Hi Bryan,

I'm seriously thinking about trying to swap them out for Sony batteries.

Cheers,
Neil

Yeah, I agree.
after reading what you just posted about the batteries, time to make them go bye bye and get some Sony's.

It makes no sense sometimes. We spend thousands on a camera and try and save pennies on the accessories. I'm the same way :)

Yeah, Neal, return those stiffs and get a refund. Then, buy just one Sony 960 battery, and skip the charger for the time being. Most people can't fully discharge that one battery in a day's worth of shooting.

After time, if you need a second battery, you may also want to get the Sony video light HVL-20DW2, and the beauty is, it uses the same batteries. Then I would suggest getting the slightly smaller 730 battery to power the light, or, as a backup to the camera. By then you will know if you really need the charger. I find I don't.

In my expereience, some "knock-off" brands fail to make proper contact with either the charger and/or the camera.


Get new batteries from SONY and you should not have a problem.

get a sony 960 here brand new only £37

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2931156444&category=23780

and get your HVL-20DW2 here
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2931343959&category=23780


stick a wide diffuser from a flashgun over it- kills the spot

Hi Neil,

Sure sound as if they are duds. I ended up getting three NPF-750's for mine instead of one large NPF-960. My reasoning was that the 960 would go all day ok fine but then you have to charge it, if you forgot, you ended up with one big flat battery the next day which is not much use to man nor beast.

With the three 750's(Plus the baby 330) I've got a reasonable chance of having a 'live' one ;) even if things start turning to custard cause I forgot to charge 'em.......

Wayne's right - follow the Sony instructions and buy genuine Sony Info-lithiums and you won't go far wrong. When I found there was no seperate charger with my TRV900 and VX2k I felt Sony were being mean and I'd have to buy one, but no. The 750 or the 960 go for *hours* and battery charge is now the least of my worries.

tom.

Just Curious Battery Slider
 

One of the forum members gave link to BBC Tutorials on VX2000--thankyou for this--many good tips for beginner like me (besides the wealth of info from this forum). The longer BBC tutorial says in section on "Battery Indications"- quote--"There is a little slider on the back of the battery with a little green stripe showing if the battery is charged." Not afraid to show my ignorance, I have looked on the various Sony LiIon batteries I have from TRV 9 and the one that came with Vx2000 and I don't see any "little slider on the back of the battery.." I have probably misinterpreted the BBC comment, but I am curious now about the elusive "slider."

Some had it. But not any of the new ones that I know of.

My NPF-530 and NPF-930 have it, my newer batteries do not.

The slider is on the end of the battery with the power connections.

Slider
 

Thanks Mike.

SONY VX2000/PD150 batteries
 

I just got a NPF960 style battery from Artie at
www.alartvideo.com (1-877-98-ALART) and it works
awesome unlike some other off-brands. It fits
perfectly into the camera. It even works with the
SONY 10/20 watt light as some off brands tend to work
only with the 10 watt lamp only.

It is being sold for only 65 dollars.

Thanks
Lou Bruno

You can buy brand new real Sony batteries of the same size on Ebay for that price. Many sell batteries which are in the original package and unopened. I bought mine there, I think I paid around $55. I've bought a lot of camcorder batteries from ebay sellers. A great bargain.

Sony NP-F960 battery
 

I see these batteries listing so cheap on Ebay with not many bidders. The poster says that these batteries are brandnew, but they're shipped in OE bulk package, and that they will be shipped in a plastic bag instead of the retail clam shell package. The battery might have minor scratches and is under warranty for one year. Should I trust this? Of of them is listed here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2940218027&category=43447

If someone has positive/negative experience with these batteries, please share.

Thanks,
Lucas

I bought my 2 batteries at e-bay, both NPF-960. Yes, it is original Sony, has a little scratch but can hold 6 hours on my PD150. I once have received a DOA and the seller refunds me after returning it.

Jun