Battery life & alternatives?

Maybe it's too early to be asking this, but can anyone speculate on how long these cameras will run using the stock Canon batteries? What battery options will work if you want longer run times?

Canon USA told me to expect about seven hours from a BP-970G, the most powerful battery they currently have. Either camera ships with a BP-950G, good for about five hours. Based on that info, power consumption seems to be about the same as the XL H1.

Cool, thanks. How many stitches have you had to get recently from having to bite your tongue? :-)

Oh I'm used to it. I had a zipper and a padlock installed on my kisser years ago.

Forgive me for being blind, but where will be battery connect to the cameras? The rear views show a covered backend, is that a door or something?

Edit: just noticed the "hidden battery" feature in the press release.

See http://www.dvinfo.net/canonxh/xhfaq.php

Thanks, Chris.

I looked at the pictures and seached for an answer but I just don't see where the battery goes or is they nuclear powered.

See http://www.dvinfo.net/canonxh/xhfaq.php

Thanks Chris. I missed that part where the battery in on the inside of the camera via a battery door on the back.

Love the ideat that the batteries on the A1/G1 are stored internally, especially during bitter cold NY winter days. But, does this affect the ability to make longer lasting batteries? For example, the higher capacity BP-945 for the XL-H1 is physically a much larger battery.

I see Canon has two new battery offerings for the XH series: the BP-950G and BP-970G, but, there are no details yet.

Hi Michael,

Actually the BP-950G and 970G were introduced last year with the XL H1. So they're nothing new for the XH series. The 950G is the same size as the older BP-930, and the 970G is the same size as the older 945. The internal battery well in the XH A1 and G1 will accomodate the larger BP-970G. That battery provides about seven hours of recording time. I seriously doubt that Canon will ever make a larger form factor batt than the 970G. The XH cams ship with a BP-950G. That's about five hours of recording time right out of the box. Hope this helps,

Here's what's behind the battery compartment door. The BP-950G has been pulled halfway out. The larger BP-970G fits easily. Note the SD card slot just above.

wow.

your pic?

My pic but sadly not my cam.

Will the standard canon input from the CH110 fit?

makes no sence to me. how much effort/ moving around the camera, just to change a batt.?

greetings

makes no sence to me. how much effort/ moving around the camera, just to change a batt.?

Correct me if I'm wrong Chris, but it doesn't seem like a lot of effort. You just push that one slider button, open the hatch and change the battery. It's similar to the way you change the battery on any digital camera.

The advantage of a totally internal battery bay is that no matter what size battery you use, the size of the camera remains the same, i.e. no big battery poking you in the nose if you use the viewfinder.

That's right Tim; the extra "trouble" of an internal batt. adds all of about one second to the time it takes to change batts. It's simply no big deal, and the benefits of an internal mount (especially in colder weather) far outweigh any drawbacks. Honestly I can't think of any drawbacks. You get seven hours endurance from a BP-970G in this camera.

So Chris, I see a cable plugged into the HD out, did you happen to look up from the battery compartment and see any footage?????

It was cabled to an LCD monitor. Now I'll have to go back and see what kind it is.

The look of the video is all Canon, exactly like the XL H1 as far as I could tell.

any word on my question about the CH110??

I live in Michigan, shoot in cold weather and your battery doesn't last very long at all. Sure you can make your own battery "coats" but internal battery bays are kind of nice.

A positive of an internal battery is that it can't get bumped off. On my vx2000 when i used the the large 970 batteries i've broken contact occassionally when the back of the camera is pushed up against my body. Let me tell you its no small deal when in the middle of shooting the camera goes dead.

For Matthew -- the CH-910 dual battery holder / charger connects to the Canon GL, XL and XH camcorders using a dummy battery plate which attaches to the external battery well on those camcorders. What you would have to do with the XH cams is to rig a special cable that has the proper ring / tip sleeves on both ends and connect it to the camera at its DC input jack. So I suppose you could fabricate such a thing, but I would have to ask, why would you bother. The BP-970G battery will power an A1 or G1 for about seven hours... are you really going to need constant, uninterrupted DC power for longer than that amount of time?

So you are saying the CH910 is not "techincally" a supported add on for the XH

I only ask because I own for my Xl2 and 2 BP 945's which provide an awful lot of power. Would be nice to retain its usefullness.

Right, technically it is not supported (think about it... how would you attach the dummy battery plate to a connector that's inside that internal battery compartment?) -- but you could probably rig a special cable to the DC input jack using the workaround I described above.

One BP-970G is almost like having two BP-945 batteries anyway, so no big deal.

I guess you're right Chris. As always. I can also use the 945's independently...

I did notice that two 945's running seperate dont last as long as coupled on the Ch910. Any reason?

Who much is the 970? I would love to put two on the Ch910! I would never have to turn it off!

But yes, I will probably purchase one with the XhA1

Chris, looking at the pictures on the Watchdog, I'm not finding any port to connect a DC power supply. Does this mean that the XH cameras can ONLY be powered by the battery, with no capability at all to run off converted wall current?

Well now that you mention it Pete, I can't find it either. But surely it has one, perhaps underneath somewhere. Looks like I'll have to ask Canon USA to clarify its location for us.

I don't think there is a dedicated DC input jack. To power the camera off wall power, you need that dummy battery plate from a CH-910 or DC-920.

If you look closely, there is a small grommet on the battery compartment hatch. I think this is a pass-thru for the cable for the dummy battery plate from the CH-910 or the DC-920. Another clue is on the Japanese page for XH accessories ( http://cweb.canon.jp/cgi-bin/prodv-op/srch_op.cgi?_XHG1_ ) it says both the CH-910 and DC-920 are compatible with the XH series cameras.

I saw that too and couldn't tell if it was a pass-through grommet or an IR sensor. But since the Japanese web page says those units are compatible, then that's good enough for me. Thanks Tim,

No problem Chris! I've been staring at these XH photos so much to pass the time waiting for these cameras to arrive, I know every nook and cranny by now :)

Too bad the manuals can't be released ahead of time. That would make for some mighty fine reading.

You know my Canon A-1 Digital had a battery compartment in the front, on the bottom and the dummy plate fit in there to supply converted power from 110 AC.

So it does take the Ch910!

Alright

Terry, the old Hi-8 format A1 was my first Canon camcorder. Nice to run across somebody who remembers it.

Yes that was my first Canon video camera also. Boy was I so excited to have that!

A friend of mine had an A1 back in those days, and I had a BVW300, which as you know only used the 20 or 30 minute mini Betacam tapes. Occasionally somebody would want me to shoot a seminar. If it was a decent job I'd rent a BVW50 deck and second BVW camera, but lots of them were not quality critical for the video. So, I would use a little Hi-8 portable deck we had and could get two hours out of that. Sometimes I'd use the friend's A1 as a reverse angle on the audience. It was always softer, but I got by with it, and the audience cutaways saved me more than once. Sony actually made a 1/2" chip professional Hi-8 camcorder that looked exactly like the UVW100 Betacam camera, but the little A1 looked damn near as good and was a heck of a lot cheaper.

Boy we are so far off topic now but I can't resist. Bill I think that Sony pro Hi-8 was the EVW-300. The king of all Hi-8 cameras, at least those that weren't dockable. See http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Hi8_3CCD-camcorder_Sony_EVW-300.jpg

BTW, have we determined for certain that the dummy charger plate is actually useable, presumably through a port in the battery compartment lid? It must be so, as I just couldn't imagine having a pro camcorder that could not accept wall power but would be nice confirm it.

I should be able to confirm it for you, with photos, in about 24 to 36 hours from now.

As promised, here it is: the guess about the access tab on the door is correct (click photo to see big).

By the way, Canon USA has asked me to demo these cams today for a group of college / university video program coordinators (as I do for CUSA and other companies from time to time at various trade shows and other events), so I have access to the A1 and G1 for a short time. So let me know what else I can show you.

Just wondering what battery life for the XH-A1 is like in recording mode, both with the standard battery that comes with the camera and any bigger batteries available from Canon. Also, is there an indicator somewhere to estimate battery life remaining, and if so where and in what form?

An energy hog is the best description I can give you. The battery that came with gives me about 2 hours or continuous operation. That might be because I use the flip out LCD over the eyepiece.

I just ordered a BP970 that is supposed to give 6.7 -7.5 hours of life. We shall see.

Heh this is one thing I need to be a bit more aware of, I have not stopped for a second to check battery times and its pretty important that I know. I have the 970. An hour use here and there hasnt seen the bar go down at all.

Ill keep a closer eye on it in future. I am using the lock function a lot so it saves me power.

Cody, that's a surprising assessment...sure you had the battery fully charged to start with?

The XL H1 lasts many hours on the standard BP-950G battery and I had the XH A1 powered on today using the LCD for well over an hour (although not recording), and the battery icon still shows fully charged.

The XH User manual shows over three hours using the LCD on bright under typical shooting conditions (see p17 of the manual). The battery icon in the display is depicted on pp142-143. Here's the existing sticky thread with a link to the downloadable user manual:
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=78794

I'll keep watch on battery life, as no doubt many others will.

Canon claims five hours for the BP-950G and seven hours for the BP-970G. It'll be nice to know what the real-world endurance is like under a variety of conditions.

Cody, that's a surprising assessment...sure you had the battery fully charged to start with?

The XL H1 lasts many hours on the standard BP-950G battery and I had the XH A1 powered on today using the LCD for well over an hour (although not recording), and the battery icon still shows fully charged.

The XH User manual shows over three hours using the LCD on bright under typical shooting conditions (see p17 of the manual). The battery icon in the display is depicted on pp142-143. Here's the existing sticky thread with a link to the downloadable user manual:
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=78794

I'll keep watch on battery life, as no doubt many others will.

Yeah, that is a fully charged battery that came with it. Not sure the number on it. I shot for almost the full two hours and used zoom and focus.

Twice now it has come in like that. I just got my 970G so I am really looking forward to that.

Thanks guys. Sounds like even the most pessimistic assessment is a big improvement over typical battery life for the Canon GL1/GL2.

Coming from bigger cameras, a 2 hour battery life looks awesome to me.