Thanks Alex,
My main concern is that these batteries will throw random voltages and damage my camera as Jared had mentioned earlier in the thread. Will they? If so I'd rather throw them out. The battery I bought was advertised at 7.2 volts, not 3.7 and was purchased through a retailer in Vancouver BC.

I'm with Dino. But an earlier post suggested that aftermarket batteries were OK. Is there any evidence that some will throw random voltages to the cam? If so, how can you tell which ones? Maybe it's better just to stick with the Panasonic ones?

Anyone had experience with the CTA batteries? While going for a good price on Overstock, I've seen the same brand on other sites for $99 - 119. If I can't trust 'em I'll send them back.

Scpan-6000
 

We have just recently made available a 6000mAh for $99.99.

http://www.spec-comm.com/SCPAN-6000.php

Best regards,

Andrew Hoffman
Senior Operations Manager
Specialized Communications Corp.
20940 Twin Springs Dr.
Smithsburg, MD 21783-1510 USA
800-359-1858
Fax: 301-790-0173
andrewh@spec-comm.com
www.spec-comm.com

Battery belt
 

I have never bought a battery belt. I plan on going to Africa to do a documentary and I don't want to run out of battery power. Are there good battery belts out there that will supply power for me for many, many hours?

You could start by looking at the Bescor and NRG offerings.

Panasonic actually have a belt clip battery with a 9hr rating.. i bought 3 of these... the cable is a lil under a metre in length and for its size, its actually lighter than the clip on 10hr battery.

Actual life is about 5 to 6 hours...But you can get the same results frm the 5400/5600 offerings..

i now use generic 5600mha which i get for $80AUD and they last as long (if nto longer) than the panasonic offerings at less than a quarter of the price..
You can have 4 of these and shoot all day. I usually need only one battery change every 10 or so hours when im shooting for long periods using these bateries.
The camera is DVX100 and its in manual mode with EVF only (no LCD used)

Strange Issue with Battery Charger
 

I bought two of the extended batteries for DVX100b from BH, the $149 ones..I tried charging them today, and neither would charge in the charger that came with the camera. Do I need a different charger? It would start charging than suddenly the green light would go off like almost instantly so I didnt know if it was charging anymore..after leaving on for a little while longer I'd put them on the camera to be told I have a full battery with only 45 minutes..so it's strange anyone have this issue?

Hi Peter...........
 

Query:

Were these proper Panasonic batteries or "knock offs" (aka Generic)?

The reason I ask is that the new battery systems have got so sophisticated, they must have a proprietry chip inside to control the charge rate etc etc.

If the batteries you bought are "generic" then that could be your problem with the charger.

You may well need a "generic" charger to do the job, else, simply leave them on the Panasonic charger overnight and see if they're good to go in the morning.

Don't be suprised if they're not, but be thankfull if they are.


CS

It is true for Sony, not Panasonic. Panasonic does not put any smart chips in their batteries. I already posted a guess on another forum, might be trying to run the camera while charging. It can only do one at a time.

This has just happened to the (full size $150) battery that came with my DVX when I bought it used two years ago. This was an official Panny battery.

My friend sold me the camera, and said both parts were bought new in 2006.

At first it started to only charge half way (the battery indicator would show halfway, and I would get an hour or two out of it) and now recently it barely holds a charge.

Point being, though, I've generally had that weird issue where it barely charges. I've even taken it off the charger, put it back on, and gotten it to get the "Charge" light to come on again. Now it just doesn't charge at all.

I just ordered a replacement battery, but it does make me nervous about the lifespan of my other batteries. I store them in the camera case in my basement - not sure if I'm storing them improperly? Three years seems too short (unless he gave me an older battery from before 2006).

EDIT - btw I have another $150 battery that I bought new with the camera, and it works fine. So there's nothing wrong with the charger/camera/etc.