Another way to power the camera??

F

filmmaker77

Member
I searched in vain around the board and tried to find out if anyone has found a solution to powering the DVX100A (from a wall outlet) without having the battery charger clunkily hanging in the middle. Ideally, I'd like to have a 7.9volt adapter that plugs into the cam with a 25 foot cord that goes to the wall.

Any thoughts?
 
you could run an extension cord to the ac adaptor and than have the adaptor and cord on the floor.... or you could get a battery and be done with it
 
I don't see why that wouldn't be possible. The dvx does have a input on the back behind the battery for a power adapter
 
Unfortunately, we could never get enough batteries to power the two cams for 12-14 hours a day, at least economically. So I need to plug into the wall for constant power.

The problem seems to be that getting a new 7.9 volt plug and augmenting it to elongate the cord is tougher than it seems. Apparently 7.9v is not a standard voltage/adapter that you can easilly find in an electronics store, or online, I've looked, even according to my high end electronics store in town. So it seems I need someone to steer me the direction of a 7.9v adapter and I'll extend the cord.

So I guess the question is...
Does anybody know where I can find a 7.9volt adapter plug?

I guess I figure DVXers should be able to buy a cord that lets us plug the cam into the wall without all that junk hanging and getting underfoot.
 
I was under the impression using the AC was risky - Can damage cam. I only bat up.... Another DVX Urban myth?
 
The transformer should stop surges or spikes from reaching the camera's power input...

...shouldn't it...?
 
"I was under the impression using the AC was risky - Can damage cam. I only bat up.... Another DVX Urban myth?"

Never heard that before. I would find it hard to believe, and in practice, I have always found that batteries are used for mobility more than their 'safety'. Hmmm....

Still looking for a 7.9 volt adapter.
 
When using a tripod I run the extension cord all the way to the tripod and simply gaff er the charger to its leg. Have done this on dolly shots also where there is a wall outlet available.
 
dakotapod said:
I was under the impression using the AC was risky - Can damage cam. I only bat up.... Another DVX Urban myth?
Click to expand...

That is news to me. I can't imagine it really being a risk...unless you live/work in some third world country where power surges are common. That is my situation. Because of that I, like you, rarely run any of my cameras "big" or the DVX100 on anthing but batts.

I have lots of surge protectors in my house and a small one in one of my light kits which I always use on those rare occaisions when I need to plug in for juice.
 
I don't know about it being "risky" to the camera itself, but rather the footage on the tape. When I worked in the U.S. Capitol, some of the outlets in the House Office Buildings would give us audio hum. Groundlifters sometimes worked, but other times didn't. The wiring in those buildings is quite old. For the most part, we'd go with battery power when doing interviews in the offices. As for filmmaker's question, I'd use NCJE's suggestion, gaff it to the tripod. If you're going handheld, you could build some sort of beltclip.
-Ryan
 
Using mains (AC) to run a camera can be a bit of a risk if the camera is connected to any other device (computer, monitor, etc) as you now have created a path through the camera for a conducted event. Granted, that in normal circumstances, this isn't and issue, but if any connected device has excessive leakage current or if there are any faults, then the camera is most certainly at risk.

If you must run the camera from the mains, then if at all possible, avoid any other connections which are mains powered to avoid any possible issues.
 
That's what I thought - SLIM risk, but for me, any risk is too high.

Now if I could only take such good care of myself....
 
filmmaker77 said:
Unfortunately, we could never get enough batteries to power the two cams for 12-14 hours a day, at least economically. So I need to plug into the wall for constant power.

The problem seems to be that getting a new 7.9 volt plug and augmenting it to elongate the cord is tougher than it seems. Apparently 7.9v is not a standard voltage/adapter that you can easilly find in an electronics store, or online, I've looked, even according to my high end electronics store in town.
Click to expand...


If you look in the specs section in the back of the DVX owner's manual, it shows that 7.2 volts is adequate. Page 69 under the heading of 'General'. It also states that the max usage is 9.2 watts. It would not take a huge external battery to power a DVX for 12-14 hours.

I prefer a battery solution myself. I don't like being dependent on a wall socket. They never seem to be conveniently located for me and as someone already mentioned, the AC power may not be free of hums and such. There's ways to filter that but that's more gear to carry.

A DC to DC converter that takes a common voltage like 12volts and regulates it down to 7.2 to 7.9 volts would be an efficient way to power a DVX for long periods. One product I have seen (but not used) is at this link:

http://www.dolgin.net/DCConverterPan.htm


Another product for running a DVX from a power tap source can be found here:

http://switronix.com/sccable.htm

I just received one of these in replacement for an earlier version of this concept. It works great. One end locks in place like a battery pack and the other end plugs into a battery brick with a power tap socket. The cabling is much more robust than the AC adapter setup that Panasonic provides with the DVX. The people at Switronix have been great to work with.

Notice that both products provide 7.2 volts to the DVX. A DC-to-DC converter is much more power efficient than a battery-> AC inverter -> AC adapter -> DVX combination.

Hope this helps.

-Dan
 
dakotapod said:
That's what I thought - SLIM risk, but for me, any risk is too high.

Now if I could only take such good care of myself....
Click to expand...
SLIM Risk, but it happened to ME! SLIMOTHY! How funny, it came out that way. Anybody who thinks that running your cam from your wall outlet isn't risky is wrong. My camera is being sent to Maryland this week because I thought the same thing.

Here is what happenned:
http://www.dvxuser.com/V3/showthread.php?t=39058&highlight=broke
 
Well if i ran it from the wall outlet and some problem occured ... in for warranty repairs and a big kick in the ass to panasonic. I would ***** so much to my authorised seller here in Japan .. Id be on my way with thier rental FREE until my cam came back. As far as I am concerned operating the cam via a wall socket is normal usage, and any damage incurred is pana problem unless of course there was a surge then I am insured.
 
Yes, it's normal usage.

And, unless I read it wrong, using AC had nothing to do with the problem cited by Slimothy. It was probably all that switching back and forth between modes while it was on that confused the camera, necessitating a reset.
 
GenJerDan said:
Yes, it's normal usage.

And, unless I read it wrong, using AC had nothing to do with the problem cited by Slimothy. It was probably all that switching back and forth between modes while it was on that confused the camera, necessitating a reset.
Click to expand...

Yes, but the reset only worked for one night. The next day the camera went out again. This time I was using a battery.
 
ncje said:
Well if i ran it from the wall outlet and some problem occured ... in for warranty repairs and a big kick in the ass to panasonic. I would ***** so much to my authorised seller here in Japan .. Id be on my way with thier rental FREE until my cam came back. As far as I am concerned operating the cam via a wall socket is normal usage, and any damage incurred is pana problem unless of course there was a surge then I am insured.
Click to expand...

My warranty ran out a month and a half ago.
 
The thing about fried circuits, usually, is that they stay fried. They don't get better for the evening.

If we weren't supposed to power it from AC, they wouldn't have bothered making that fake-battery-plate thingie.
 
I agree, but I thought Silm's problem was because he completed a circuit....from having the camera plugged in and then running firewire to a DVD player that was plugged in on the same circuit. Simply plugging the camera in should not have anywhere near the same effect. This is just what I got from KHMuse's explanation in both threads.
-Ryan
 
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