tutorial says in section on "Battery Indications"- quote--"There is a little slider on the back of the battery with a little green stripe showing if the battery is charged." Not afraid to show my ignorance, I have looked on the various Sony LiIon batteries I have from TRV 9 and the one that came with Vx2000 and I don't see any "little slider on the back of the battery.." I have probably misinterpreted the BBC comment, but I am curious now about the elusive "slider."

Some had it. But not any of the new ones that I know of.

My NPF-530 and NPF-930 have it, my newer batteries do not.

The slider is on the end of the battery with the power connections.

Thanks Mike.

I just got a NPF960 style battery from Artie at
www.alartvideo.com (1-877-98-ALART) and it works
awesome unlike some other off-brands. It fits
perfectly into the camera. It even works with the
SONY 10/20 watt light as some off brands tend to work
only with the 10 watt lamp only.

It is being sold for only 65 dollars.

Thanks
Lou Bruno

You can buy brand new real Sony batteries of the same size on Ebay for that price. Many sell batteries which are in the original package and unopened. I bought mine there, I think I paid around $55. I've bought a lot of camcorder batteries from ebay sellers. A great bargain.

I see these batteries listing so cheap on Ebay with not many bidders. The poster says that these batteries are brandnew, but they're shipped in OE bulk package, and that they will be shipped in a plastic bag instead of the retail clam shell package. The battery might have minor scratches and is under warranty for one year. Should I trust this? Of of them is listed here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2940218027&category=43447

If someone has positive/negative experience with these batteries, please share.

Thanks,
Lucas

I bought my 2 batteries at e-bay, both NPF-960. Yes, it is original Sony, has a little scratch but can hold 6 hours on my PD150. I once have received a DOA and the seller refunds me after returning it.

Jun

Is 6 hours the maximum the NP-F960 can hold on the PD150?
Thanks,
Lucas

Nope. That depends on how you use your camcorder. If I use the LCD monitor it will drop to about 5 hours. I think the maximum is 8 to 9 hours with LCD close and in continous recording. So far I only use one battery for the whole wedding. I just use it alternately with my other battery.

I purchased 3 npf-750s from ptron. Very good to work with. Nice people. Call them directly and they will ship all of your order together, saving you some money. BTW, all three were $75ish total and work fine.

<<<-- Originally posted by Lucas Hall : Is 6 hours the maximum the NP-F960 can hold on the PD150?-->>>

I have run for 6 hours using the LCD screen the whole time, and the battery still indicated it had several hours left. I have a VX-2000 however and the specs indicate it draws slightly less power. I think it is very dependent on how much you zoom the lens and how often you start, stop or rewind the tape.

Regardless, they are really impressive batteries!

I thought I would give you an update since it's two months to the day since the last post in this thread.

I recived two new genuine Sony batteries yesterday from eBay.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2939737800

and neither of them appear to work. I charged one of them up via a rapid charger and the other via the DVCAM and get the C:04:00 code, which refers to the battery pack not being InfoLithium.

Once again, I'm confident that the charger is okay as the NP-F330 battery pack that came with the camera works okay.

I have a wedding to shoot to Friday and would appreciate your thoughts on the above.

Many thanks,
Neil

Neil,
The eBay page shows two different battery markings.

The one in the lower left is what my 960's look like (they have gold lettering on the vertical "infoLITHIUM L" printing.

You may want to try pushing the camcorder reset switch to see if that does anything.

If you have a way to place an electrical load on the new batteries after they have been on the charger, check to see if they still show 7.2 volts. Assuming the "new" batteries are really taking a charge, and you place a 15 ohm, 5 or 10 watt resistor across the round terminals marked + and - , you should still show the 7.2 volts across the resistor. This will give the approximate wattage of 5 watts used by the camera in normal operation. (I'm assuming you are reasonably adept at basic electricity).

I would also check to see that the contact on the camcorder battery compartment sticks out enough to make contact with the flat silver-colored contact marked "C" next to the minus terminal.

Also, make sure the new batteries have the ramp molded into the second center indentation from the top on the back of the battery. This operates the plastic switch in the camera's battery compartment.

If all else fails, I think you will have to use the Sony AC power adapter that came with your camera and rig a long extension cord, or cut the cord from the AC adapter to the camera and rig an 8.4 volt DC battery pack to feed power via the salvaged external adapter plug. (Again, basic electricity knowlege required).

Good Luck.

Did they come sealed in the bister pack? There is a source that sell batteries that have been stripped out of warranty returns.

My new VX-2100 arrived today. Everything was as expected until I plugged one of my 3rd party NP-F960 equivalents into the cam and turned it on. The VX-2100 immediately sensed that it was not a Sony battery and popped up a message to that effect and then shut down. This means that the set of 3rd party batteries that I have been using very successfully with my VX-2000 will not work with the new camera. It upsets me that Sony has elected to force all VX-2100 users to use Sony batteries, especially given the very high prices that they charge for them. An equivalent 3rd party battery is 1/3 the cost of a Sony battery. Anyone know of any workarounds for this issue?

Ouch, that sucks! It's the first I've heard of this. Looks like Sony was busier than we thought when they redid the cam. I don't know of any work around, but FWIW, I bought my Sony NP-F960 off ebay for less than 1/2 price of new. It is original Sony and was brand new in an unopened blister package. I bought another battery from a seller there last yr that WAS opened (but appeared new) and has worked great for me so far.

Mark G

"brand new"? Half price?

Ha, ha, sounds like it came from my cousin Vinny. Must have fallen off the truck. :-)

P.s. Love it though. Keeps going and going and going. One less item to worry about during a busy shoot.

Shady business practice Sony.. What audacity! To market a higher priced cam with such measely upgrades and now to force us to strictly use their brand of batteries. This should be cause for boycott.

Cause for boycott? Not so in my book. The Sony info-lithiums are way better than anyone else's bog-standard lithiums, and the 'Info' extra circuitry could well have camera protection built in electronically. If Sony are going to guarantee their products (camera and charger) I think it's fair that the fuel supply to the engine should be under their control as well.

tom.

<<<-- Originally posted by Tom Hardwick : Cause for boycott? and the 'Info' extra circuitry could well have camera protection built in electronically. -->>>

"could well have" ? That doesnt sound like a confident claim. You sure bought into the Sony marketing slogan very well(InfoLithium..chuckles) their marketing ppl oughta be happy. The fact is, battery technology is fairly trivial, when it comes to these low powered prosumer cam. You can pay the same price for that sony brand on your batteries, but don't for a sec think that everyone else should follow your path.

<<<-- don't for a sec think that everyone else should follow your path. -->>>

Sounds like you will be though....

<<<-- Originally posted by Dan Tolbertson : <<<-- don't for a sec think that everyone else should follow your path. -->>>

Sounds like you will be though.... -->>>

What does that even mean? please put at least somesort of connotation into your post. Otherwise, don't even waste the energy. I've put out a legitimate complaint about not being able to use 3rd party batteries. Your comment is not on par with the level of discussion going on here. thank you sir.

Simply an observation. You slam on people for "buying into" Sony Marketing and basically say that we are stupid to pay the price Sony asks for these. I for one own a PD150 and have invested a considerable chunk of quality money down on a quality product and the last thing I wanted to do was shave off a few bucks and buy cheap batteries. I only use Sony batteries with my camera and my observation was that it sounds like you now will to.

I just thought it was kinda funny and ironic as you were slamming people for buying them and trying to make people feel stupid for spending thier money foolishly and now you have to also.

Welcome to the Sony Battery club.....

OK, sounds like that is enough.

I've lost my charger that came with my vx2000. Where is the best place to get one like right now.

thanks, charles

Here's a third-party dual bay charger (http://www.varizoom.com/pages/charger.php) for $50. You can read a review by our own Mike Rehmus at this link (http://www.dvinfo.net/sony/articles/article09.php). If you're looking for the original Sony part, our sponsors (http://www.dvinfo.net/sponsors/index.php) can get that for you but the price typically hovers around $150. Hope this helps,

<<<-- Originally posted by Chris Hurd : Here's a third-party dual bay charger (http://www.varizoom.com/pages/charger.php) for $50. You can read a review by our own Mike Rehmus

And it is still working very well, BTW. I'd recommend it over the Sony unless you really like the little LCD functions of their single-battery charger which I also have.

Is NP-F960 still the battery with most juice in it for Sony VX2100/PD170? My NP-F960 just died today, and I'm in search for whatever is best out there for my camera.
Thanks,
Lucas

I do believe it is the long-runtime champ unless you go to an external camera.

I recently purchased a 960 but noticed my older battery is actually a Sony 950. Anyone know what the difference is and if there is any difference?

I have one of each. The 960 seems to have more capacity than the 950 but that may be because the 950 is several years older.

I'm sure the 960 had a higher rated capacity within the same physical dimensions, and yes, it's the biggest one they do. It really is a powerhouse though - I'm impressed by how long the VX2k can continue with a 960 in place.

tom.