Anybody try the Swit batteries with the F3 (or EX for that matter.) Cheaper and you can get a 96WH with a D tap. should last around 2 1/2 hours and you could power a nano or a monitor with it.

Yes, I use SWIT batteries to power F3 and KiPro. Also use the switch charger to power the camera from A/C. (it has a XLR out).
Works great.

I have used the batteries on both the EX1/3 and F3, and they work fine. Only thing is, the F3 power input is a 4-pin XLR as opposed to the little push-in plug on the EX3 so an adaptor is needed.

Fortuantely, Dan Keaton at Convergent Design ordered the parts and made an adaptor for me. It can also be used to convert your original Sony EX charger to a power supply in a pinch without cutting wires.

I use em they are great.

Hi Leonard: I bought two Swit S-8U62 with my EX1R in October. So far so good, no issues, they charge fine on the Sony charger that came with the camera. They are 14.4V and 63Wh and have the extra D-tap connector. So far just powering the camera with them, but bought them so that they could also power a low pwr LED light via the D-tap.

As I understand , it doesn't show you the "minutes" left readout in the viewfinder. Is that a problem? Is there any readout in the viewfinder that lets you know your batt is getting low? Does the batt symbol show weaker charge or start flashing when low.

Re the 4pin XLR. Does that make it more cumbersome or make you worry about losing the cable?

Maybe Alex Dolgin who sells the Swit could make up the adapters to go with it. I was thinking of getting the BCU2 charger/AC adapter to go with it but would need an XLR adapter there also. I hope its not too much draw for the Sony AC adapter over prolonged use.

Damn I wanted this to be simple!

Timur - what do you use as AC power for your F3?

Leonard, you have a row of 4 tiny led's on the Swit batteries that give you a marginally accurate representation of the juice left in the battery. I've found that it goes down to 2 then 1 light pretty quickly but then lasts longer than on the 3rd and 4th lights.

Because the Swit batteries don't directly connect into the EX cameras like the Sony batts do, you have to use the small pigtail cable to hook into the camera's external connector. When you use a Swit battery on an F3 you must unplug this cable or else the camera gives you an error message. You also need, as mentioned earlier, a D-Tap to 4-pin XLR for the F3. To charge the Swit's on a Sony charger you need to then plug the cable back into the battery or it won't charge them

This is the adaptor cable I just received from convergent design that will allow me to power the Nanoflash off the Swit battery's D-tap and power the camera with the 4-pin.

Let me see if I get this right:

On the EX I just connect the swit pigtail into the EX.
On the F3 there is only an XLR 4pin so do I need to connect the Swit pigtail to an XLR adapter or use a Dtap to XLR 4 pin. What if I also want to use the DTap for a sungun and or a a Nano?

From the picture you are going to plug the Swit pigtail into that cable and then plug it into the XLR 4-pin DC in of the F3. Then you will connect a D-Tap to Hirose cable from the Swit D-Tap connector and plug it into the Nano Flash to power it.

For an EX camera, you would not use that cable at all, but rather plug the pigtail into the camera DC in directly and use a D-Tap to Hirose for the Nano Flash.

I'm using a similar system for F3, but with 2 D-Taps and an Anton Bauer breakout for up to 4 D-Taps
Anton Bauer PowerTap Multi POWERTAP MULTI B&H Photo Video


But I like the cable shown here, so I guess I'll be giving Dan a call next week . . .

just ordered mine from Dolgin.

For people just getting into the Anton Bauer ecosystem of batteries, cables and plugs be VERY careful about the way you insert your D-Tap (or PowerTap) connector into it's socket. The multi-tap connector can splay apart allowing you to insert the connector backwards. If the device is a piece of electronics you can very well FRY it before you even have time to yank the plug out.

I have industrial velcro on all sides of my multitap which helps to keep the casing from splaying apart. This siutation can easily arise on a shoot when things are quite dark around the camera and you are in a rush adding or removing accessories. An LED flashlight or headlamp is good in this situation or marking one side of your D-Tap connectors with whiteout or some reflective paint can help in these situations.