Newbie question on Battery Packs at DVinfo.net

Ian Smith · February 10th, 2008, 05:29 AM

I'm looking at getting the Zylight for my EX1 after seeing the excellent video podcast on Steve Cahill's blog, but being new to all this wondered if there are any recommendations with regard to battery packs.

Should I be looking at a belt-attached battery pack (and if so any recommendations)?

And is there any advantage D-tap has over XLR connectivity (or vice-versa)?

Thanks in advance for any responses.

Ian

Bob Grant · February 10th, 2008, 07:19 AM

Generally I'd go for a belt pack. The Z90 draws 30W of power at full brightness so you need a decent sized battery to run it for any period of time. Plus as we've found some batteries do not like any load that discharges them too quickly, especially Li-Ion. So check that any battery you plan to use is rated to deliver 3 Amps or more.

D Tap or XLR, take your pick. However some of the Li-Ion brick batteries have a built in D Tap socket which is the cheapest way to get the power out of them. Later on if you also want to use that battery to power the camera you can use the V Lock connection for the camera and the D Tap for the light.

February 10th, 2008, 05:29 AM	#1
Ian Smith Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: London, UK Posts: 84	Newbie question on Battery Packs I'm looking at getting the Zylight for my EX1 after seeing the excellent video podcast on Steve Cahill's blog, but being new to all this wondered if there are any recommendations with regard to battery packs. Should I be looking at a belt-attached battery pack (and if so any recommendations)? And is there any advantage D-tap has over XLR connectivity (or vice-versa)? Thanks in advance for any responses. Ian

February 10th, 2008, 07:19 AM	#2
Bob Grant Trustee Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 1,570	Generally I'd go for a belt pack. The Z90 draws 30W of power at full brightness so you need a decent sized battery to run it for any period of time. Plus as we've found some batteries do not like any load that discharges them too quickly, especially Li-Ion. So check that any battery you plan to use is rated to deliver 3 Amps or more. D Tap or XLR, take your pick. However some of the Li-Ion brick batteries have a built in D Tap socket which is the cheapest way to get the power out of them. Later on if you also want to use that battery to power the camera you can use the V Lock connection for the camera and the D Tap for the light.