FS7: 3rd party batteries

gene_can_sing said:
Anyone here have the BP-U90's? The 60's seem way more popular, but 90's would be nice for less battery changes. But damn... the 90's are expensive!

I have a Watt Hour question.

The BP-U60's are listed at 56 WH. The Bp-U90's are listed at 85 WH. 85-56 = 29, so does that mean in THEORY the 90's should last about 1/3 longer than the 60's?
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Yes, that's exactly what it means. I'm thinking the BP-U60 (or equivalent) is the logical choice unless you really need that extra long battery life for, say, an event.

For people who own one, does the BP-U60 come close to flush with the back?
 
Jim Ritscher said:
....For people who own one, does the BP-U60 come close to flush with the back?
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No it's not close to flush. It's much better then the smaller 30 but it's about half an inch off. When I get home tomorrow I'll post a picture unless someone here can do it first.
 
Ben Scott said:
News from SWIT from my dealer. I can confirm that the S-8U63 has now been updated with a new Chipset and Swit confirm that
It will work fine/QUOTE]

I'm assuming there are a lot of those S-8U63 Swit batteries that are sitting in warehouses and on store shelves that don't have the new chipset. How will we know if we are getting an "updated" one? I guess they will need to use a new model# for it. Currently B&H has a notice on the product page saying that these batteries are not compatible with the FS7.
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I just talked to my contact at SWIT USA, he was not aware of the new shipset, but he will check with the factory. As soon as I know something, I will post. In the past they did not change the model number, but changed the color scheme to make it possible to distinguish between the versions. I think it has something to do with the safety compliance steps, if the change does not affect any major structural features, they do not go through all the safety agency steps again just to update the firmware.
 
If there was a "chipset" fix that may mean there was a change in hardware, or in non-user-updatable firmware. If this is the case, older batteries with the same model designation would be left incompatible with the FS7. I doubt a smaller company like SWIT is going to do a warehouse recall of product that can still be used with plenty of other cameras even if this is the case. I could be wrong I suppose, but I would be careful when buying that your dealer guarantees you compatibility.
 
to be honest, it may well have been a quick way of telling me the batts he is supplying work and it might not actually be a hardware replacement at all. But you're right, I'm sure they will make good on any purchased for an fs7 that don't work. That said that's a fairly new model anyway isn't it? might not be a ton in the wild.
 
I just wanted to quickly mention that I bought a couple of generic BP-U60 batts made by DSTE (before coming across this thread) and they do not work. The camera powers on for a few seconds then I get the message, "Battery error. Please change battery." Then the camera shuts off.

I went on ebay to search for some lightly used batts since I'll mainly be running anton bauers on the extension unit with a v-mount adapter. I found a listing selling authentic new Sony BP-U60 batts for $129 with free shipping from China. That's cheaper than alot of the generic batteries. Could they be knockoffs? Maybe, they look legit in the pictures, and the seller has over 2,000 feedback with 98% positive. He also accepts returns for 2 weeks so I can evaluate them. He has a few left if anyone else wants to give it a shot: http://r.ebay.com/foZA2P

The projected delivery date is between Dec. 12 -27.
 
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marauder09 said:
...China. He also accepts returns for 2 weeks so I can evaluate them.
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I don't know, but I suspect that the postage back to China can be quite expensive. A lot of Chinese companies are very brazen about selling Sony knockoffs complete with the right labels, etc.
 
Right now the only battery that works with the FS7 without using a D-Tap cable are the Sony BP-U30, BP-U60, BP-U60T, & the BP-U90.

The Swit S-8U63 batteries that we received from Swit on Nov 6 DO NOT WORK with the FS7.
 
That's all we know:

Use original Sonly BP-Us if you want it simple and
want the "fuel gauge" display.
Use Swit S-8U62 with the D-Tap out if you like it
cheaper and need the extra output for accessories.

The Powerlok BP-U60 should work too:
http://cvp.com/index.php?t=product/powerlok_bp-u60-65wh

Or the Beillen BL-Us:
http://www.beillen.tv/Batteries-for-EX1-EX3


I have one BP-U and 2 Swit S-8U62 and I'm happy with
both of them. Swit does not build these S-8U62 anymore
sothat you need to search for them.
 
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I just received this from Abel:

"We just tested a new Switorinix 96w (EX-L96UD) battery with the FS7 that does have a P-tap on it and it worked well. It's a bit longer and would stick out of the back of the camera..."
 
marauder09 said:
I just wanted to quickly mention that I bought a couple of generic BP-U60 batts made by DSTE (before coming across this thread) and they do not work. The camera powers on for a few seconds then I get the message, "Battery error. Please change battery." Then the camera shuts off.

I went on ebay to search for some lightly used batts since I'll mainly be running anton bauers on the extension unit with a v-mount adapter. I found a listing selling authentic new Sony BP-U60 batts for $129 with free shipping from China. That's cheaper than alot of the generic batteries. Could they be knockoffs? Maybe, they look legit in the pictures, and the seller has over 2,000 feedback with 98% positive. He also accepts returns for 2 weeks so I can evaluate them. He has a few left if anyone else wants to give it a shot: http://r.ebay.com/foZA2P

The projected delivery date is between Dec. 12 -27.
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Probably knockoffs. Not all knockoffs are terrible quality, in my experience, you may get a battery that will have 80% of the life of the real thing. The accurate "fuel gauge" feature of the factory batteries probably won't work with a knockoff, also, the knockoff battery may weigh half as much because it is a smaller battery in the correct size case. After wading through his feedback, I found a couple that say "counterfeit" or "don't buy from this seller". 9 out of 10 are happy though. $129 is too much if it is a knockoff. I cringe at paying the prices of the OEM manufacturer batteries, but have to admit, I've gotten as much as 7 years of life out of them. Knockoffs are a gamble.
 
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The SWIT batteries that I purchased a few years ago have a limit of 2 amps or 24 watts out of the P-Tap connector. I would suspect that similar batteries would have the same limitation. There is a switch that throws when you hit 2 amps and the battery will "shut down" for a few minutes until the switch resets.
 
Hi there,

Not sure if that was posted before but my dealer told me just a few days ago that SWIT will come soon with a new BP-U battery compatible with the FS7.

Cheers.
 
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