NP1 or Anton Bauer??? Which do YOU recommend?

[Dave Wowchuk]

Hi folks, newbie-wannabe question . . .

 

I'm debating which battery configuration to choose when purchasing a rig. I'm considering either the new Glidecam V25/35 or the Gold System (I'm not sure what the options are yet for the V25/35.)

 

If you had the choice, which system would you use and why? I may be leaning towards the Anton Bauer System because I can get a gold mount plate for my XL2 and have batteries for both the rig and camera.

 

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

Dave Wowchuk

[JobScholtze]

I think that the Gold is not your best option for the xl2. Sure it fly's, but the xl2 is not that heavy so i think you end up with the v25/35

 

I use the gold for a year now and i use it with AB. In one word GREAT.

 

I use Hytron 50 and 120. But i fly heavier camera's than the XL2. If you gonna use heavier camera's too, get the Gold, otherwise stick with the V25/35 with in my opinion AB

 

Greetings

[Mitch Gross]

Two ways of looking at it. If you want to go with the best batts for matching to the industry standard (at least in the US), then Anton Bauer is the way to go. Pretty much any real industrial camera from betacam on up will likely have an AB mount or a plate adapter for AB. But if you are using the rig primarilly for your XL2 and inhouse work (meaning that you are unlikely to stick a rental camera on it), then NP1 batteries are available at a much cheaper price per watt. You can get NP1 bricks in NiMh or LiIon for around a third of the price as the equivalent AB brick.

[Markus Rave]

I use NP1 since 4 years now. You buy them at ebay for around 30 Euro here. They come with 13,2 V 2.5 Amphours as NiMH or 13,2V 1.9 Amphours as NiCAD. Buy a couple more and spend the rest on something else. When they loose their power you dump them and buy new ones. When you buy AB you spend a fortune.

 

Markus