Mini Review: Canon EOS ACK-E6 AC Adapter

[Jenn Kramer]

We've just posted a little mini-review of the Canon ACK-E6AC ac power adapter for use with the 5D Mark II and 7D. It's a nice little piece of kit and if you're not familiar with it, this review will show you how it integrates.

Canon ACK-E6 AC Power Adapter Review at DVInfo.net

Comments, corrections and feedback welcome!

[Chris Barcellos]

I use this for time lapse and studio, shooting with the 5D. Works great and the camera thinks it is a fully charged battery on board. You can set your camera to no time outs, and it all great.

[Tramm Hudson]

You can also provide a stable 7.2 to 8.0 volt regulated input on the dummy battery plug and power the camera from a larger battery without any problems. I haven't tested to see how well it handles unregulated power, but my guess is that it would be ok since the batteries are constantly varying in their voltage output.

The adapter is also very useful for long firmware debugging sessions since it never runs down and the camera never gives the "Battery too low to update" message.

[Robert Kennedy]

I contacted Canon in search of the specs for the power connector on the DC adapter in that AC kit, they had no idea. I spent 30 minutes on the phone with a motivated guy and he wasn't able to get the specs. I know the DC plug is a male (rare here in the US) and is of Japanese origin (duh Canon). Fostex (Japanese as well) uses something similar on their FR-2, but I have been unable to find a decent source for this connector.

It won't be happy at 12-17V (as other production equipment is) as it is 7.4V by default. Looks like a DC to DC converter will be required when using standard ~12V batteries if I ever manage to find a mating connector.

-R

[Tramm Hudson]

Originally Posted by Robert Kennedy

I contacted Canon in search of the specs for the power connector on the DC adapter in that AC kit, they had no idea.

I couldn't find one either, so I went the other way and chopped the cable just before the plug and soldered a Deans Ultraplug to both sides. This way I can power it from my DC-DC converter that has a Deans output or from their AC adapter.

Afterwards I found what appears to be a match -- the EIAJ-4. It has a 1mm center plug and the barrel is 3.3mm ID / 5.5mm OD. I haven't ordered one to test yet.

[Robert Kennedy]

Has anyone else noticed the AC/DC box makes various noises?

Also, any concerns using a 12V battery and a DC/DC converter to drop down the voltage.
I ordered that part from DigiKey and will report back if it fits.

-RK

[Andrew Dean]

I was inspired by this thread so i bought just the DR-E6 dummy battery from amazon for $40, chopped the wierdo tip on it and soldered on a female mini-xlr. I then did the same to an extra cable for my tekkeon battery, only with a male mini-xlr. Its a tidy, professional looking connection and with the tekkeon 3450 set to 7.5v in my backpack or as a back-weight on a shoulder rig, I can now run the 7d all day long without plugging in or worrying about recharging.

Thanks for the inspiration!

-Andrew

[Chris Hurd]

That's pretty cool, Andrew! Can you please post some photos? Would love to see this thing...

[Andrew Dean]

Sure thing, Chris.

Here's a pic of the whole gizmo. I left the full length of the canon battery cable, so its a bit long, but I figured I'd rather leave it long, see how i use the battery and then chop it down to fit later.

I could have made an adapter to go from a normal tekkeon tip to the xlr, but I wanted to really simplify it down so there wouldn't be any accidents with voltage. The minixlr cord cannot be confused with the cord used to power the smallHD, etc. and I labelled it 7.5v as a further reminder. Hmm. In retrospect, i should put the 7.5v sticker on the tekkeon side of the cable.

In most of the photos I have just the 3450 hooked up. On the shoulder rig, i have the 3450 plus the 3450-10 add-on battery joined together. You clip the two together and it doubles the life of the 3450, giving you the same control over voltage but with the choice to add the mass to gain the extra time. I haven't done any "tests", but i shot 2 hours of an interview with the 3450+3450-10 and at the end I had only lost one "bar" on the batteries, so in theory that would give you like 18 hours shooting on a charge. Mind you, thats in theory.

Holler if you have any questions.

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/attachme...1&d=1269987609
http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/attachme...1&d=1269987609
http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/attachme...1&d=1269987609
http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/attachme...1&d=1269987609

[Charles Papert]

Switronix makes a regulator allow these cameras to be powered via p-tap from 14.4v battery sources with the DR-E6 (part of the AC adaptor kit and can be ordered separate)

Switronix Product Details

[Andrew Dean]

That device was certainly part of my inspiration. I wasn't so inspired by the $140 price tag though. For roughly the same price I bought a tekkeon battery, a charger and the mini-xlr adapters.

Of course, if you already have batteries with a p-tap, it certainly is sexy to get to use them.

[Charles Papert]

Power management is one of the more annoying factors with these cameras, once you start accessorizing. I'm having a slew of voltage regulated cables made to get everything to the same voltage. 7.2v will manage a lot of it but there's plenty of 12v stuff out there (onboard monitors, for one) and I like to have a single battery powering everything.

[Andrew Dean]

A super-battery would certainly be a cool thing to have. I want a giant 12ah tekkeon with 8 outputs, each voltage selectable. hehe.

So i was shooting b-roll for a fuel additive video. I ended up crawling around the engine room of a russian icebreaker. I didn't have room for a shoulder rig, so i just handheld and shoved the tekkeon in my back pocket. It certainly wasn't a "normal" shooting environment, and having a spare canon battery in my pocket would have probably sufficed, but it was still kind of an interesting experiment for a super portable long-life battery.

So here's the weird part... I shoot interviews in a mildly warm room and after 30 minutes I get the overheat icon. I spend 4 hours in a "hot as blazes" engine room sweating my butt off and the cam runs fine. weird.

I think that the 7ds are posessed by magii. The oil lamp icon actually indicates that a genie inside is bored with what you are shooting.

[Philip Collins]

@Andrew

I have all the parts in my shopping cart at BH. Before i hit the payment key, I just wanted to make sure that the only modifications needed are to splice the mini-xlr attachments onto the provided cables.

Any advice before i get started? I have done some cable splicing before, but always just fixing broken cables or shortening them, never converting.

Thanks!!!

[Andrew Dean]

Heya Phil,

You aren't the curator of the African American Museum by any chance, are ya? (i know, I know, Phillip Collins is a pretty common name. I'm not the country and western singer, btw.)

My biggest reaction i have is that after using this rig for awhile now, I think I'll be buying a 3450i instead of the 3450. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/618847-REG/Tekkeon_MP3450I_myPower_ALL_Plus_MP3450i.html
The only real difference is that you set the voltage with a dip switch. On the 3450 you poke the silver button on the side and it cycles through all the voltage options. Whenever you disconnect from the battery it resets back to 5v and you have to do it again. If you do not lock the battery then you can accidently bump the button and raise the voltage too high and possibly damage the camera. If you lock the unit, this wont happen, but if the cable becomes unplugged, you have to unlock the battery, set the voltage and lock it again, which is a hassle and a point where mistakes can easily be made in a panic. WIth the 3450i i could set it to 7.5v and thats what it would output regardless.

i would rather eliminate the risk of poking the voltage button one too many times and frying the 7d. I haven't damaged mine, but it means i'm very very wary and cautious every time i use the battery and do not let others touch it. With the 3450i, i could slap some gaf tape over the dip switches and be guaranteed that its only gonna output 7.5v. In essence it would become a purpose-dedicated 7d external battery.

If you've ever shortened a cable then soldering the battery and tekkeon together is a breeze. The dr-e6 cable has two wires inside and the tekkeon cable has 3. one positive, one negative, and the tekkeon has a third wire that gets bridged (i think to ground, i'd have to check) when you plug an adapter tip on the end. This is so the battery knows when you are changing tips and can drop your voltage back down for safety. I used mini-xlr because they looked nice and lock, but any inline connector would work.

I'm always a bit wary of telling people to do what i did, partly because i'm fairly primitive electronically. I know how to use an ohmmeter to determine what wire goes to where, and a voltmeter to determine positive/negative/voltage. I'm happy to take pictures of the inside of my connectors, but even then it would pay for you to use your own tests to verify you have it wired up correctly before putting it in the camera. (I don't remember what wire is what now, so i'd have to meter them again to be sure)

The super easy solution is to buy the bg-e7 for $180 plus a pack of eneloop rechargeable AAs. Then you are pretty much never without a battery option anywhere in the world near stores. This would add a bit of bulk to the camera which might not work with how you shoot.

While i have the tekkeon solution, i also bought a second battery for my 7d. When shooting dramatic stuff, i just keep one battery on the charger and one in the camera and that seems to be enough to never run out.

My 2c. I can see the merits of a second battery, my tekkeon solution, the p-tap voltage adapter and the handgrip. If you decide the tekkeon is your favorite, i'll help however I can.

cheers!
-a