Powering OFF NanoFlash

[Anthony McErlean]

I Know..... I'm still using my MF :)

Hi, I need to pick someone’s brain :)

I record weddings and I have my NanoFlash powered by the DC out of my PMW-320. When I switch the camera on, the NF powers up and when I turn the camera off, the NF goes off.

Now, I'm thinking of using the NF along with my Z-280, I know I shouldn't need to, I'm useing the NF just as a backup, Its just I'm so used to having it as a back-up to my SXS cards in the 320, It just gives me that wee bit more piece of mind.

Anyway, I'm powering the NF with the D-Tap to 4pin Hi rose Power Cable, It works fine, only thing is as you will know, once the D-Tap is connected, the NF powers up when the camera isn't on.

Is it OK to just pull the D-Tap connector out to power off the NF?
Its not powered down as it was when the NF was connected to my PMW-320 and its this, that I'm a bit worried about.

I suppose I could just keep the NF powered on during the day without removing and then inserting the D-Tap again, only thing about that is, knowing me, I'd forget to power on the NF :) and maybe the NF will draw next to no power anyway, even if it is on for most of the wedding day when not being used.

Thoughts please and thanks.

[Christopher Young]

I also asked this question years back. I've only ever turned the NF on/off by inserting/pulling the D-Tap as mine didn't have a switch. Never had an issue. The very first NFs has a small circular black power switch. This switch was retained but bypassed on later models then finally it was dropped. Take note of the "Power Save" feature outlined by Dan Keaton from Convergent Design in one of his posts in Dec 2009.

Chris Young

=======================================

"We had two reasons to disable the power switch.

1. We found some of our power switches to be unreliable.

Some would start to get harder to press to operate over time, then they could fail completely.

We try to purchase the best parts, but this switch has let us down.

2. We found that when using the "Trigger on Incrementing Timecode", it was very easy to become very comfortable with the nanoFlash. In order words just power it on at the beginning of a shoot then ignore it except for occasionally checking the amount of room left on the cards.

We found that when some users change out their battery, they would occasionally forget to power on the nanoFlash again. This is a major problem as they would be pressing the record button on the camera, but the nanoFlash was not recording, since it was powered down.

So, we now build all nanoFlashes with the power switch disabled. The unit powers on automatically when power is applied.

The nanoFlash has a Power Save feature in the menu. When this is enabled, the nanoFlash will go into a very low power state whenever the HD-SDI input is removed. This low power state draws 0.2 watts. Even our smallest battery will power the nanoFlash for days in this mode.

Thus, one can apply power at the start of a shoot, and whenever the camera is powered off, then nanoFlash goes into low power mode. When the HD-SDI is restored, the nanoFlash powers up automatically and is ready to record almost immediately.

If anyone has a nanoFlash with the least bit a problem with the power switch, please let us know and we will modify your unit.
__________________
Dan Keaton
Augusta Georgia"

[Anthony McErlean]

Thank you Chris, for taking the time to reply,

If you just removed the D-Tap plug to power off the NF and it did no harm, that's good to know.

Regarding the power save option in the menu, that sounds a good idea but again, I'd forget to connect the SDI plug before I would start to record with the NF again :)

Yesterday I had a look and found one of my V-Lock batteries down to one power light remaining, I pluged this battery directly into my NF, after 4 hours of powering the NF I just unpluged it, It would have lasted longer i'm sure but that was enought time to show me that the Nano dosen't draw much power anyway.

I can either leave the Nano alone and let it stay powered on or unplug the D-Tap and hopefully remember to plug the D-Tap back in, LOL

Thank you Chris, that was a great help :)

[Christopher Young]

No worries Anthony.

"Regarding the power save option in the menu, that sounds a good idea but again, I'd forget to connect the SDI plug before I would start to record with the NF again :)"

I think there may be a little misunderstanding here. You can leave the SDI cable connected all the time as the Nano will only go in power save mode if the camera is turned off. As soon as the camera power is turned on the SDI BNC becomes alive. It's the voltage at the SDI BNC that kicks the Nano out off standby mode. If no SDI signal voltage is present at the BNC the Nano will drop in power save mode. I've noticed this when using the Nano as a backup recorder on an SDI vision switcher if the switcher is powered down.

If you are going to want to use the power-saving mode make sure you are running the last software version that was made available. That is v1.6.248. The power save mode was disabled from v1.5.249 because the Nano would fail to start in 1/250 starts due to a bug. Once they had the bug solved they reactivated the power save option. Can't recall in which version that happened but I can confirm it's available and works for me in v1.6.248. If you don't have the latest v1.6.248 firmware just let me know.

Chris Young

[Anthony McErlean]

Ah, :) thanks for that again Chris. OK I will check that out and get back, thanks.

[Anthony McErlean]

Chris, the Firmware version on my NF is 1.6.248, so it seems I already have the latest.

I had a look and I see Power saving > Auto Sleep or Auto LCD OFF.

Am I right in thinking if I want to use it along with my Z280, I will choose Auto Sleep?

Thanks Chris.

PS Just downloaded the NF User Manual and I see I do choose Auto Sleep.

[Christopher Young]

Auto Sleep it is my man! Happy shooting.

Chris Young.

[Anthony McErlean]

:) Thank you Chris.