HPX250: Expected battery run time

M

mmaller

Well-known member
Just wondering what people's experiences have been with the run time on the battery.
I'm about to shoot a live event and am concerned about the battery duration.
I will be using the LCD. (and some zooming, monitoring exposure and focus) Wondering if I should go to the trouble of running long extension cords for ac power
or rely on the battery. I have a spare CGA-D54 battery but don't want to stop video taping to change the battery.

Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated
 
I know the batteries don't last as long as they do on my 170.
Why run the risk depending on how long the event is that one battery won't cut it. I'd run stingers without a doubt and then there's no worries at all.
 
How long is the live event? I've recorded for two hours with a powered XLR stereo microphone and external zoom controller without problem.
 
Thank you THoff and digitalgecko for your experiences with the Battery.
Bruce196, the event was this past Sunday, so I really didn't have time to do a battery run down test.
I ended up doing what Kevin R. noted, as I was too nervous to just rely on the batteries.
The event was a little over 2 hours and I was not sure if I would be able to stop recording to change batteries.

Thank you to all for responding with your experiences, very much appreciated. I will take note of my usage with the battery
under less stressful conditions.
 
Just an fyi, I have run the batteries down so I know. I get approx. 3 hours out of the new battery and 2.9 out of a used battery I got. I also shoot long performances (2 to 3 hours), but I wont do it with AC power if there is a small break in between. I always change the battery out during half time, even though I know it will last. Once I ran off AC power and something happened in the building plug went out, so I had to scramble for a battery.

Do your own test and let the camera recored (Loop mode) with LCD & EV turned on, ext mic the whole nine yards. Then you will know what you can get.
 
rzr219 said:
Just an fyi, I have run the batteries down so I know. I get approx. 3 hours out of the new battery and 2.9 out of a used battery I got. I also shoot long performances (2 to 3 hours), but I wont do it with AC power if there is a small break in between. I always change the battery out during half time, even though I know it will last. Once I ran off AC power and something happened in the building plug went out, so I had to scramble for a battery.

Do your own test and let the camera recored (Loop mode) with LCD & EV turned on, ext mic the whole nine yards. Then you will know what you can get.
Click to expand...
I don't know what I'm doing wrong. We are lucky to get a hour out of a new or used battery. Is there a trick I'm missing?
tdtinker
 
the 250 doesnt have auto power off! It will eat as much battery when turned on or recording, no idea why this has been left out. I got extra large SWIT batteries (with the additional power output and the charge led´s) and those hold as long as the standard batteries did with my HVX 201. The 250 eats a lot more juice and you have to learn to turn it off.
 
Correct the unit does not shut off I am glad for that. I am doing another long shoot today and will double check my times.
 
Well...the old HVX power save only turned off the lcd panel....it would have never shut down during record! But in "idle" mode one could define a time for it to save batteries....I was glad for that :)
 
Ok, just finished and time is about the same 2.8 hours. If you are only getting 1 hour, there is something not right. Could be your charger, since you have 2 different batteries?
 
rzr219, Were you using a zoom controller?
Was there anything else that was drawing power from the battery, like a phantom powered Microphone?
Just want to get an idea what your conditions were, so i can assess when to use the battery or not.
Thanks very much for your help.
 
I've not timed it with any accuracy, but on average I get 2.5-3 hrs out of the high capacity batteries.

Timbook2, why in the world would you want auto power off on a pro camera?
 
mmaller said:
rzr219, Were you using a zoom controller?
Was there anything else that was drawing power from the battery, like a phantom powered Microphone?
Just want to get an idea what your conditions were, so i can assess when to use the battery or not.
Thanks very much for your help.
Click to expand...

No, I have not used these yet. in a few weeks I will be using all the items above. I did another shot yesterday for around 6 solid hours and used 2 batteries.
 
brynsank said:
I've not timed it with any accuracy, but on average I get 2.5-3 hrs out of the high capacity batteries.

Timbook2, why in the world would you want auto power off on a pro camera?
Click to expand...

what has "pro" got to do with NOT saving battery power by shutting down the lcd panel after a given time?
Besides ..it was a feature that could be turned off...
 
tdtinker said:
I'm lucky to get 2.5 hours out of two battries
Click to expand...

If one of the batteries was the new one you got with your 250 then I would take it back to where you bought it and make them correct this. If the same thing is happening on both batteries, then I am guessing you have a camera issue. I would get it fixed sooner than later.
 
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