Batteries

[Brad Grimmett]

(incuding newly celled CP style Master Batteries witch take forever to fully charge and sometimes lie about there charge.!!!.

 

Keith Greenwood

Alias: Keith Sweat.

Maximum Steadicam INC

Forever? Really? Mine take less than an hour. How long do yours take? What kind of charger are you using? I'm just curious as I've never heard that before and I've never noticed that mine take any longer than any other batteries.

[Alec Jarnagin SOC]

Anthony,

 

Yes, I'm aware of Greg's testing (the reason I stayed away from non Nicads for so long). Again, AB claims that the Hytron 100/120 is a much heavier duty battery than the Hytron 50 (D-cell versus C-cell). Still being skeptical, I waited till a few colleagues here in NYC had been using them (Hytron 100, since the Hytron 120 was just introduced) for a couple of years in the field. The Dioncs sound nice, but I will wait until someone else has been using them for sometime.

 

As for mixing chemistry? They tell you not to mix hard liquor and beer too! Seriously, again, I've watched guys doing this in the field for sometime with no ill reports. It may be having them in parallel which is a problem (something I never do) because then you create a situation where your stronger battery is sending juice to your weaker one. In your case, with an Ultimate sled, with regulated power supplies, I would imagine you could do whatever you wanted and it would be fine. Obviously, check with Greg.

[Jerry Holway]

I urge everyone who is interested in this topic to read the 2002 video battery handbook put out by Anton Bauer; available on their website.

 

It has extremely detailed information about all aspects of batteries, from chemistries and construction, to charging methods, memory myths, recycling, etc.

 

It probably needs some updating about higher discharge rates, but there is other, more current information on the website as well (for instance about "dionic" chemistries and discharge rates).

 

It's a a great, in-depth resource and answers most of the questions raised here.

 

www.antonbauer.com

 

Also try researching battery cell manufacturers, such as Sanyo for information on specific cell types.

 

Jerry Holway

[RonBaldwin]

And while I usually think it is great to be able to use ready available Anton Bauer batteries, there are times (like when they discontinue batteries that we love) that I think it would be better to have another system. I imagine doing HD is a bit of a chore with the PRO 1 batteries though, no?

I have actually only shot hd 1 day (panavised sony, hytron, 901 back -- 35 lbs)...I would have powered the camera off my sled but the damn camera was so back heavy, I needed the on-board battery to spin-balance it. I didn't notice any other problems, but I'm not experienced enough with hd to know the in/outs, do's/don'ts. It wasn't all that bad...dragging a cable was bullshit. It would be great to only use 5 minute tapes so you can catch your breath.

 

I'm not actually sure why the old style pro ni-cads would make hd shooting harder? Please explain -- I've been dodging the hd bullet long enough, and should actually learn more about it.

 

Ron

[Mitch Gross]

Switronix just announced their new line of Anton/Bauer mount ("brick-style") L-Ion batteries. They have a 60w and a 90w. They also have a new line of simultaneous chargers in A/B mount that can handle all battery chemistries and read all the encoded info in Switronix-brand bricks. Switronix is a young company that's been selling its NP-1 style bricks at around half that of other manufacturers and they offer some clever features such as an A/B 2-pin Powertap right in the battery itself. I know a few video guys that have been using their L-Ions fairly abusively for some time now (hot swapping, powering lights, etc.) and they rave about them. Don't know pricing yet but they're sure to be dramatically cheaper than Dionics. I think they'll have a booth at NAB. Here's some info from the website (switronix.com).

 

XP-L90D

 

Capacity: 90Wh

 

Voltage: 14.8v

 

Weight: 2 lbs

 

Size: 3.8"(W) x 5.87"(H) x 2"(D)

 

~4-stage LED SUPER ACCURATE Power Gauge

 

~NO memory effect

 

~Temp, current, and voltage protection

 

~On-Board Microprocessor stores: Name, Serial Number, Voltage, Temp., Current, Chemistry Type, Charge Cycles, and Date of Manuf.

 

~NEW DuraCase provides a shock absorbing, non-slip shell to protect the battery pack

 

~Incorporated 12vdc 2-pin power connector

[Matias Mesa]

Chack this place:

 

Same prices as B&H but they have them in stock.

 

http://www.evsonline.com/index.shtml

 

matias

[Mitch Gross]

Couldn't find it on that website. Talked to Artie at AlArtVideo.com and he gave me some prices. The 90w brick is $420 and the 60w is $299. The big savings is in the chargers. Switronix has smart chargers which handle all chemistries and everyone's batteries (so they claim), and an LCD display with gobs of info, down to individually identifying each brick. They also have a 4-position SIMULTANEOUS charger, something A/B doesn't offer. The 2-bay charger w/LCD readout (XC-2LAD) is $750, or just $550 without the readout. The 4-bay w/readout (XC-4LAD) is $1100, or $850 without readout. $850 for a 4-slot charger seems pretty nice to me.

 

Art has an excellent repuatation and has always treated me fairly, but if you want to find another Switronix dealer I believe Adorama also carries their products.