3rd party batteries & adapter

[wshultz]

I've been frustrated not being able to use my Batteries4Broadcast batteries, until I got around to trying a Switech dual battery adapter.

It provides the needed voltage control and I was able to use both B4B and Anton Bauer, swap one for another while powered up, and I used two in tandem for a 3-hour test to see if I could fill up the HD. Two batteries lasted 3 hours and 5 minutes running the drive almost constantly.

Switech Pro-X GP-TS

[Matthew Rogers]

My only concern is about watching the batteries to know when to switch them out. This is what I got from Michael Morian the other day:

Hi Matthew,

I've used the B4B adapter with RED batteries and it does not pass the battery status to the camera. It's great for a hot-swap when time is tight on the set, however.

Having the RED batteries without the B4B is rather elegant as the camera gives you a twenty-second countdown to shutdown when battery level is critically low. It' very dramatic.

Michael
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I wish RED had just stuck with the age old count the voltage to know how much power is left. Maybe someone will come out with a plate that will have whatever chip is needed in it that you can stick between the RED and the battery.

Matthew

[wshultz]

It seems like it wouldn't be too hard for Red to implement a simple flashing of the DC label when batteries drop below a certain voltage. I'm not sure why it requires Red batteries to do that.

[Joel Kaye]

It seems like it wouldn't be too hard for Red to implement a simple flashing of the DC label when batteries drop below a certain voltage. I'm not sure why it requires Red batteries to do that.

I let a non RED battery run out to see what would happen and the LCD powered off about 20 seconds before the camera. That's a pretty good warning. :-)

I think the worst case scenario is you lose the take you're currently shooting. I seriously doubt unexpected power outages would kill a drive and all the data on it.

[Matthew Rogers]

I let a non RED battery run out to see what would happen and the LCD powered off about 20 seconds before the camera. That's a pretty good warning. :-)

I think the worst case scenario is you lose the take you're currently shooting. I seriously doubt unexpected power outages would kill a drive and all the data on it.

Interesting! Question is, if you are in a take, how fast can you hit the record stop and then turn the camera off? Or even just stop recording and let the camera lose power. I would just say that I would buy batteries with the LCD readout, but it's cheaper to just buy the RED batteries at that point!

Matthew

[Joel Kaye]

I would just say that I would buy batteries with the LCD readout, but it's cheaper to just buy the RED batteries at that point!

The B4B batteries have the pushbutton voltage LED meter on the side. You can just push that before you get into a take.

The camera powers down very quickly... so you've probably got 15 seconds after your viewfinder/lcd goes off to power down. I'll have to test that again though.

And all these expensive batteries die in a couple years. Just seems to me the cheapest batteries you can get that actually work are the way to go. I'm still kinda baffled at the BFB 150's and what's keeping them from working. RED should have the voltage regulator on board.

[wshultz]

I had thousands invested in batteries before Red came along. I REALLY want to make the most use of my previous investment.

[Matthew Rogers]

The B4B batteries have the pushbutton voltage LED meter on the side. You can just push that before you get into a take.

The camera powers down very quickly... so you've probably got 15 seconds after your viewfinder/lcd goes off to power down. I'll have to test that again though.

And all these expensive batteries die in a couple years. Just seems to me the cheapest batteries you can get that actually work are the way to go. I'm still kinda baffled at the BFB 150's and what's keeping them from working. RED should have the voltage regulator on board.

The problem is, I am planning on renting out my RED and while I don't mind dealing with that, other camera ops might not like that!

I'm guessing that the BFB 150's don't supply enough wattage and so it's tripping the camera. Have you tried the double plate with just one battery on it to see if it's just something to do with the plate?

Matthew

[wshultz]

The BFBs won't work directly on Red but will in single or double config. with the adapter. Someone from Red (probably just speculating) said the B4Bs were trying to push too much voltage. Whatever the reason, some voltage circuit is in the adapter that is missing in the Red plate.

[Matthew Rogers]

The BFBs won't work directly on Red but will in single or double config. with the adapter. Someone from Red (probably just speculating) said the B4Bs were trying to push too much voltage. Whatever the reason, some voltage circuit is in the adapter that is missing in the Red plate.

That's really interesting. The thought of just putting two on the adapter would be temping, except that the 150's weigh 2 1/2 lbs each. Though, it would be nice to never have to reboot. Just tell people that every 100 minutes they need a vibrating timer to let them know that it's time to change.

Another quick question, the RED battery counts down the time left correct? AKA, it lets you know that 10 minutes are left, then 5, then 1, then 30 seconds, etc.

Matthew

[Joel Kaye]

I'm guessing that the BFB 150's don't supply enough wattage and so it's tripping the camera. Have you tried the double plate with just one battery on it to see if it's just something to do with the plate?


Hmm... The 190's I have work great. The 70w IDX I have works fine too. Maybe RED's battery plate could be replaced with another brand and it would work.

As far as other camera ops having a concern about not seeing voltage in the VF... just get RED batteries if you think people care. They are only $150 more each or so. I'm not handing my camera off to anyone else - but if I did they better know how to check a battery.

I bet most of them are used to seeing battery power on the battery as opposed to in camera. I know I've had a friend with a F-900 mention to me once the Anton Bauer info displayed in the F-900 didn't seem accurate to him. So it wasn't a big help.