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On Board Recorder - Sony PC5


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I have been using a Sony PC5 Mini-DV camcorder as my on board recorder for several years. It is still the smallest and lightest recorder I have seen. What has made it a practical choice is the power supply that John Seitz at Seitz Technical Products designed and built for me. It is a sweet little battery replacement module with a small coaxial Lemo connector for power in. John supplies a mating cable with the appropriate connector for your sled. The difficult part was incorporating the chip which communicates with the camera and allows it to power up ? the camera (and most Sony products that use infoLithium batteries) wants confirmation that the battery is the correct design, made by Sony, before it will operate!

 

I just ordered a spare supply for myself, and my brother Jim ordered one for his sled at the same time. If anyone else is interested in one of these units, please let me know sometime this week and John will order enough parts to make extra units.

 

If you are interested in getting a PC5 I have been able to buy them on eBay. I now own 3 of them ? one in PAL which I needed for a job in China last year ? and use them for many things: video assist recording on the Steadicam of course, but also when I am operating B camera or doing 2nd unit work either for my own personal use or for production when there is no video assist operator; I also use it for scouting and for rehearsing long shots when I don?t want to carry the rig.

 

A word about Seitz Technical ? John has recently been unable to concentrate on film industry related products the last few years because of company and personal reasons which are now thankfully in the past. He is anxious to get back into our business again. I am confident he will deliver and I will be involved to make sure you get your supply if you want to order one. All he wants for now is to get an idea if there is any interest and how many parts he should order initially. We are talking about some other ideas as well, so maybe you will be seeing other products I have wanted to produce coming in the near future..

 

Larry

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It was such a drama getting the PAL version while I was in China I am not going to give it up. My brother has borrowed it twice for jobs he has done in Europe already, so we are definitely keeping it! I really lucked out, because the PAL situation was a surprise to me after I arrived in China, and I just happened to find out that the dolly grip on our job had just bought a PAL PC5 by mistake a few weeks earlier and had brought it with him. I found an NTSC PC100 for him and traded!! Sorry...

 

Larry

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A little more information:

According to an ad on eBay the following cameras use the same 'S' style battery that my Sony DCR PC-5 uses:

 

* DSC-P1

* DSC-P2

* DSC-P7

* DSC-P9

* DSC-P20

* DSC-P30

* DSC-P50

* DSC-F505

* DCR-PC1

* DCR-PC2

* DCR-PC3

* DCR-PC3E

* DCR-PC4

* DCR-PC5

* DCR-PC5E

* DCR-TRV1VE

* DSC-F50V

* DSC-F55

* DSC-F55K

* DSC-F55V

* CCD-CR1

 

 

I can't vouch for the accuracy of this info, but if your Sony camcorder or recorder uses the 'S' style InfoLithium battery the Seitz Technical power supply will work.

 

Larry

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A word about Seitz Technical ? John has recently been unable to concentrate on film industry related products the last few years because of company and personal reasons which are now thankfully in the past. He is anxious to get back into our business again. I am confident he will deliver and I will be involved to make sure you get your supply if you want to order one. All he wants for now is to get an idea if there is any interest and how many parts he should order initially. We are talking about some other ideas as well, so maybe you will be seeing other products I have wanted to produce coming in the near future..

 

Larry

Does Seitz still repair / refurbish the older heden focus motors?

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Hi Larry,

 

You posted that information about the dummy battery almost a year and a half ago.

I imidiately called Seitz and talked with there technician, he told me that it was months away before they could/would have anything available for me to look at and that they would give me a call when they would start building the units.

A year has past and the PC-5 has been discontinued also the follow up the PC-9 is long gone... and it's replacement the 101 is also on the way out and I have moved on.

 

I have since tried the RCA Harddrive Recorder and in the moment I'm testing the Archos Video AV320. But I'm very much in anticipation for the I-Pod Film...

 

If Seitz wants to get back into the game, they should offer an array of different Dummy Batteries for most other recorders. I'm using the IP-5 from Sony with the F style batteries I believe. Any chance of them building for that style Battery/Camera as well?

 

Thank you Larry for the update.

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I'm using the IP-5 from Sony with the F style batteries

Erwin,

 

Don't know how you're powering your IP-5 but I found that with the IP-7 (which also uses the same Infolithium 'F' batteries), if you just leave one of the batteries on the unit, you can use the DC in cable to power it straight off the sled's recorder supply. The unit senses the battery's circuitry and will happily run from the sled.

 

Paul

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Another option to consider: the Canon MV5i or the MV6i, with all possible inputs (and conversions) and outputs (analog, S-VHS, DV) and NO HASSLE with batteries. Mine just runs on the 6 or 7 volts output from my master, directly into the little socket on the side.

cost for a cable approx. $8,-. The lightweight remote is velcroed to the master´s base and easy to reach.

 

 

Rob van Gelder, Bangkok, Thailand

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if you just leave one of the batteries on the unit, you can use the DC in cable to power it straight off the sled's recorder supply. The unit senses the battery's circuitry and will happily run from the sled.

 

Paul

That´s right, but the downside could be that you drain the battery to zero when you switch off the power from the sled, as the camera will instantly switch back to the battery untill there is no more juice in it.

But I guess if you use a battery that is already "bad" it doesn´t matter.

 

Rob van Gelder, Bangkok, Thailand

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Like Erwin I am currently using the Archos AV320 MP-4 hard drive recorder thingy. It's cool, but the internal battery goes quick. I haven't made a power cable yet, but it takes 6 volts, which is what the sled output is. I just velcro it on and plug in the video cable -- seems to work well. Everytime you start/stop it creates a new file (0001, 0002, etc), so looking for a particular take it very easy. You can name/date the files so finding stuff from another day is easy. I think it will hold nearly 30 hrs of video, so there's plenty of room for dailies, home movies and pornos. It was around $500 to $550. All this is from my failing memory, so Erwin - correct me if I'm wrong.

 

So far it seems pretty neet-o. I need to call Tom Gleason to make me a sexy mounting bracket (illegal in some states).

 

Ron

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Larry, and the rest of the gang,

Are you receiving video and power through the one Lemo?

If so, have you ever noticed any interferance? I occansionally have issues with my TB-6 and my Sony HI8 watchman when shooting in low light/WFO situations. As soon as I disconect my onboard the problem goes away and the TB-6 performs as always, Flawless. I will be buying a new onboard soon. I am waiting to see how all of the new hard drive systems fair. I really like the idea of having a LCD on my recorder, it has helped in a couple of difficult shooting situatiions when I was not able to get a full view of my CRT (Shooting around a very tight corner inwhich the sled will fit, but my body could not follow, thanks a lot location scout!) . I also like reviewing some of my shots and rehersals on my 4" LCD Watchman to get a different perspective on how I may make the the next take better. How is everyone finding the new onboard choices?

 

Ari Gertler

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That´s right, but the downside could be that you drain the battery to zero when you switch off the power from the sled, as the camera will instantly switch back to the battery untill there is no more juice in it.

But I guess if you use a battery that is already "bad" it doesn´t matter.

 

Rob van Gelder, Bangkok, Thailand

Rob,

 

I haven't found what you describe to be an issue at all. The battery I've been using with the PC-7 on the sled is still fine after over 12 months of use.

 

Paul

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Paul, I believe you, this is just what I noticed on my system: when I switch off my rig the little DV just goes on with it´s battery because it is switched to the "player" position.

 

Maybe yours is charging while powered from the rig? Not likely though.

 

Rob van Gelder, Bangkok, Thailand

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