Anton Bauer Chargers?

In theory the AB charger is smart and will charge the cells correctly. The ikan just jams the power back in the D tap which could lead to cells overcharging. The batteries are expensive, treat them properly so they last and perform when you need them.
 
It gets tricky with batteries and chargers of differing brands. My opinion: if you own A/B batts, get an A/B charger(but my God their new designs are horrible). The Ikan charger also isn't going to do you any good unless the battery has a built-in powertap. I know a lot of the knock-off A/B's have them built-in and the new design A/B batts do as, well, but the older designs do not. The majority of my batts(14 of 16) do not. I've seen varying results of mixing brands of batts and chargers. Sometimes it will work, sometimes it won't. I have two non-A/B batts(Iniks) that I bought maybe four years ago for my audio bag. I ended up having to buy the Inik brand charger because I couldn't charge them on most of my A/B chargers. When the Inik died, I had one A/B charger(that I bought in '97) that could charge them. Four other dedicated A/B chargers and none would address them. Just because the mount is the same and a manufacturer claims compatibility, doesn't mean it always will. Just something to think about.
 
I couldn't use AB's new Digital 90. The size is odd and won't fit any of my custom made foam cases. The design looks like it's a child's toy battery. Dionic 90s and Dionic 90 HC were my favorites. Sadly I have no choice but to use the Switronic HyperCore 98 Gold until AB gets their act together (or will they).

Run&Gun said:
It gets tricky with batteries and chargers of differing brands. My opinion: if you own A/B batts, get an A/B charger(but my God their new designs are horrible). The Ikan charger also isn't going to do you any good unless the battery has a built-in powertap. I know a lot of the knock-off A/B's have them built-in and the new design A/B batts do as, well, but the older designs do not. The majority of my batts(14 of 16) do not. I've seen varying results of mixing brands of batts and chargers. Sometimes it will work, sometimes it won't. I have two non-A/B batts(Iniks) that I bought maybe four years ago for my audio bag. I ended up having to buy the Inik brand charger because I couldn't charge them on most of my A/B chargers. When the Inik died, I had one A/B charger(that I bought in '97) that could charge them. Four other dedicated A/B chargers and none would address them. Just because the mount is the same and a manufacturer claims compatibility, doesn't mean it always will. Just something to think about.
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The new battery designs are absolutely horrible. Vitec seems to be imposing consumer oriented designs on all their gear now. The new A/B batts and chargers and the LP Astra's should be sold at Toy R Us.

I just bought two of the new Digital 90's to go with two Dionic HC's for my F55 and C300 because I needed them and as much as i HATE the new design, it would have been dumb to pay almost double for the Dionic HC's which are the same capacity.

I did see the new Switronic batts(the one high capacity that splits for air travel). I think A/B really screwed the pooch with these new designs. I've heard that a lot of Steadicam ops are pissed. And sInce they introduced them last year, my sales rep at Abel has been pushing the Pag's since they are available in Gold mount, now(I'm heavily tied into Gold mount). I had to talk to the well known gear guru at Abel a few weeks ago because I had a tech question about the new batts and he doesn't even like the new design.

I've always bought A/B since day one, but out of all the guys I shoot with , I'm one of the VERY few still buying and using Anton Bauer. Maybe it's time for me to seriously consider the other alternatives out there...
 
I'm pretty happy with the IDX V mount stuff we have at work. The VL4S chargers are pretty good, wish we had the smarter version so I could do charge/discharge logging.
 
Run&Gun said:
The new battery designs are absolutely horrible. Vitec seems to be imposing consumer oriented designs on all their gear now. The new A/B batts and chargers and the LP Astra's should be sold at Toy R Us.

I just bought two of the new Digital 90's to go with two Dionic HC's for my F55 and C300 because I needed them and as much as i HATE the new design, it would have been dumb to pay almost double for the Dionic HC's which are the same capacity.

I did see the new Switronic batts(the one high capacity that splits for air travel). I think A/B really screwed the pooch with these new designs. I've heard that a lot of Steadicam ops are pissed. And sInce they introduced them last year, my sales rep at Abel has been pushing the Pag's since they are available in Gold mount, now(I'm heavily tied into Gold mount). I had to talk to the well known gear guru at Abel a few weeks ago because I had a tech question about the new batts and he doesn't even like the new design.

I've always bought A/B since day one, but out of all the guys I shoot with , I'm one of the VERY few still buying and using Anton Bauer. Maybe it's time for me to seriously consider the other alternatives out there...
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What is wrong with the new Digital 90's? What makes the design so bad? If you were me today, starting fresh with batteries (V-Mount vs Gold Mount, Manufacture "A" vs "B"), which would you recommend?
 
I would love to recommend V mount, but you need to look at all the stuff you have or might have and make sure it will come with V mount. An old AB battery and V mount can make a decent adapter. Had to build an AB to NP1 battery adapter one time, thankfully I hoard old stuff and had the important parts from an old AB nicad in my toolbox.

Now there are a few commercially produced adapters between popular batteries and mounts, so maybe not a big deal. IDX has been very good for us at work, both old np1 and newer Vmount. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/230276-REG/IDX_A_AB2E_A_AB2E_V_Mount_Adapter_Plate.html
 
Greg_E said:
I would love to recommend V mount, but you need to look at all the stuff you have or might have and make sure it will come with V mount. An old AB battery and V mount can make a decent adapter. Had to build an AB to NP1 battery adapter one time, thankfully I hoard old stuff and had the important parts from an old AB nicad in my toolbox.

Now there are a few commercially produced adapters between popular batteries and mounts, so maybe not a big deal. IDX has been very good for us at work, both old np1 and newer Vmount. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/230276-REG/IDX_A_AB2E_A_AB2E_V_Mount_Adapter_Plate.html
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Is V-Mount better?
 
V mount is different mostly in manufacturers. A 70wh 14 volt battery pack is still a 70wh 14 volt battery pack however you decide to mount it. But the IDX brand is certainly less than AB per watt hour, a good solid product from my point of usage for the past 10 years. We have had about 40 np1 batteries and then 24 V mount. 8 np1 chargers and now 6 v mount chargers and in the last 12 years that I've worked here, only 1 np1 charger has had to be repaired. The V mounts are about 4 years old and should probably start on the replacement cycle. These Lithium batteries should be replaced about every 3 years for maximum reliability and performance (but that may have changed with the newer batteries). Keep in mind, our equipment is used by students, that means things are rarely handled in a professional way so they should meet the demands of professional use with ease.

All that said, I see that AB has lowered the price of some of these new batteries, here are three to compare off of a quick search, all three are 90Wh:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/632842-REG/IDX_E_HL9S_E_HL9S_Lithium_Ion_V_Mount.html - basic power with a basic 3 LED charge status, we use the 70 WH version of this

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...8675_0092_digital_battery_series_digital.html - new H.R. Giger Aliens edition AB, cheaper to compete with other brands

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ..._DIONIC_HC_DIONIC_HC_Lithium_Ion_Battery.html - good old trusty AB battery that we all know and love

With that, I say it's up to the buyer to decide what they want to use if mounting options exist or what they must use if they can only get one type of mount on their equipment. From the little checking I did last night, you lose intelligent features when you use one of the AB to V or V to AB adapter plates, this means the camera may or may not report battery condition/level properly to the user. There are a few other things that may or may not function and some of those features are based on the battery plate (things like top light coming on when you press record which is tally triggered, mostly a NEWS thing).

I should probably followup by saying we went with IDX V mount based on experience with the company and because of the savings. At the time I think we saved $200 each battery over going with the AB, and then when we bought our latest cameras there happened to be a free IDX battery with purchase of IDX plate and battery kit with our cameras so that simply solidified the deal. Since we were moving from NP1 style to something else, we were going to need to buy chargers anyway, the IDX chargers were slightly cheaper than a comparable AB four way charger. We use the IDX VL-4S which is still a current model and really does simultaneously charge all four batteries. About 2 hours for the 70wh packs we are using, 3 hours for 90wh, and a lot more for the new higher capacity packs that I see they have now. If money were no object, I would have bought all VL-4Si to have the computer interface for cell tracking. I also have a pile of the VL-2plus 2 way sequential chargers that I need to modify for 4 pin output.
 
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ectobuilder said:
What is wrong with the new Digital 90's? What makes the design so bad? If you were me today, starting fresh with batteries (V-Mount vs Gold Mount, Manufacture "A" vs "B"), which would you recommend?
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Part of the problem is personal taste and part is what we as professionals need/want. For years, most of "our" batteries have been square/rectangle black boxes that matched the backs of our (big) cameras and packed in cases easily(they were pretty modular). The new design is very consumer oriented. They have added colors to the cases(presumably to differentiate capacities, BUT they don't on the V-mount versions) and changed the shape to a very "swoopy", contoured, taller case. They say it is easier to grab. It looks like they tried to make a "friendly" shape that makes you "want" to pick it up. Kind of like consumer marketing, "Oooh, that looks cool! I want to pick it up and buy it". I don't want or need "flashy", "cool" batteries. Give me a black square case that PERFORMS. But I wouldn't have complained if they had rubberized the existing designs in some places. The new LCD displays also look very cheap and easily damaged. The two brand new 90's that I have(1 week old), both have trash in the displays, fresh out of the box. Looks like a fleck of cardboard or something similar. And on a minor note, one was missing the captive cover for the built-in power tap connection. You may also want to know where some of your money is going now when you buy one. The boxes are now full-color printed with custom cut foam interior, magnetic latching flap and a cloth pull tab. I'm serious. GIve me a box that is going to protect it from damage during shipping, not something to display it in to my friends. More than likely, the only time I will ever see the box that the battery came in is when I pull the battery OUT of it. And let's not forget the new battery chargers, as well. Someone needs to be stabbed in the neck with a broken pencil for that. They are HUGE. If you try to pack even the two-position charger in a case, you're not going to be able to fit anything else. My travel support case is a Pelican 1650. I carried three HyTron 140's and a two-position T2 charger in there and that took up maybe 1/5th-1/6th of the case. I could fit every charger I own(2x 4-position, 3x 2-position and 3x Tandems) in there with plenty of room left for other gear and batts. If you put their new 2-position in there, I don't think you could get much else. Again, I think Vitec has forsaken the true professional market and our needs.

As far as going Gold mount or V-mount, that's something you will have to weigh out. When I started, A/B was pretty much it besides NP-1's and BP-90's. Most freelancers were on A/B's. I only knew one person that wasn't. Now you have Gold mount and V-mount to choose from, as well as lot's of manufacturers. With the equipment you already own, what mount system are you using? If it's already Gold mount and you have lot's of pieces, it's probably smart to stay on it. If you only have a few things and aren't already heavily invested, you could probably switch without much fuss or expense. Something else to think about… The people you shoot with or are around a lot, what system do they have and use? Being on the same system could save your bacon one day if you need to borrow a battery. Or you could garner a lot of goodwill being able to help out a fellow shooter by loaning them one in a pinch, too. I believe everyone I shoot with on a regular basis is GOld mount, the same as me. I do have one friend that I shoot with occasionally that is V-mount, but he's out-of-state, so don't do that much together and we both have lots of our own batteries. Whichever mount you decide on, it's not a bad idea to buy an adapter to be able to use the other, just in case.
 
Something else that I've been wondering since last year and really popped into my head while I was loading my gear for a shoot tomorrow… I'm actually wondering how long Vitec is going to continue with Gold Mount batteries and mounts?

1) A/B is now making V-mount batteries and chargers.

2) Look at the design of and hold the new batteries. They are taller, so they will stick up and over the backs of cameras, now. And look where the rubberization/grips have been placed. I've ALWAYS grabbed my batteries in the middle when I pick them up and mount and un-mount them from the camera and chargers. But the grip on the new batteries isn't where you would normally grab and hold a battery, especially a Gold Mount battery. If you grab the new batteries by the grip you are not holding it where you would naturally(towards the center of gravity), you are holding it near the top in the same manner you would mounting and un-mounting a V-mount battery. They've designed the grip with vertical motion for mounting in mind, as opposed to horizontal motion for mounting a gold mount.

Or maybe I'm over thinking this and giving them WAY too much credit and they're idiots who didn't design the battery to be held how most people do.
 
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