Lithium-ion Battery Holder

William West · Jun 16, 2002

I have a Sony lithium-ion battery charger and several Sony lithium-ion
batteries for a Sony portable DVD player, etc. Does anyone know if these
batteries will work in the Minolta EBP-100 battery holder? If they will work,
can you suggest where I might be able to purchase the Minolta battery
holder and/or a compatible battery holder.

If the Sony lithium-ion batteries will not fit into the EBP-100 battery
holder, is there any reason why I could not use a Sony battery holder
(if there is such an animal) to work with a Dimage 5/7/7i camera; i.e.,
are the connections different, etc.?

Thanks in advance,

William West

Stefan Winkler · Jun 16, 2002

Dear William,

I have tried to build an external battery holder with 4 NiMH Ansmann accus Mono D 1.2V/7000mAh for the Dimage 7. Here are the results:

1. If you intend to do this you can only use the connector of the external power supply Minolta AC-1L or AC-2L, what means you have to cut it off! I haven't found any 90° connector in the german market that fits properly into the D7 connector. The measurements of the socket are not in accordance with any standard plug! For testing purpose I have used a straight standard plug from the electronic shop which didn't fit very well into this f... socket, nothing for pratical use!.

2. The above mentionend NiMH accus haven't worked with the D7 because of their high capcity and I assume of their high internal resistance, what means that the D7 requires not only a voltage around 1.2V it also consumes a high current, which cannot be supplied by these accus. If you intend to experiment with LiIon accus I would recommend to take a look at the required current of the D7 which needs to be supplied.

3. Before I've started my experiment I've asked the technical support at Minolta Germany. They've told me that it could be possible to built something like this but it is absolutly not recommended. They have only recommended the EBP-100.

4. After the failure of my experiment the gracious vendor of these 7000mAh accus took these accus back including the charging devices. After that I've bought 24 Ansmann 1800mAh Mignon AA accus with 4 Ansmann powerline 6 chargers. If they are properly charged you can realy work with them, means 20 to 50 pictures, depends on resulution, CF-card or microdrive, using flashlight, using EVF or LCD Display and your personal speed to take a photo.

My recommendation is to use enough 1800mAh accus and chargers because of the lower price and less cable salad. If you prefer cable salad at a significant higher price (approx. 350U$) with moderat higher capacity the EBP-100 is the right choice. Based on my experience I would stay away from any self made accu packs or accu packs for other devices because they are not engineered for the electrical requirements of the D7.

Hope this will help you a little bit.

Stefan Winkler

William West · Jun 16, 2002

I haven't been able to locate much info about the EBP-100 on Minolota's
web site. I am assuming any external battery pack is plugged into the
external power plug; i.e., the specs say 6V DC with specified AC
adapter. The Sony NP-F750 battery says 7.2V 21 6Wh. How does
this compare to the Minolta EBP-100 battery?

William West · Jun 16, 2002

http://www.inside-hardware.com/reviews/campowerroundup/

I found the above link after I had written the following.

Here is one site, which sells a compatible/universal external lithium-ion
power pack for the Minolta, Nikon, etc, manufactured by Digipower.
The external battery attaches to the bottom of the camera via tri-pod
mount; however, the site does not provide dimensions, weight, or
battery storage capacity. Cables for various cameras are included with
the package, along with charger and auto adapter. Digipower is offered
by other camera internet sites; e.g., Ritz Cameras for one. Ritz says this
battery is 7.2 volts. My question still remains as to what is the voltage of
Minolta's EBP-100 lithium-ion battery, capacity, etc. (in light of the above
review, which I haven't yet read from beginning to end).

link to lithium-ion external power pack:

http://www.erwincomputers.com/digdppow.html

The same site also sells external 2700mAh Ni-MH external pack for the
Minolta, but does not say if body worn, etc.

http://www.erwincomputers.com/digdpnimexba.html

The cable for the Minolta Dimage 5/7 can be found here for the
Ni-MH external pack:

http://www.erwincomputers.com/digdp3cabfor.html

link to home page

http://www.erwincomputers.com/index.html

It looks as though I won't be able to use my Sony lithium-ion batteries
for the Dimage; i.e., lithium-ion batteries come in all types of sizes and
shapes, etc. Even if the Sony lithium-ion batteries were to fit the
Minolta battery holder, Minolta says you can buy the EBP-100 battery and
charger separately, but not the battery holder and connection cable
to the camera.

Steven Christall · Jun 17, 2002

Stefan.

Sorry to hear that your external battery pack did not work for you.
I would like to offer some corrections / tips if other people want to try this

1 / D sized NiMH cells have a lower internal resistance at a given load than AA sized cells. This is good!

2 / The only reason that I can think that your external pack failed is due to some form of voltage loss. Perhaps the DC in of the camera expects 6V+ and has some form of voltage loss due to internal protection / regulation. Another reason could be that the cable you used was to light, and there was a significant voltage drop through your connecting cable. Either use a heavier cable, or make it shorter!

3 / I would have used 5x1.2V cells giving you 6V nominal (I believe that the LiON batt gives 7.2V nominal), which should be fine for the camera.

I find 100+ photo's from a set of AA's is fine for me

Regards
Steve Christall

Stefan Winkler said:
Dear William,

I have tried to build an external battery holder with 4 NiMH
Ansmann accus Mono D 1.2V/7000mAh for the Dimage 7. Here are the
results:

1. If you intend to do this you can only use the connector of the
external power supply Minolta AC-1L or AC-2L, what means you have
to cut it off! I haven't found any 90° connector in the german
market that fits properly into the D7 connector. The measurements
of the socket are not in accordance with any standard plug! For
testing purpose I have used a straight standard plug from the
electronic shop which didn't fit very well into this f... socket,
nothing for pratical use!.

2. The above mentionend NiMH accus haven't worked with the D7
because of their high capcity and I assume of their high internal
resistance, what means that the D7 requires not only a voltage
around 1.2V it also consumes a high current, which cannot be
supplied by these accus. If you intend to experiment with LiIon
accus I would recommend to take a look at the required current of
the D7 which needs to be supplied.

3. Before I've started my experiment I've asked the technical
support at Minolta Germany. They've told me that it could be
possible to built something like this but it is absolutly not
recommended. They have only recommended the EBP-100.

4. After the failure of my experiment the gracious vendor of these
7000mAh accus took these accus back including the charging devices.
After that I've bought 24 Ansmann 1800mAh Mignon AA accus with 4
Ansmann powerline 6 chargers. If they are properly charged you can
realy work with them, means 20 to 50 pictures, depends on
resulution, CF-card or microdrive, using flashlight, using EVF or
LCD Display and your personal speed to take a photo.

My recommendation is to use enough 1800mAh accus and chargers
because of the lower price and less cable salad. If you prefer
cable salad at a significant higher price (approx. 350U$) with
moderat higher capacity the EBP-100 is the right choice. Based on
my experience I would stay away from any self made accu packs or
accu packs for other devices because they are not engineered for
the electrical requirements of the D7.

Hope this will help you a little bit.

Stefan Winkler

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