First draft of external ML battery power -

Max Iso wrote:

Just a quick update for anybody following. I did some reading last night and i believe this info could be useful to me or others. It seems Panasonic designed the G9 so that the USB plug can supply power, but never enough power to fully power the camera. The reason?

Apparently letting the full 1.5 amps needed to power it, while operating, would build too much heat so it's limited to 1 amp maximum through the USB port. The solution is to always have some of the power being supplied by the battery, hence the need for the battery to be in place with some charge. How much depends on the use.

In LV (not recording 4k video) the USB source like a power bank can supply 90% of the power needed, with the last 10% coming from the internal batteries. For 4k video recording, it limits incoming USB power to 40% of needed power, with 60% coming from internal batteries.

This isn't actually that bad of a concept since using USB plug power sourcing allows me to keep 2 batteries in place, in body and in grip. If i just shoot stills for example, it essentially makes the internal batteries last 10x as long given the power banks don't die first. Assuming my power bank was large enough, my two internal batteries would act as if they were 36kmAh total, instead of 3600. I could live with that.

My only issue is as i mentioned the plug sticking out the side of the camera, it makes the camera more vulnerable to damage if it were snagged ect. A solution i thought of, perhaps there is a vertical right angle plug on the market? Something that plugs in and sends the wire straight up or forward so it's not sticking out sideways so much.

An interesting option added to what has been mentioned already, i'll have to do some digging and see how they weight up and if i can find that right angle plug.

Regarding the right angle plug, they do exist, but likely to still be a weak point. A lot of people use camera cages with a clamp for the side ports to prevent them from being damaged. Some cameras like my Sony a7RIII even include a cable clamp in the box that screws into a dedicated threaded hole on the side. Video-centric camera cages also provide these clamps.

It looks like the DC-G9 has the USB 3 Micro B connector.

Here is an angled connector for USB 3 Micro B that might work:

https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Slim-Micro-USB-Cable/dp/B00YEDRQDS

Here is a typical video cage for the G9 with clamp:

Cage:

https://www.smallrig.com/smallrig-l-bracket-for-panasonic-lumix-g9-2191.html

Clamp for Cage:

https://www.smallrig.com/smallrig-hdmi-cable-clamp-1822.html

Note that the clamp can be adjusted in vertical position, so while this says its for hdmi, you could use it for any side port.

Here is the Sony bundles with some of their cameras: