External Power Nightmare

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Hi Everyone,

I've recently purchased a Lanparte rig for my Nikon D5200, which works amazingly well, couldn't be happier with it. Paired with my lenses (notably my Samyang 35mm Cine lens), it is astounding for video, surely one of Nikon's best DSLRs for video from footage I've seen.

The only real issue is the fact Lanparte don't make a dummy-adapter for the EN-EL14 battery the D5200 uses. They make loads for Canon, a few for Sony, and one for Nikons which use the EN-EL15, but not the EN-EL14.


I've had a nightmare with trying to work this out, but I have remained confident I can solution, and think I've found one in the shape of the EP-5A.
http://www.bristolcameras.co.uk/p-nikon-ep-5a-ac-adapter-connector.htm#Images


Does anyone with any knowledge of this adapter, or even a knowledge of basic electronics, know if the following will work:


I basically needed an empty EN-EL14 shaped dummy which I could solder a DC cable into which I can then connect to the power distributor on my rig. To give a better idea of what I'm after, I need the EN-EL14 version of this - http://www.lanparte.com/html/178.html

I was thinking of making one from a 3rd party battery, but the major issue was that taking apart a Lithium-Ion battery to remove the cells is extremely dangerous. As a result, I would never attempt it myself and any repair shop I contacted refused to to it.
This seems to offer a solution, but I'm looking for advice from those who might know.

Would buying an EP-5A, chopping off the plug and soldering a DC jack into place, work as I want it to?

I need to know quite urgently as I've some documentary work coming up in about 10 days time!
 
Hey mate,

I've had a look into this issue before; namely the problems with so many different battery standards out there making our lives a pain in the behind!

I've noticed that the later battery units come with their funky proprietary plug (I remember it was the case with the D800's release).
Unfortunately I never ended up buying one to take it apart, but it's possible that you only need the battery with the pigtail as Michael suggested, then to grab a compatible cable to cut and splice onto it.

Recently had a customer shoot over this link for an *extremely* affordable patch cable: http://www.adafruit.com/products/411#tutorials%5D%5D
Chop it up and give it a try; unfortunately I have no idea if Nikon are doing something funky with signals etc, or whether the cable is as dumb as the next one.
 
Michael - Err, yeah, that's what I said I'm doing.

I'm just asking if splicing a DC jack onto the end will work.

Josh - Yeah, hopefully that will work. The battery pinch I'm using has a 1.7mm DC socket outputting 7.4v, which is what both my Nikon and 3rd party Hahmel battery output.

I assume splicing that plug onto that "pigtail" will work, but as you point out, I could do with knowing if Nikon tried to stop people doing that.

For example, I've read of people doing the extremely dangerous "cell removal" from batteries, but unless the circuit board is in place, the camera thinks the battery is flat.

If the D5200 thinks the battery is flat or low, it disables the shutter, which obviously isn't good.

The EP-5A is on it's way to me, so I'll let you all know if it works.
 
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I actually received the EP-5A today.

Potential problem - The plug has four pins. Now one must be +ve and one -ve, but what are the other two? And what to do with them?

The contacts that connect to the camera, look just like a battery - 4 slots. I'm guessing these 4 pins meet these 4 slots.

Anyone know which are which?
 
I wonder why it is highly unrecommended to record video with a camcorder except off the battery? (i.e. we have had reports of entire SD cards being damaged to where all of the data is lost when the camera is connected to the mains and the power fails). Seems to me recording video at a DSLR would produce the same result.
 
kwkeirstead said:
I wonder why it is highly unrecommended to record video with a camcorder except off the battery? (i.e. we have had reports of entire SD cards being damaged to where all of the data is lost when the camera is connected to the mains and the power fails). Seems to me recording video at a DSLR would produce the same result.
Click to expand...

Yes, good point, but technically this is off a battery, just a bigger battery, connected via a wire. A wire I'm desperately trying to get.

Lanparte gear is commonly used, they make battery dummies for various other cameras and they've a good rep.

Famous last words and all, but the big-battery is no more likely to fail than the in-camera battery.
 
Hey mate,

I'm not too sure if it's worth getting the LP-E5 adapter from LPT that is already "decoded" and rip it apart to see how they've crossed the cables??
In my experience, however, it's just a pair of cables going to a small chip on the inside and then being connected back directly to the +ve and -ve terminals.
The fact that there are also 4 means they've probably just spliced it to both contacts but without having a unit in front of me I can't really take it apart and let you know... I do have plenty of the LP-E6 units though!

LanParte are not taking orders until the 25th due to BIRTV but I can help you organize something if you want to get one over to you at cost price.

Otherwise, if you can find a generic decoded one off Amazon that's also another option; they should pretty much be the same idea.
 
josh-ozirigpro said:
Hey mate,

I'm not too sure if it's worth getting the LP-E5 adapter from LPT that is already "decoded" and rip it apart to see how they've crossed the cables??
In my experience, however, it's just a pair of cables going to a small chip on the inside and then being connected back directly to the +ve and -ve terminals.
The fact that there are also 4 means they've probably just spliced it to both contacts but without having a unit in front of me I can't really take it apart and let you know... I do have plenty of the LP-E6 units though!

LanParte are not taking orders until the 25th due to BIRTV but I can help you organize something if you want to get one over to you at cost price.

Otherwise, if you can find a generic decoded one off Amazon that's also another option; they should pretty much be the same idea.
Click to expand...

Good point on the LP-E5 adapter. As I'm based in the UK, I'll likely order one from the guys I bought them from over here.

I know now that the outer pins on the adapter are +ve and -ve, but I don't know how to tell this which is which at the cable-end. I'm guessing the inner two need splicing to the +ve and -ve respectively, but again, I need to be sure. I obviously don't want to break the camera.

The other question is - The Lanparte units presumably have the battery circuit board inside them? I'm not sure if the EP-5A does, I'm worried the associated circuitry usually in the battery is in the EP-5B, which is the AC adapter that connects to the EP-5A, in which case it is only useful to me in that it's the right shape.

I can't see how to open it without breaking it either.
 
Yes, the LPT units have the "chip" on the inside.

You can usually "crack" them open if you squeeze the two sides of the battery slightly.
Most of the casing is hollow so it should have a bit of play.

It's kind of like opening a carton of milk.

If you're still having trouble, try getting in touch with the guys you bought it from; not sure what their support is like (can't imagine it's that great; the other LPT dealers usually leave a lot to be desired).
 
OK, just an update to thank those who helped - Lanparte themselves and a company in the UK called Hawkwoods (who were very helpful despite the fact I wasn't buying anything from them) both said that there's just a positive and a negative, don't mix them up and you're fine.

I cut the funny 4-pin plug off the EP-5 only to find the cable had two wires running through it. So god knows what the 4 pins was about.

You say the Lanparte units have a chip inside, the EP5 must also, because it worked just fine, the camera just says it is plugged in.

A WARNING TO ANYONE ELSE DOING THIS - ALWAYS power the camera from the power distributor with a (preferably well charged) battery on it. Just to be on the side of caution, I initially tried to see if it worked without the battery attached, just using the power distributor just powered by the mains (in case of a short or something) - this method does NOT provide enough voltage out of the distributor, and while the camera will turn on and looks like it's working fine, the shutter will jam if you enter Live View and a hardware error message appears on the screen.

Luckily it snapped shut when powered down the camera and works fine, but it's fair to say I needed a new pair of trousers when it happened....
 
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