D7i battery pack from MAHA

John Ellis · Jul 7, 2002

Thompson Distributing, who sells Maha and some other brands, has a lithium battery pack which is rated at 7.2v and 1400 mAh. They indicate this is for the D7 and some other brands. Anyone know what Minolta's own battery pack output is? This lithium pack is somewhat over the 6v I would expect, given 4 NIMH batteries power the camera. Steve's Digicams did a review of the 6v, 1400 mAh version (whiich is NiMH) and wrote a good report on that one.

It just seems, at least to be better to stay near the voltage a device is used to. Anyone have any comments? Any knowledge of what Minolta's own accessory pack has for output voltage and amperage? JOHN ELLIS

Thomas Karlmann · Jul 7, 2002

John Ellis said:
Thompson Distributing, who sells Maha and some other brands, has a
lithium battery pack which is rated at 7.2v and 1400 mAh. They
indicate this is for the D7 and some other brands. Anyone know what
Minolta's own battery pack output is? This lithium pack is
somewhat over the 6v I would expect, given 4 NIMH batteries power
the camera. Steve's Digicams did a review of the 6v, 1400 mAh
version (whiich is NiMH) and wrote a good report on that one.
It just seems, at least to be better to stay near the voltage a
device is used to. Anyone have any comments? Any knowledge of what
Minolta's own accessory pack has for output voltage and amperage?
JOHN ELLIS

John:

What would the point be? You need 6v for the D7 or D7i. But the Maha pack is rated at 1800maH --- you can get AA's that have that same capacity. Why bother with the Maha pack?

Steve goes on to say, in his review, that this pack is about double that of the batteries that come with some Nikon 995-whatever. It's the same as 1800mah AA's!

No sale to me.

Thom

John Stavick · Jul 7, 2002

Thomas Karlmann said:
John Ellis said:

Thompson Distributing, who sells Maha and some other brands, has a
lithium battery pack which is rated at 7.2v and 1400 mAh. They
indicate this is for the D7 and some other brands. Anyone know what
Minolta's own battery pack output is? This lithium pack is
somewhat over the 6v I would expect, given 4 NIMH batteries power
the camera. Steve's Digicams did a review of the 6v, 1400 mAh
version (whiich is NiMH) and wrote a good report on that one.
It just seems, at least to be better to stay near the voltage a
device is used to. Anyone have any comments? Any knowledge of what
Minolta's own accessory pack has for output voltage and amperage?
JOHN ELLIS

Click to expand...

John:

The MAHA is perfectly safe at the 7.2V. I have used mine on both my D7 and D7i and my CP995. Does a great job.

Mike Briggs · Jul 8, 2002

John Stavick said:
John Stavick said:

John Ellis said:

Thompson Distributing, who sells Maha and some other brands, has a
lithium battery pack which is rated at 7.2v and 1400 mAh. They
indicate this is for the D7 and some other brands. Anyone know what
Minolta's own battery pack output is? This lithium pack is
somewhat over the 6v I would expect, given 4 NIMH batteries power
the camera. Steve's Digicams did a review of the 6v, 1400 mAh
version (whiich is NiMH) and wrote a good report on that one.
It just seems, at least to be better to stay near the voltage a
device is used to. Anyone have any comments? Any knowledge of what
Minolta's own accessory pack has for output voltage and amperage?
JOHN ELLIS

Click to expand...

John:

Click to expand...

The MAHA is perfectly safe at the 7.2V. I have used mine on both my
D7 and D7i and my CP995. Does a great job.

I have been investigating the same battery pack - MH-DPB140LI - here in the UK where it is available direct from Maha for £69.95. Maha tell me this is definitely the one for the D7i despite it being rated above 6v. I am very tempted to buy it but not if it doesn't last any longer than 4 AA 1850mAh batteries. Any other advice on this?
--
Mike B

William West · Jul 8, 2002

Great news --- The Minolta Online Store is operational, where you can
purchase their EBP-100 external high power battery pack for the
amazingly low price of only $399. Basically, it says .... we have one
for sale....no specs...."..for hours of carefree operation...".

I asked both Minolta and B&H photo the storage capacity, but no
specs were revealed by either party. I believe the external
pack holds two lithium-ion batteries.

Minolta's online store does not show return policy. If they have
a 30 day back no questions asked policy, maybe someone will
order one, determine the storage capacity, return it to Minolta,
and post their findings on every Minolta Dimage 7/7i message
board they can find.

BTW - What is "high power"? Do you think Minolta's external battery
pack will make the Dimage 7/7i operate twice as fast?

William

John Ellis · Jul 8, 2002

Thanks, everybody, for the input. One point of confusion is about the ratings--1800 mAh at 1.2 or 1.5 or whatever volts is not the same as 1800 mAh at 6 or 7 volts, as the energy in a battery is volts X amps for watt-hours. That is why a D cell at 1.5 volts will outlast a AA at 1.5 volts. Either one of the battery packs have about 4X the energy in them as do 4 AA batteries--actually, the 6V pack should even last longer, if the ratings are right. I do know that lots of electronics are under-rated for voltage to allow surges without damage. Also, some battery sites claim that their on NIMH AA's give nearer 1.5 than 1.2 volts. So the difference in voltage may be small to begin with. Anyway, all is reassuring and I am ordering the MAHA unit. Heck, you ccan go to Radio Shack and get four alkaline D cells and a battery holder and cable for less than $20 that almost certainly will pack the same watt-hours when connected in series to give 6 volts. The Minolta product is nuts for the price they want. Makes you wonder what the camera should cost, doesn't it! JOHN

William West said:
Great news --- The Minolta Online Store is operational, where you can
purchase their EBP-100 external high power battery pack for the
amazingly low price of only $399. Basically, it says .... we have one
for sale....no specs...."..for hours of carefree operation...".

I asked both Minolta and B&H photo the storage capacity, but no
specs were revealed by either party. I believe the external
pack holds two lithium-ion batteries.

Minolta's online store does not show return policy. If they have
a 30 day back no questions asked policy, maybe someone will
order one, determine the storage capacity, return it to Minolta,
and post their findings on every Minolta Dimage 7/7i message
board they can find.

BTW - What is "high power"? Do you think Minolta's external battery
pack will make the Dimage 7/7i operate twice as fast?

William

Thomas Karlmann · Jul 9, 2002

Yes, John:

But each CELL of the AA's you put in your D7i is rated at 1800maH. So 4 in series = ~~6volts --- all are at 1800maH. So if the 6v pack is rated at 1800maH, then the capacity is the same!~~

A "D" cell outlasts an "AA" cell because of the maH rating.

Let us know how your pack does!

Thom.

John Ellis said:
William West said:

Great news --- The Minolta Online Store is operational, where you can
purchase their EBP-100 external high power battery pack for the
amazingly low price of only $399. Basically, it says .... we have one
for sale....no specs...."..for hours of carefree operation...".

I asked both Minolta and B&H photo the storage capacity, but no
specs were revealed by either party. I believe the external
pack holds two lithium-ion batteries.

Minolta's online store does not show return policy. If they have
a 30 day back no questions asked policy, maybe someone will
order one, determine the storage capacity, return it to Minolta,
and post their findings on every Minolta Dimage 7/7i message
board they can find.

BTW - What is "high power"? Do you think Minolta's external battery
pack will make the Dimage 7/7i operate twice as fast?

William

Click to expand...

Thomas Karlmann · Jul 9, 2002

Everyone:

I have spoken to Minolta a while ago on this external battery pack for the D7 series. It is a couple of video cam-corder batteries with possibly some other regulator circuitry and a cable to fit your D7/D7i.

That's all it is. I think Minolta wants to recoup development costs here!

I wish the pricing was MUCH lower.

Thom

The Minolta product is nuts

John Ellis said:
for the price they want. Makes you wonder what the camera should
cost, doesn't it! JOHN

William West said:

Great news --- The Minolta Online Store is operational, where you can
purchase their EBP-100 external high power battery pack for the
amazingly low price of only $399. Basically, it says .... we have one
for sale....no specs...."..for hours of carefree operation...".

I asked both Minolta and B&H photo the storage capacity, but no
specs were revealed by either party. I believe the external
pack holds two lithium-ion batteries.

Minolta's online store does not show return policy. If they have
a 30 day back no questions asked policy, maybe someone will
order one, determine the storage capacity, return it to Minolta,
and post their findings on every Minolta Dimage 7/7i message
board they can find.

BTW - What is "high power"? Do you think Minolta's external battery
pack will make the Dimage 7/7i operate twice as fast?

William

Click to expand...

Mark E. Smith · Jul 10, 2002

I have been using the Quantum QB1+ external. I get about 400-600 photos out of it. It has been consistant and I never have to worry about filling two or three 512Mb cards.

Mark.

John Ellis said:
William West said:

Great news --- The Minolta Online Store is operational, where you can
purchase their EBP-100 external high power battery pack for the
amazingly low price of only $399. Basically, it says .... we have one
for sale....no specs...."..for hours of carefree operation...".

I asked both Minolta and B&H photo the storage capacity, but no
specs were revealed by either party. I believe the external
pack holds two lithium-ion batteries.

Minolta's online store does not show return policy. If they have
a 30 day back no questions asked policy, maybe someone will
order one, determine the storage capacity, return it to Minolta,
and post their findings on every Minolta Dimage 7/7i message
board they can find.

BTW - What is "high power"? Do you think Minolta's external battery
pack will make the Dimage 7/7i operate twice as fast?

William

Click to expand...

w kalve · Jul 10, 2002

Mike Briggs said:
I have been investigating the same battery pack - MH-DPB140LI -
here in the UK where it is available direct from Maha for £69.95.
Maha tell me this is definitely the one for the D7i despite it
being rated above 6v. I am very tempted to buy it but not if it
doesn't last any longer than 4 AA 1850mAh batteries. Any other
advice on this?
--
Mike B

--why bother with the puny maha pack for £10 less you can get
the quest ultra-power 4.1amp pack (widely used on the D7/7i)
also reviewed on steves digicams try http://www.questuk.net

wayne

Peter Marina · Jul 10, 2002

Here's a thaught, in case you are ever stuck... you an try the big square 6v batteries used in some larger flashlights. No battery holder and probably a few more ma you can squeese out of it the D's.

John Ellis said:
William West said:

Great news --- The Minolta Online Store is operational, where you can
purchase their EBP-100 external high power battery pack for the
amazingly low price of only $399. Basically, it says .... we have one
for sale....no specs...."..for hours of carefree operation...".

I asked both Minolta and B&H photo the storage capacity, but no
specs were revealed by either party. I believe the external
pack holds two lithium-ion batteries.

Minolta's online store does not show return policy. If they have
a 30 day back no questions asked policy, maybe someone will
order one, determine the storage capacity, return it to Minolta,
and post their findings on every Minolta Dimage 7/7i message
board they can find.

BTW - What is "high power"? Do you think Minolta's external battery
pack will make the Dimage 7/7i operate twice as fast?

William

Click to expand...

--
Peter Marina

John Nollendorfs · Jul 10, 2002

w kalve said:
Member said:

I have been investigating the same battery pack - MH-DPB140LI -
here in the UK where it is available direct from Maha for £69.95.
Maha tell me this is definitely the one for the D7i despite it
being rated above 6v. I am very tempted to buy it but not if it
doesn't last any longer than 4 AA 1850mAh batteries. Any other
advice on this?
--
Mike B

Click to expand...

--why bother with the puny maha pack for £10 less you can get
the quest ultra-power 4.1amp pack (widely used on the D7/7i)
also reviewed on steves digicams try http://www.questuk.net

wayne

You can make your own 2.5 Ah 6volt pack by using comonly available "gell cells", and an appropriate plug for the D7-D7i. I bought the battery for about $12us.

The only trouble with these external packs is with the location of the plug in the camera. It's quite easy for it to be bumped or pulled out of the connection.
John

chuckstr89134 · Jul 10, 2002

I really don't understand this infatuation with external power packs. Why bother? I have three sets of AA's, 2 sets of Everready's (I think they are 1600 mAH and I paid $10 per set for them) and a set of Quest 1650 or 1700 mAh that came with the camera.

We just spent three weeks in England and Paris and I took almost 1000 pictures and I never managed to go all the way through 2 sets in one day. I didn't have a 220 supply for my maha quick charger (dumb me) so I had to rely on a 12 hour charger and I was a little worried at first. In Paris I had the camera on all the time and I had a set of batteries in the charger all the time but I never ran into trouble. I followed the power conservation practices outlined in the forum and was very happy with the performance of the camera and batteries. My only problem was finding someplace to store the pictures. By the end of the second week I was frantically deleting software off of the laptop to make room for pictures.

Just my humble opinion.

Chuck

John Ellis said:
Thompson Distributing, who sells Maha and some other brands, has a
lithium battery pack which is rated at 7.2v and 1400 mAh. They
indicate this is for the D7 and some other brands. Anyone know what
Minolta's own battery pack output is? This lithium pack is
somewhat over the 6v I would expect, given 4 NIMH batteries power
the camera. Steve's Digicams did a review of the 6v, 1400 mAh
version (whiich is NiMH) and wrote a good report on that one.
It just seems, at least to be better to stay near the voltage a
device is used to. Anyone have any comments? Any knowledge of what
Minolta's own accessory pack has for output voltage and amperage?
JOHN ELLIS

--
My on line albums
http://www.hpphoto.com/home/viewownerdir.asp?owner=chuckstr89134

and

http://www.pbase.com/chuckstr89134

Alan Cook · Jul 10, 2002

chuckstr89134 said:
I really don't understand this infatuation with external power
packs. Why bother? I have three sets of AA's, 2 sets of
Everready's (I think they are 1600 mAH and I paid $10 per set for
them) and a set of Quest 1650 or 1700 mAh that came with the camera.

We just spent three weeks in England and Paris and I took almost
1000 pictures and I never managed to go all the way through 2 sets
in one day. I didn't have a 220 supply for my maha quick charger
(dumb me) so I had to rely on a 12 hour charger and I was a little
worried at first. In Paris I had the camera on all the time and I
had a set of batteries in the charger all the time but I never ran
into trouble. I followed the power conservation practices outlined
in the forum and was very happy with the performance of the camera
and batteries. My only problem was finding someplace to store the
pictures. By the end of the second week I was frantically deleting
software off of the laptop to make room for pictures.

Just my humble opinion.

Chuck

While I am sight-seeing, it's not a major inconvenience to change the batteries, often my subjects are not going anywhere too fast...I also have 4 sets of rechargables that I can swap out to get plenty of photos while also using all the conservation tips from the forum. This is what I did when I was in New York City in March and in England/Ireland last month.

It's when I'm taking pictures at a sporting event for my school or any situation where there are plenty of opportunities for action shots, but do not know when I will suddenly spot something that I want a shot of but can't wait for the camera to catch up to me. I might be wandering around a track meet shooting various events all day and never know when a group of students will suddenly decide to pose for a shot and the moment is lost if my camera suddenly demands another set of batteries...these subjects are not so forgiving and not very willing to wait for me. I often keep my camera from going to "sleep" and try to be ready for anything...and it's nice to turn around and show a track coach the form of his high jumper or pole vaulter...or to turn around and show off a good shot to some students who just posed...all this just drains those batteries and makes the camera less likely to be ready when I need it.

Having a battery pack gives me more flexibility to use the camera in these situations. Otherwise, I think I could get along with a few sets of rechargables. Hope this gives more perspective...

-Alan

chuckstr89134 · Jul 11, 2002

Alan Cook said:
While I am sight-seeing, it's not a major inconvenience to change
the batteries, often my subjects are not going anywhere too
fast...I also have 4 sets of rechargables that I can swap out to
get plenty of photos while also using all the conservation tips
from the forum. This is what I did when I was in New York City in
March and in England/Ireland last month.

It's when I'm taking pictures at a sporting event for my school or
any situation where there are plenty of opportunities for action
shots, but do not know when I will suddenly spot something that I
want a shot of but can't wait for the camera to catch up to me. I
might be wandering around a track meet shooting various events all
day and never know when a group of students will suddenly decide to
pose for a shot and the moment is lost if my camera suddenly
demands another set of batteries...these subjects are not so
forgiving and not very willing to wait for me. I often keep my
camera from going to "sleep" and try to be ready for anything...and
it's nice to turn around and show a track coach the form of his
high jumper or pole vaulter...or to turn around and show off a good
shot to some students who just posed...all this just drains those
batteries and makes the camera less likely to be ready when I need
it.

Having a battery pack gives me more flexibility to use the camera
in these situations. Otherwise, I think I could get along with a
few sets of rechargables. Hope this gives more perspective...

-Alan

I see the need in those circumstances. I hadn't thought about it from that perspective.

Thanks,
Chuck
--
My on line albums
http://www.hpphoto.com/home/viewownerdir.asp?owner=chuckstr89134

and

http://www.pbase.com/chuckstr89134

Tony Reynolds · Jul 11, 2002

I've read through the thread and haven't seen a posting for this, but the cells used in the D7/D7i are 1.2V, NOT 1.5V. Four cells adds up to 4.8V, NOT 6V.

I don't know if this matters to anyone. It seems from the postings I've read that camera is somehow able to internally deal with a rnage of voltages, from 4.8V to 7V or so...

Tony

John Nollendorfs · Jul 11, 2002

chuckstr89134 said:
We just spent three weeks in England and Paris and I took almost
1000 pictures and I never managed to go all the way through 2 sets
in one day. I didn't have a 220 supply for my maha quick charger
(dumb me) so I had to rely on a 12 hour charger and I was a little
worried at first. In Paris I had the camera on all the time and I
had a set of batteries in the charger all the time but I never ran
into trouble. I followed the power conservation practices outlined
in the forum and was very happy with the performance of the camera
and batteries. My only problem was finding someplace to store the
pictures. By the end of the second week I was frantically deleting
software off of the laptop to make room for pictures.

Just my humble opinion.

Chuck:

One of the wisest investments I made in regard to picture storage was buying on close-out a 4 gig digital wallet. This easily holds 1500 best quality j-pegs. Also it's easy to carry in the camera bag and use anytime you are running out of card space. This seems like a better solution than having to lug a lap-top on shooting trips, and buying all those extra cards.
John

John Ellis · Jul 14, 2002

Thomas Karlmann said:
Thom: I just saw your reply. The Maha pack really should outlast the AA setup by about 4 times. It has 4X the energy. The mAh rating is the same, but 4X the voltage at the same amperage makes for 4X the available power, which is watts, and watt-hours is the measure of work. Otherwise it makes no sense to have various sizes of batteries as they would all have the same energy in them. 4X the voltage will push the same mAh through 4X the resistence. Taking 4 AA's in parallel or series makes no difference in available energy. Of course, the voltage has to match the design requirement of whatever it is used in. Using higher voltage has the advantage of less heat loss, tho, just as does using AC instead of DC. Cars went from 6volts to 12 volts and not far into the future will go to 24 volts due to this. Thomas Karlmann
wrote:
Yes, John:

But each CELL of the AA's you put in your D7i is rated at 1800maH.
So 4 in series = 6volts --- all are at 1800maH. So if the 6v pack
is rated at 1800maH, then the capacity is the same!

A "D" cell outlasts an "AA" cell because of the maH rating.

Let us know how your pack does!

Thom.

John Ellis said:

William West said:

Great news --- The Minolta Online Store is operational, where you can
purchase their EBP-100 external high power battery pack for the
amazingly low price of only $399. Basically, it says .... we have one
for sale....no specs...."..for hours of carefree operation...".

I asked both Minolta and B&H photo the storage capacity, but no
specs were revealed by either party. I believe the external
pack holds two lithium-ion batteries.

Minolta's online store does not show return policy. If they have
a 30 day back no questions asked policy, maybe someone will
order one, determine the storage capacity, return it to Minolta,
and post their findings on every Minolta Dimage 7/7i message
board they can find.

BTW - What is "high power"? Do you think Minolta's external battery
pack will make the Dimage 7/7i operate twice as fast?

William

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

theswede #100093 · Jul 14, 2002

John Ellis said:
Thanks, everybody, for the input. One point of confusion is about
the ratings--1800 mAh at 1.2 or 1.5 or whatever volts is not the
same as 1800 mAh at 6 or 7 volts, as the energy in a battery is
volts X amps for watt-hours.

Wrong.

John Ellis said:
That is why a D cell at 1.5 volts
will outlast a AA at 1.5 volts.

At the same mAh rating, it won't. They'll last exactly the same.

John Ellis said:
Either one of the battery packs
have about 4X the energy in them as do 4 AA batteries--actually,
the 6V pack should even last longer, if the ratings are right.

Nope. 20% more if it's all NiMH. 50% or so if it's Li-Ion.

4 * 1.2v * 1800 mAh = 8.6 Wh

vs.

1 * 6v * 1800 mAh = 10.8 Wh (if it's 5 cells, if it's 4 cells it will be 8.6 Wh just as the AA's)

or, if Li-Ion

1 * 7.2v * 1800 mAh = 12.9 Wh

John Ellis said:
I do know that lots of electronics are under-rated for voltage to allow
surges without damage.

John Ellis said:
Also, some battery sites claim that their on
NIMH AA's give nearer 1.5 than 1.2 volts. So the difference in
voltage may be small to begin with.

Unless they have managed to change the laws of physics, which I seriously doubt, they lie. Or speak marketspeak.

--
Jesper

D7i battery pack from MAHA

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