techjedi
•
Veteran Member
•
Posts: 4,190
Re: First draft of external ML battery power -
Max Iso wrote:
Discussion has been around for years of course, even before ML was around other cameras needed more power for long duration video. I just want something more than the typical ML battery will offer so a few years ago i started looking. Today i decided to move forward and get a full working setup going.
Attached to my G9 i have a cheap $7 walmart USB pack with 6700mAh, a 5v-9v converter cable, and a G9 dummy battery with DC input. The dummy battery is in the grip and i can keep the internal battery in place for more juice total. This power bank is a cheapo and after voltage conversion offers about 4500mAh, giving just over 6000 total in this setup, but it gives a 2A output which is what matters. It's all mounted on a metal K-Tec shoe plate.
Of course this setup is ugly and messy as i didn't work out a pretty scheme for the wires since i won't be using them long term. In the near future i'll pick up a power bank that has a DC out jack to hook straight to the dummy battery. For now this is a working prototype for me showing others the idea in case they haven't seen it before.
For anybody looking to try, make sure you have between a 7-9 volt and at least 1.5 amp charge. I have used a 1 amp phone wall plug (with the 5-9v converter) just to see what happens, it works for single stills shooting but when i shot burst or video, the camera instantly powered off as the power draw was over 1A (it's something like .8 or .9 amps for single stills.
Feel free to show or share your setup if you use one or have suggestions, here's a few pics as is the first go.
When i eventually choose my permanent power bank, it will likely be much larger capacity (they go up over 50,000mAh) so it might not be attached at the top, i'll have to see when i get there. Even with the Olympus 75, this setup isn't very heavy, it's considerably lighter than my D300 with grip and plastic macro lens.
Looking forward to tinkering and seeing what i can do with this.
Cool setup and idea, particularly using commodity power banks.
There are also a number of options to use the Sony video camera NPF series batteries like the NP-F970 which is 6300mAh and already runs at the Sony stills camera native voltage (7.2V stated, 8.4V full charged). You could discard the voltage regulator and have the choice to add a second battery in parallel for around the same size as your current setup for over 12000mAh.
These NPF batteries are used by so many non-Sony devices these days, there is a good chance you may already have some.
You could wire to your existing dummy batter with some soldering work. You may also be able to find an existing dummy battery to NPF sled for the G9. Here is one for earlier Panasonic cameras that may or may not be compatible out of box:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/NP-F970-to-DMW-DCC12-Dummy-Battery-Adapter-DC-Couple-for-Panasonic-GH3-4-5/382926784263?hash=item5928370707:g:qMAAAOSwbxlcx8zX