DVX usercom. batteries......
 

Are the best deal in town folks. I've got loads of them and they are excellent.

batteries for DVX100a
 

is there much difference betwen a Panny battery and a no name brand battery that you wou
ld buy on ebay for fraction of the brand name battery?

Depends on the battery you get. No-name batteries may nor may not have the actual capacity that they claim to. I know someone conducted a test where they weighed a bunch of supposedly equivalent batteries, and found wildly different weights (and corresponding different runtimes).

The best bang-for-the-buck on DVX batteries are the $69 5,000 mah batteries sold at dvxuser.com. They're less than half the cost of Panasonic's largest, CGR-D54.

I've also found luck on ebay with the CGR-D54, under its Japanese product name, which I believe was VW-VBD55 (or something like that). Ebay seller "shimwass" was selling them brand-new, in the package, for $90. I got one when I first got my DVX, and it's still going strong two years later, and is the first battery I reach for.

yah..koo thanx
i just got in touch wif dvxuser so we'll see....
thanx again

slow day at work, so i decied to look over every post in the forum and i came across this one. i'm looking to get some batteries and this one caught my eye. i went to the link listed but i could not find the $35 battery, only a $79. is the $35 still avalible? i understand it's a lower mAH.

hey sorry the $35 was a long time ago, we only have the $79 ones.. but the $79 ones last 2x as long as the $35 ones if that helps.

jarred's batteries.....
 

are the best bang for the buck! Get'um while you can.

Keep Battery in Cam When not in Use?
 

Greetings:

I just got a DVC30. My only previous experience with a camcorder was with one that is at least 7 years old, and its' manual said that you should not leave the battery in the cam when it was not being used because some of the juice was being used even when the cam was off.

I have not seen this caution in the DVC30's manual. So is this (battery being drained when camera is off) no longer an issue? Can I leave the battery in my cam?

Thanks in advance,

Jonathon,
I've drained my battery a couple of times -- but only because I have the camera set to not turn off in standby mode and I accidently left it on when I put in the case. To be sure, I've been trying to remember to remove the battery -- I don't have a real reason to keep it on there, so it wouldn't hurt to keep it off when not in use.

Jonathan,

Just a personally preference, I always disconnect the battery. Depending on if I'm going to be using it later in the day. If you plan to "store" it for a day or two or longer...I wouldn't leave it on.

I have plenty of rechargeable and non-rechargeable batteries. Either they are used or not...over time they lose their juice. I think it's more of maintaing your camera than the battery. Because if the battery is connected, you can always accidently turn it on, leave it on, record while not know...and a gamut of other scenarios.

Tim and Jun:

Thanks for the answer. I guess part of what had (has?) me wondering is that the battery connector on the camera is exposed to dust w/o the battery on, and I was thinking dust might prevent a good connection. But apparently that's not a concern? Or do you make sure to store your cam in a dust free environment?

I appreciate your comments.

I would have to say of course...keep it in clean enviroment. PERIOD.

Having said that...it reminds me....if you plan to shoot at the beach...do it with caution. Getting sand inside your camera can ruin your day.

Jonathan,

Keeping the battery connected, even with the camera off, will slightly drain the batt.

You should keep dust off of the camera by storing it in camera bag. A protective case is one of the most inexpensive and most valuable investments you can make. Dust, smoke and floating "crap" are your worst enemies. These will kill a pro-consumer camera before anything else.

Do a search for camera bags on this site and protect your investment ASAP.

Steph

Stephanie:

Thank you for your helpful input.

Wow! Check out Overstock.com. I just ordered 2 5600mah CTA batteries from them for 59.95 each and only 2.95 shipping!!

The same batteries I saw on other sites were over $100!

If you've got a .....
 

good deal, go for it. I support Jared Land over at DVX users com by buying his batteries because he's a shooter and provides good quality batteries at very good prices. Quality control is a very important point to keep in mind.

thanks Dean.

Just to be clear These arnt the same batteries.. these are the same ones they sell on ebay for $20.. you gotta be careful on some of the cheap batteries because they can throw random voltages to the camera. Also the MAH can be inaccurate, as many manufactures just relabel the cells. Ive even seen 6000mah cells being advertised out there, which is a chemical imposibility at this time.

I'm guessing you mean these ones:

http://cgi.ebay.com/PANASONIC-CGA-D5...QQcmdZViewItem

What about the 4800 mAh ones?

http://cgi.ebay.com/CGR-D54-battery-...QQcmdZViewItem

I've bought 2 of them, should I get rid of them?

I looked at the Ebay ad, it has a major error in the description, calling it a 3.7V battery. There is no way it can be true, as the cameras listed as compatible are all 7.2V cams. As far as capacity rating, you can fully charge the battery first, plug it in, load the tape in the camera, and record non stop.
You will have to reload tape several times, if it lasts longer than an hour. The camera uses about 8w with the LCD open. The battery is rated as 4800ma (that is about 35Wh). So if it truely delivers what it is rated for, it should last about 4 hours. If less than that, do your math. 2 h would be 2400ma.
HTH
Alex Dolgin

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.