powering Sony a7s with external 12V battery

[Cees van Kempen]

I found a dummy battery available to power the a7(s) from the AC mains. Does anyone know a solution to power it from a dummy battery from a 12V DC battery?

[Cliff Totten]

I got this one:

Amazon.com : AC Power Supply Adapter For Sony AC-PW20 Sony Alpha NEX-5 NEX-5A NEX-5C NEX-5CA NEX-5CD NEX-5H NEX-5K NEX-3 NEX-3A NEX-3C NEX-3CA NEX-3CD NEX-3D NEX-3K SLT-A33 SLT-A33L SLT-A55 SLT-A55V SLT-A55VL : Camera Power Adapters : Camera & Photo

The only odd thing is that it will power the A7s for about 3 hours straight. (about a little longer than 3)

The A7s will somehow "think" the "battery" is dying after 3 hours and warn you that the battery is low. Turning the A7s off than on again will reset the 3 hour clock.

Not sure why this happens. My RX10 does this too.

So,..if 3+ hour recordings are OK with you, this will work.

[Cees van Kempen]

Hmm, strange this 3 hour thing.

I also think this power adapter is for mains AC only? I intend to power my camera stand-alone in the field from a large 12V battery, connected to a motion sensor. It should be running for one or two days, so 3 hours is too limited for me.

Hope I can do this with the a7s.

[Matt Sharp]

If you're using something like a bank of car batteries you can just run an inverter and plug in the AC adapter.

If it were me I'd get get a gold mount battery and hook one of these to it. But the largest 205Wh battery only a bit more than 13x as much power. If you're doing video that's about 16:45 hours but it would probably suffice if you're only triggering photos.

[Andrew Gough]

I have powered the A7s using the Sony AC mains adapter and a Paul Buff Vagabond Battery pack. I shot an entire day of time-lapse sequences, and it showed full power the entire time. I shot the A7s in silent mode.

Andrew

[Leon Kolenda]

Originally Posted by Cliff Totten

I got this one:

Amazon.com : AC Power Supply Adapter For Sony AC-PW20 Sony Alpha NEX-5 NEX-5A NEX-5C NEX-5CA NEX-5CD NEX-5H NEX-5K NEX-3 NEX-3A NEX-3C NEX-3CA NEX-3CD NEX-3D NEX-3K SLT-A33 SLT-A33L SLT-A55 SLT-A55V SLT-A55VL : Camera Power Adapters : Camera & Photo

The only odd thing is that it will power the A7s for about 3 hours straight. (about a little longer than 3)

The A7s will somehow "think" the "battery" is dying after 3 hours and warn you that the battery is low. Turning the A7s off than on again will reset the 3 hour clock.

Not sure why this happens. My RX10 does this too.

So,..if 3+ hour recordings are OK with you, this will work.

Hey Cliff, Not trying to steal this thread here, But I want to use my RX10 with an AC adapter and record out of the HDMI port to a Ninja-2 for longer than 29 minutes, It seems you may have that working? Any overheat problems using a AC Adapter for 3-hours? I want to use my RX-10 to shoot some events.

[Cliff Totten]

Nope,...the RX10 ran like a champ. It was just the same as the A7s..about 3 hours before it forced you to power down and back up again.

It's funny, even though they both are running off AC, the Battery meters on the cameras slowly "drain" down when shooting. After about 3 hours, the meters read less that 20% even though the AC dummy battery is plug is feeding normal constant power to the camera.

CT

[Charles Papert]

I'm not sure if this answers the question or not, but this may help:

Sony A7s

[Alex Dolgin]

We are coming up with a power solution based on using common DV batteries.
FW50 V adapter [FW50 V 7.2] - $69.00 : Dolgin Engineering, Camera Power Products
The FW50 V adapter accepts one of the high capacity batteries, and powers the camera using a DC coupler (dummy battery) which is included. We are looking for Beta testers located in US. PM if interested.
Once this is released, we will have another kit consisting of a 12V to 7.2V step down converter and a DC coupler.
Cheers.

[Matt Sharp]

Originally Posted by Alex Dolgin

We are coming up with a power solution based on using common DV batteries. We are looking for Beta testers located in US.

Alex I'm definitely interested! My email is sharpmatt8 at gmail.com

[Oren Arieli]

I use this battery along with a dummy plug in for my Panasonic G6, and a motorized slider. It also works for the Zoom H5n and any mini USB powered device. Best bang for the buck!
http://www.amazon.com/20000mAh-Alumi...2v+usb+charger

[Alex Dolgin]

Originally Posted by Matt Sharp

Alex I'm definitely interested! My email is sharpmatt8 at gmail.com

Just to let everybody know that we are not looking for beta testers anymore; we have received a good amount of positive feedback by now - the adapter is available for ordering.
Thank you all!

[Ryan Douthit]

Thanks Alex,

Do you know if we can use one battery to power both the A7 as well as an Odyssey 7Q+? I see the second connector option, just curious how I'd wire that -- if I can. (I prefer to not solder myself)

Also, which parts do I need specifically to connect this to a cheeseplate and get it all running. It looks as though the dummy battery may be a separate item? Or is that part of the "kit" from this page:

Power Plate EX-14.4-A7 [EX-14.4-7.2 A7] - $139.00 : Dolgin Engineering, Camera Power Products

Lastly, what's the benefit of a Westside V-Lock vs. Traditional V-Lock? Do I need to "add bracket" for a system? There are a lot of options, without ample description.

[Alex Dolgin]

Ryan, it should work just fine. I do not have access to the pieces that you use, so can not tell you that I actually tested the configuration.
The CD uses their proprietary power cable, I unfortunately do not have it here. You might want to give Olof from Westside AV a call, as he uses them and gets them directly from CD. We can install either a standard 2.1mm plug or give you a pigtail (unterminated wire).
The A7 DC coupler is included in the kit that we supply. It has a built in chip to talk to the camera to make sure it does not reject power.
As far as mounting, your best bet is to order the optional Westside AV V-bracket that Olof makes for us. You do not have to have it as our plate has 4 mounting holes in the back, you could just drill 4 matching holes in your cheese plate for them.
Regards

[Peter Rush]

Originally Posted by Charles Papert

I'm not sure if this answers the question or not, but this may help:

Sony A7s

Absolutely outrageous price for a camera PSU - £237!!!! - It's also a 6 X capacity battery so I suppose that justifies the high price tag

Anyone recommend something I can get in the UK that works for them? I can live with the 3 hour limit as long as I can restart and get another 3 hours

Pete