D-tap outlet from EX batteries

[George Kroonder]

Originally Posted by Ned Soltz

If the battery itself works, seems like a worthwhile product.

Supplying power though the DC IN is actually the supported way to power the camera externally. Making the battery physically compatible is genius!

I would kind of be bewildered if the battery itself would not work, it just being a battery...

George/

[Ned Soltz]

Originally Posted by George Kroonder

Supplying power though the DC IN is actually the supported way to power the camera externally. Making the battery physically compatible is genius!

I would kind of be bewildered if the battery itself would not work, it just being a battery...

George/

By "works" I suppose I mean rather cynically "not catches on fire like some LiON batteries have done."

But seriously, I would load up on these at $199. Power the EX. Power lights. Power the NanoFlash. Power the MXO2...

Limitless possibilities here.

[Ted OMalley]

Ned,

If they do respond to you, it would be great to hear if they are planning to support the EX3 - for which the DC camera cord would need to be longer by 2 or 3 inches.

[Ned Soltz]

Originally Posted by Ted OMalley

Ned,

If they do respond to you, it would be great to hear if they are planning to support the EX3 - for which the DC camera cord would need to be longer by 2 or 3 inches.

Are you certain that the DC camera cord isn't long enough? Just from that one illustration, it does appear to me like it would reach.

B&H also lists an extension cable for another $105.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc..._Assembly.html

Ned

[Ted OMalley]

Originally Posted by Ned Soltz

Are you certain that the DC camera cord isn't long enough? Just from that one illustration, it does appear to me like it would reach.

B&H also lists an extension cable for another $105.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc..._Assembly.html

Ned

The orientation of the batter is the problem. From their illustration, imagine rotating the battery 90 degrees counter-clockwise. the cord would basically sit in the groove that is designed for storage - across the top, and down to the bottom of the battery. from that position, the DC tap is another 1.75 inches forward on the camera body. Two inches longer would allow just a little play in the cord for connecting/disconnecting.

[Markus Bo]

Did you check that solution?

http://bebob.de/international/coco-EX_sony-PMW-EX1.html

I think it's a viable solution and when I eventually get the EX3 it will be my option.

Markus

[Ned Soltz]

Originally Posted by Markus Bo

Did you check that solution?

http://bebob.de/international/coco-EX_sony-PMW-EX1.html

I think it's a viable solution and when I eventually get the EX3 it will be my option.

Markus

Yes. I saw the BeBob option as well.

In the US, B&H lists it in stock for around $385. My question is whether it will block the shoulder mount or the rear i/o's on the EX-3 since it is engineered specifically for the horizontal battery placement of the EX1.

I would personally prefer the option of using A-B batteries because they can be rebuilt conveniently and there are even some less-expensive "clone" Dionic's out there for about half the price.

[George Kroonder]

Another disadvantage of the Coco-EX is that it draws from the BP batteries that are not really rated for powering anything but the camera. The outputs of the Coco are 2x4W max. That is not enough to power anything significant.

It is not even enough to power a LED light (I believe Piotr tried with not so good results) although I believe the nanoFlash may actually come out to about 7W, so you could potentially power that.

Using "universal" batteries to power the cam plus any accessories sounds like a better solution to me.

George/

[Piotr Wozniacki]

Originally Posted by George Kroonder

Another disadvantage of the Coco-EX is that it draws from the BP batteries that are not really rated for powering anything but the camera. The outputs of the Coco are 2x4W max. That is not enough to power anything significant.

It is not even enough to power a LED light (I believe Piotr tried with not so good results) although I believe the nanoFlash may actually come out to about 7W, so you could potentially power that.

Using "universal" batteries to power the cam plus any accessories sounds like a better solution to me.

George/

George,

just to clarify: I'm using this adapter with a 10W lamp from PAG, which is featured with a "soft start" function. No problems so far - in fact, I even tried 20W and it also starts properly, but I guess the current drain would kill the battery pretty quick.

However, the Bebob's own 12W LED light should be OK with this adapter/BP60 battery (and the NanoFlash, I can see no problems with at all, with its 7W power requirements).

[Brian Cassar]

Not exactly so George. I bought one of them for my previous EX1. It has 3 outputs - x1 a D-tap and x2 Hirose. The Hirose only are limited for just 4 Watts max output each. No such restriction on the D-tap. However what I and Bebob found out was that some of the Sony BP-U60 batteries tend to shut down when a large draw of current occurs. When I used a 20 watt together with the 14 watts draw of the EX1, the battery have shut down. I had to install a soft start in my Pag light in order to be able to use it. Bebob is now advising that this unit should be used only with less power hungry lights such as a 12 watt LED. Also I do not think that it will fit nicely on the EX3 - it was meant for the EX1.

An alterantive to Ted's method, in order to use V-mount batteries, is to buy this unit

http://www.blueshape.net/pdf/Schede/MVBELT.pdf

and change the 4-pin XLR to the Sony DC plug. By this way one is certain that the proper fusing is already inside the unit. If maybe the wire is abit too short maybe one can always open the unit and change the whole wire for the correct lenght. The unit can be attached in the same superb way as that of Ted's.

My only concern is one: I'm quite apprehensive that in ENG work the wire going into the dc input can be accidentally knocked out! It's not like the 4-pin power XLR - once in it cannot be accidentally removed. And considering that if power is abruptly cut off during recording this can end up in a corrupted file, then I'm having my doubts on using the DC input. Any comments on this personal fear from other users?

[Ned Soltz]

Originally Posted by Brian Cassar

Not exactly so George. I bought one of them for my previous EX1. It has 3 outputs - x1 a D-tap and x2 Hirose. The Hirose only are limited for just 4 Watts max output each. No such restriction on the D-tap. However what I and Bebob found out was that some of the Sony BP-U60 batteries tend to shut down when a large draw of current occurs. When I used a 20 watt together with the 14 watts draw of the EX1, the battery have shut down. I had to install a soft start in my Pag light in order to be able to use it. Bebob is now advising that this unit should be used only with less power hungry lights such as a 12 watt LED. Also I do not think that it will fit nicely on the EX3 - it was meant for the EX1.

An alterantive to Ted's method, in order to use V-mount batteries, is to buy this unit

http://www.blueshape.net/pdf/Schede/MVBELT.pdf

and change the 4-pin XLR to the Sony DC plug. By this way one is certain that the proper fusing is already inside the unit. If maybe the wire is abit too short maybe one can always open the unit and change the whole wire for the correct lenght. The unit can be attached in the same superb way as that of Ted's.

My only concern is one: I'm quite apprehensive that in ENG work the wire going into the dc input can be accidentally knocked out! It's not like the 4-pin power XLR - once in it cannot be accidentally removed. And considering that if power is abruptly cut off during recording this can end up in a corrupted file, then I'm having my doubts on using the DC input. Any comments on this personal fear from other users?

That is defintiely a nice looking unit, but A-B also has a belt-mount solution. What I think is really called for as a camera mount system. A camera-mounted battery system will assist with the balance issues of the camera as well being much less cumbersome.

As far as disconnecting the DC cable... well, I've lived with the 4-pin firewire connector on the HVX200 and there is nothing as risky as that. I see it as a rather remote concern.

[Brian Cassar]

Ned I do not intend to attach this unit to a belt - I hate anything not secured to camera. I was thinking of attaching this unit to the camera the way Ted have shown in another thread with the AB mount. Ted's method is very good but there are others who have invested in V-lock batteries and so this BlueShape accessory should be quite good.

As regards to the wire being accidentally disconnected - does anybody know whether there exist wires that are quite stiff and hence can be moulded nearer to the camera body?

[Ned Soltz]

Originally Posted by Brian Cassar

Ned I do not intend to attach this unit to a belt - I hate anything not secured to camera. I was thinking of attaching this unit to the camera the way Ted have shown in another thread with the AB mount. Ted's method is very good but there are others who have invested in V-lock batteries and so this BlueShape accessory should be quite good.

As regards to the wire being accidentally disconnected - does anybody know whether there exist wires that are quite stiff and hence can be moulded nearer to the camera body?

Absolutely agree that for those with V mount batteries this is an excellent solution.

What I'm really hoping someone can engineer is a mount like BeBob's which snaps into the EX battery compartment.

[Markus Bo]

Bebob offers a kit with lights they call lux-led-dv. I think it will be easier to handle than other v-mount-solutions because it was the whole battery system that made my JVC HD101 so heavy at the end. I want to keep the EX3 as light as possible.

Markus

[George Kroonder]

Originally Posted by Brian Cassar

Not exactly so George. I bought one of them for my previous EX1. It has 3 outputs - x1 a D-tap and x2 Hirose. The Hirose only are limited for just 4 Watts max output each. No such restriction on the D-tap.

Hi Brian,

From memory I thought Bebob advised no more than 10W drain for the Coco, but that may have been in addition to the 2x4W.

Originally Posted by Brian Cassar

My only concern is one: I'm quite apprehensive that in ENG work the wire going into the dc input can be accidentally knocked out!

Just leave a BP-30U battery in the EX. No worries then.

George/