Old School

[James Takata]

So, although I'm a relatively new operator I've got an old school rig: Pro I with the chocolate bar batteries. I really love the slim profile, and ability to set down the rig on the flat bottom. The batts have been upgraded to C+, but I had yet to test them on the Genesis. At the prep, Dominic at Panavision Woodland Hills stopped in his tracks on the prep floor and said he was surprised my rig was handling the camera as they have had so many issues in the past. Jack at GPI said, "well . . . you should be ok. Let me know how it goes." I was already nervous about power issues, and that didn't really inspire confidence.

 

The test came last week. Night shoot deep in the Santa Clarita mountains. Probably 40 degrees. We did 6+ hours covering one scene completely on steadicam. No problem. My 1st AC, Carter Smith, did a great job managing the charging and saving power whenever possible. We used the SSR, so that surely helped. I was also loving my green screen Pro II monitor, as the light levels were really low. Big sigh of relief that I don't have to change my battery system. I'm gonna keep representing old school style, as long as I can! B)

[James Takata]

Sorry if this should've posted in the battery section . . . but don't know how to move it :unsure:

[Charles Papert]

Glad it worked out, James. Power draw is high with the Genesis and SSR but not diabolical like it would be with the tape deck.

 

As far as the green screen being a specific advantage (over an LCD, presumably) for a low light shoot--not sure about that. The real advantage is on a bright exterior.

[Chris Flurry]

I'm also Old School and proud! I have a few questions for you, I assume you were using the Y cable and pulling from both the Aux and Camera power Jacks.

How long did the Chocolate Bars hold up? How many do you have? Were your batteries recelled through Pro? I am not familiar with the term C+ in regards to the cells used for the nicads, can you explain in further detail? I think I get about 2.25 amp hours per bar. Is this similar to what you experience?

Thanks,

Chris

[James Takata]

Hey Chris! You're right I was using the Y cable from aux and camera, J-box set to 12V and "separate." I have 11 bars that were re-celled before I purchased them. I think thru Pro. We were pulling 2 batts off when they got down near 12.0V under load. I guess it was around 20-30 minutes elapsed while everything was on and/or recording. We would pull the breakers while changing lenses or changing setups, and I would turn off my monitor whenever possible. Only lost power to the camera once. I don't really know so much about batteries and electricity in general, but the explanation I got from the previous owner was that they are "stronger than the regular C's that were in the battery at birth." I know, really technical. That is also why I was nervous before flying Genesis for the first time. Not sure about amp hours - how can I measure that?

[RonBaldwin]

congrats, that is awesome that you make it work. I miss my pro1, it just feels great. I upgraded to the hd pro2 last year and all my power troubles are a memory but I miss how the sled felt. I still have my pro1 sled and am torn wether to sell or keep it as back-up.

 

I had trouble powering the f-900 on a show so needed a fast solution (and the poor assistants were sprinting back and forth to the truck charging my batts). I would get a low batt warning a few minutes after the battery was hot off the charger and with all the accesssories on the genesis/f-35's along with the ssr or ob-1 deck there was no way. I mounted an anton bauer battery on the record-deck platform and plugged it into the aux battery slot. Worked well but I think it was beating up my pro batts so I started running a dedicated line to the cameras and no worries. Extra weight also helped at the bottom.

 

Glad you are loving the best sled ever...just needs a bit more juice.

[matthew pearce]

thx guys- its great when you can dig up an old post and answer a question you know many have had before you.

[matthew pearce]

I am just finishing a genesis job on my Choc Batts. I was able to swap out two batts pretty frequently and be OK but I would like to build a set up like the on Ron mentioned.

Ron , do you have any pic's.

Do you have one cable that works for genesis/F series camera's or can you change the cable?

Any handleing/ cable placement advice?

 

I'd like to have this in my kit and kep flying the old school batt's - also the c+ batts seem interesting. Any one else got more info on those.

cheers

[RonBaldwin]

I am just finishing a genesis job on my Choc Batts. I was able to swap out two batts pretty frequently and be OK but I would like to build a set up like the on Ron mentioned.

Ron , do you have any pic's.

Do you have one cable that works for genesis/F series camera's or can you change the cable?

Any handleing/ cable placement advice?

 

I'd like to have this in my kit and kep flying the old school batt's - also the c+ batts seem interesting. Any one else got more info on those.

cheers

 

Hi Matthew,

There are pictures here in a few threads...but I can dig some up if you want, give me a few days. I had a "y" cable made to the f-900, and one made to a genesis. Also had a "y" to 4 pin xlr and xlr to genesis as a back up -- a lot of voltage loss through that xlr connector!

 

It's probably fine to run power through the sled, but with all the amp draw plus all the accessories I wanted to play it safe and run a separate power cable (plus the bigger batt was kicking the shiite out of my pro batt). I thought it was nice to isolate the camera from my sled/monitor/preston, which I ran off 2 pro bats.

 

rb

[matthew pearce]

thx ron,

I saw a picture on another thread but the cables are hard to make out.

 

I was curious to know if the external cable creates any handling / docking / operating issues.

I'm exploring the idea of mounting two AB plates on the bottom of my sled and connecting directly into the sled (CAM power/ AUX power) to avoid the external power cable and Choc battery draw down issue that you mention.

I know that this is a stop gap measure but these days I seem to be flying on board batts most of the time. I'm sure this is not a new idea, someone has probably covered this ground already.

Thx for sharing your knowledge.

 

As you can see the base has been modified so I'm thinking a Two AB plate piece could slide on and I could connect cables through the side.

I'm told Line loss is as issue when powering thru the sled. My post was up dated 4 years ago but I need to figure out if the wiring in the base would be a problem?

At that point I may be better of just going straight into the camera more maximum power.

Edited April 21, 2011 by matthew pearce