Panasonic G7 "This battery cannot be used"

[LooseLatitude]

I got a dummy battery ac adapter for my G7 and it works fine. I tried hooking up the dummy battery to a npf battery and it says "This battery cannot be used. Anyway around this?

 

[Aberaeron]

Can you be more expansive with your question? How do you link a dummy battery AC adapter to a real battery? Surely the AC adapter is used instead of a battery within the camera with a lead out to a mains AC supply?

Perhaps you mean something else entirely? :-|

 

[alcelc]

Can you be more expansive with your question? How do you link a dummy battery AC adapter to a real battery? Surely the AC adapter is used instead of a battery within the camera with a lead out to a mains AC supply?

Perhaps you mean something else entirely? :-|

...by a rely case (like this) to power our camera by external power bank through USB connection.

 

[LooseLatitude]

Can you be more expansive with your question? How do you link a dummy battery AC adapter to a real battery? Surely the AC adapter is used instead of a battery within the camera with a lead out to a mains AC supply?

Perhaps you mean something else entirely? :-|

Wall outlet --> AC adapter --> dummy battery --> g7 works.

Sony npf battery --> npf battery plate --> (5.5x2.1mm to 4.0x1.7mm dc plug tip) --> dummy battery --> g7 not work.

I've used the npf battery successfully on a canon 70d so that whole setup works... just not on the g7.

 

[Michael Meissner]

I got a dummy battery ac adapter for my G7 and it works fine. I tried hooking up the dummy battery to a npf battery and it says "This battery cannot be used. Anyway around this?

I had a previous thread about powering Panasonic (and Olympus) cameras:

• https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/59407043

The user RobertG_Berlin mentioned that if the voltage is 8.4v or less, the Panasonic camera will require that the battery used identify itself as a Panasonic battery (or a clone battery that is chipped to resemble a Panasonic battery).

If the voltage is 8.5v or higher, then the camera assumes it is being powered by external power, and does not insist on a chipped battery.

Generally, the batteries used for mirrorless/DSLR cameras are 2 cell lithium-ion batteries that are 8.4v when fully charged, and the nominal voltage is 7.4v.

So if you want to use the NPF battery, you need to boost the voltage to 8.5v or 9v. I've measured that my G85 will draw about an amp at 9v right after I've fired the flash, and normally 0.5 amps. So if you go with a circuit booster, you need to verify that the NPF battery can deliver the extra watts that can be transformed to 8.5v.

These amplifiers probably will work, but note they can at times generate enough heat to burn you:

• https://www.pololu.com/product/2570
• https://www.pololu.com/product/2567

It may be simpler to go with other battery sources. I've used the following in testing my G85, but I haven't done a long term test:

• http://www.ebay.com/itm/NP-FW50-LP-...-0-5V-fit-LP-E17-BP-511-EN-EL15-/302064833533
• http://www.ebay.com/itm/391695284237?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

 

[Tony Collins]

What current/voltage does the dummy battery required. What voltage/current is supplied by the Sony battery?

 

[Nikola Cvjetinovic]

Greeting,

I have Probbty Probbty and another NP-F battery and I tried both the SmallRig and Tilta adapter for NP-F in combination with the GH5 camera and in both cases it kicks me out This battery can not be used and the camera shuts down. This happens when I connect 7.4V to the output even though there is 8.37V at the output. Would the camera burn out if I connected it to a 12V output? I think it would burn out so I didn’t try it.

 

[alcelc]

I think Michael had said it clearly that if less than 8.4V, GH5 will check the genuinity of the battery. 12V? Sound risky to me.

 

[Michael Meissner]

Greeting,

I have Probbty Probbty and another NP-F battery and I tried both the SmallRig and Tilta adapter for NP-F in combination with the GH5 camera and in both cases it kicks me out This battery can not be used and the camera shuts down. This happens when I connect 7.4V to the output even though there is 8.37V at the output. Would the camera burn out if I connected it to a 12V output? I think it would burn out so I didn’t try it.

Who knows? It may work, or it may not. It depends on whether Panasonic put in the extra circuitry to protect against excess voltage.

As I said earlier, it appears that Panasonic seems to use the value of 8.4 volts to decide whether it is being powered by batteries or it is being powered via external circuitry. If the power is less than to 8.4 volts, the camera expects the battery to provide resistors on some contacts so the camera can identify itself. The camera uses the voltage that it gets from the battery to determine how much power is left in the battery.

If it is 8.4 volts or higher, the camera does not check for the resistors. If the power is 8.4 volts or higher, the camera turns off the battery meter. The key question is how high of a voltage did Panasonic design for?

I have two battery adapters for my G85. The newer one has the magic words "decoded", and it will allow batteries down to the 7.2 volt range. If I dial down the voltage, I can see the battery meter start indicating the battery is nearing the end of its capacity. The older adapter is not decoded, and I can only use 8.4 volts or more on the camera.


Note, when I did the tests, my battery that could vary the voltage could only go in 0.5 volt steps. So I could test 8.0 volts and 8.5 volts, but I couldn't test 8.4 volts.

9 volts seems to be a common voltage for powering cameras. I have run both my Panasonic and Olympus cameras on 9 volts. I have not tried 12 volts.

I recently bought an Andycine C6 external monitor, and it has a plug to power video cameras at 8.4 volts assuming I power the monitor with 12 volts.

BTW, 8.4 volts is not arbitrary. It is the voltage of the lithium-ion batteries (using a common battery formulation) when the battery is freshly charged.