AC/DC wish.

awesomesean

awesomesean

Active member
I just went on a week long shoot and I found a huge drawback to the awesome dvx. When you are shooting with the ac cord plugged in and need to switch to battery power you have to stop recording and remove the ac adapter and install the battery whitch can be a real pain. Does anyone know if there is a battery with a power cord adapter in it or Jarred can make one? This was a oversight when I bought the camera and it didn't really occur to me how important this could be(the sony you can plug and unplug while still recording) anyone have ant thoughts?
 
Re: AC/DC wish.

Not related to the solution here but why would you be switching POWER options in the middle of a shot?  I can see where this is a problem if needed; it just seems wierd to have aneed to go from AC to BAttery in the Middle of something?
 
Re: AC/DC wish.

my solution would be to buy the dvxuser 4 hour batteries, or the pnasonic 8 hour battery, and then plan ahead to be sure youve got enough power them to last the duratin needed for your shots, that way youll just run off battery power all the time. :) ..which is pretty much the norm.
 
Re: AC/DC wish.

Well, as someone who shoots a lot of live events in which one can't miss a single moment (e.g., Chamber Music marathons, etc), this is indeed something that would at least occasionally be very useful. If you have a only a brief interval between pieces (sometimes less than a minute) to change tapes, power down, swap batteries, power up, adjust any settings, it can get pretty frantic. I'd be happy to be able to change batteries without powering down; but having the freedom to move the camera quickly between a location with power and one without would be nice.

On the same topic, maybe... I'd also love to see a less flimsy power adapter!
 
Re: AC/DC wish.

aha! i see... well, my theory is that since almost all the batteries last longer than an hour, you could always change it when you change tapes.
 
Re: AC/DC wish.

I can't think of ANY camera that let's you switch between battery power and AC power uninterrupted. Even the 35mm film cameras I've used required switching out batteries by stopping the film.

Like iamloser suggests, get a few long-lasting batteries and switch them out when you change tapes.
 
Re: AC/DC wish.

[quote author=Beeblebrox link=board=Events;num=1083002109;start=0#5 date=04/26/04 at 12:13:52]I can't think of ANY camera that let's you switch between battery power and AC power uninterrupted.  Even the 35mm film cameras I've used required switching out batteries by stopping the film.[/quote]

That's the thing... Almost every sub-$2,000 camera will let you do this - cameras that charge the battery on-board. Higher end cameras tend to require the batteries to be charged on a separate device, like the DVX's charger block. The GL2 has accessories that let you charge and run at the same time, or swap batteries "live" (that is, it holds two batteries, and you can swap one at a time). Any of these would be cool...

Like iamloser suggests, get a few long-lasting batteries and switch them out when you change tapes.
Click to expand...
Of course, that's what we've got to do now... but indeed in some critical situations there's not enough time to comfortably eject, swap batteries, modify settings as necessary, and go.
 
Re: AC/DC wish.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, the AC switching would be nice, but if this "Jarred can maybe make something" idea works, a simple dual-battery holder that allows hot swapping would be as good or better!
 
Re: AC/DC wish.

In film, we use a battery belt, which is a series of batteries strung together. Generally, we charge them all at once, but I don't see why you couldn't rig something like this. The Canon XL-1 has an add-on dual battery supply that lets you run uninterrupted (I think).
 
Re: AC/DC wish.

John Hudson-- why would you be switching POWER options in the middle of a shot?

There are times during a conference or something where you are tripod mounted and need to release and go to get a shot real quickwithout powering down, powering up and re setting the settings. I have some 5 hour batteries but hate to just sit there and burn them up when there is a power outlet right next to me. expecially when you are sitting still for hours and don' know when you will have to grab it and run to get a different shot. my friend has a dvc500 and he can do that, maybe not whil recording but he does not have to power down the camera to plug or unplug ac power. kind of like my sony digital 8 where the camera charges the battery and you just plug the ac into the back of the camera while it is on.
Just a wish i guess. the other advantages of this great camera outweigh the small things...right
 
Re: AC/DC wish.

I'm also pretty sure I've seen "Anton Bauer to DVX" adapters that would probably do the trick, but they are very pricey....
 
Re: AC/DC wish.

if you save your settings than its just a matter of powering down and up again, and that takes about 15 secs max.
 
Re: AC/DC wish.

..again i say that a good 4 hour batt will last you through almost any event, and the 8 hour batt will surely do the trick. the norm is to always run off battery power for alot of reasons. cause you dont know how stable the a/c your pluging into is, and it could surge and fry your cam... cause you dont need to request or ask if you can , and where you can plug in.. cause you dont have to mess with cords, and have people tripping over them.. so you dont have to be next to an outlet.. so you can move around easily and freely, and whenever you want..
 
Re: AC/DC wish.

Can anyone report how much time they get, with the LCD on, form Panny's big battery? (With minimal zooming).

I get a little over 2 Hrs before hitting the last (nerve-wracking) segment of the battery indicator using the nice DVXUser batteries.
 
Re: AC/DC wish.

The big battery goes a good six hours. In on/off shooting I've had it last a full 10-hour day, shooting six full tapes, but obviously the camera was turned off during some of that time. LCD open most of the time, and fairly frequent zooming...
 
Re: AC/DC wish.

I get about 4.5 hours out of mine 5400mah give or take. ;D

Get almost 2.5 give or take (usually take) out of my 3000mah. :-[

Thats with No zooming except setting up the shot.
 
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