GH2 GH2 Power - specs, tests, DIY

Poop on a stick.
I totally want one of those CCTV batteries, but I simply don't have the time to wait for one from China. I need it in about 2.5 weeks, and shipping from hong kong is too unreliable in time.

So I'm limited to what's available here. Well, let's see- at 3.7v, the battery is rated at 10,000mAh. That means at 9v, it should be about 4,115mAh (unless my quick and crude math is wrong). Am I right?

The stock battery is 7.2v @ 1,200mAh. I'm not sure if the camera consumes the same rate of energy at 7.2v internally as it does at 9v from the dcc-8, but let's just say it does so that the margin of error is on the conservative side. That means I should get just under 3.5x the capacity of the stock battery. Let's say 3x to be safe. How long does the camera record on the stock battery for? I think 1-2 hours last I checked. So that means this one can go for 3-6 hours. That's really not too bad I think. The question is, will it be enough for this event I have coming up? It might be, but I really liked the idea of being able to run it up to 8 hours, then I really wouldn't have to worry about the batteries at all.

Now, folks have been reporting that the RC batteries at 5000mAh and 8.7v last a whopping 8 hours. Let me see if that makes sense:
5000 / 1200 = 4.1x.
Again assuming that the stock battery lasts 1-2 hours, (and rounding down to 4 for simplicity) that makes the RC battery last 4-8 hours.

I guess that makes sense. Your battery at 8500mAh @ 9v should last about 7x as long, or 7-14 hours! THAT'S CRAZY CAPACITY! Does that make sense according to what you have been seeing?
Oh how I wish I could find a battery pack like that sold in the US for less than $100.
 
The equivalent being 5139mAh@7.2V compared to 1200mAh@7.2V for the stock battery = 4.3x.
Unless I madea mistake here. I don't know what DC regulator the GH2 uses, so I can't look up the efficiency at different input voltage levels.
It will certainly be an active instead of a passive one to increase battery life and reduce heat emmission.

The big point for me is that I can also run the H4n with phantom powered microphones on it.
Maybe also convert 1-2 video lights to USB or 9V power to run them as well. (At nights or as additional lights for interviews and other close up objects.)
Have 2 large and soft lights on either side of a wide shoulder rig that currently run on batteries
and power all of it of one of these mounted as a counter-weight behind the shoulder.
No need to worry about the state of 4 different sets of batteries.
When it's nearly empty, switch the 10000mAh block for a fresh one and have the old one charge at the nearest 230V plug while you switch SD cards anyway.
 
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MarcusWolschon said:
The equivalent being 5139mAh@7.2V compared to 1200mAh@7.2V for the stock battery = 4.3x.
Unless I madea mistake here. I don't know what DC regulator the GH2 uses, so I can't look up the efficiency at different input voltage levels.
It will certainly be an active instead of a passive one to increase battery life and reduce heat emmission.

The big point for me is that I can also run the H4n with phantom powered microphones on it.
Maybe also convert 1-2 video lights to USB or 9V power to run them as well. (At nights or as additional lights for interviews and other close up objects.)
Have 2 large and soft lights on either side of a wide shoulder rig that currently run on batteries
and power all of it of one of these mounted as a counter-weight behind the shoulder.
No need to worry about the state of 4 different sets of batteries.
When it's nearly empty, switch the 10000mAh block for a fresh one and have the old one charge at the nearest 230V plug while you switch SD cards anyway.
Click to expand...

That does sound cool! The problem, however, is amperage. I don't know how many amps the camera needs on average, but I think it is generally assumed to be around 2. Most of these batteries (including the cheap chinese CCTV ones) will allow you to plug in multiple devices as you describe, however your amperage will be split between them. Honestly, I'm surprised that expensive one from B&H doesn't do that, because the cheaper ones all seem to from what I've seen. But right now you are starting with only 2amps from the battery's DC out, so I'm not sure how much will be left after running video lights and a Zoom recorder.

Personally, I'm just looking for longevity. I'd gladly throw batteries into all of those things if I were guaranteed 4-5 hours of continuous recording time. While it doesn't look quite as sleek and cool, I'm currently leaning more towards this one:
http://www.amazon.com/15000mAh-Exte...-eletronics/dp/B0067XMPNY/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_t_2

I don't like it that I can't find any information about the company or reviews from Amazon, however I did find what appears to be a review of a rebranded version here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGBlKTGj40M<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGBlKTGj40M" target="_blank">


Looks like a solid product. I like the LCD display showing the voltage and capacity remaining. And its 50% larger capacity (and around $7 cheaper).

I wonder how many styles of these OEM battery packs are floating around under various manufacturing rebrandings?
 
MarcusWolschon said:
Sounds good but looks even more bulky and heavy.
Click to expand...

Indeed it does. All thing being equal, I'd rather the sleek look of the one in your style. But this is 50% more capacity, so I guess some extra bulk can be expected. New challenge: How / where to mount this thing if I get it!
 
Ok, update. I contacted the seller of these batteries on Amazon (ATC LLC- it turns out they are also the company selling many identical units on ebay) to ask some technical questions regarding the LCD, capacity, and how it works, just to make sure my math and understanding was correct.

Here's what I asked:
"I have a question about the following item:
http://www.amazon.com/15000mAh-Exte...-eletronics/dp/B0067XMPB6/ref=pd_sim_sbs_e_20

I'm looking to have this power a device at 9v for as long as possible. If my math is correct, and the 15,000mAh rating is at 3.7v, than at 9v it should have approximately 6,100mAh, correct?

How does the LCD display work and what does it do? Will it indicate the capacity left to the battery at all? I'd like to be able to keep track of how much time I have left, and I have seen other external battery packs with LED or other indicators. Thanks for your help,

MG"
Click to expand...

Here is the response I got:

"Hi,


Thank you for kind enquiry.
I am afraid that our this battery pack can not meet your expectations.
Sorry.
atc llc"
Click to expand...


Um, sorry, what?? Maybe I just confused the guy by asking too many questions that he wasn't familiar with. But now I'm second guessing myself- is there something I could be missing here? It seems pretty straight forward to me- the device outputs 9v, and should have plenty of juice according to our calculations.
 
According to the GH2 specifications the camera is consuming 3.4W during recording with the LCD screen on at 8.4V DC source (page 195).
This means the "amperage" is about 0.4 A as 8.4 x 0.4 = 3.36
The battery can support multiple devices like cellphones, zoom recorders, etc. without breaking a sweat, so to speak.

Good luck.
 
Hello all, not too spectacular (since it's off-the-shelf), but just to confirm: non-Panasonic-made parts do the trick to have GH2 run on mains.
For those in mainland Europe: http://www.ebay.de/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370584184839
Important advice: I first thought this buy was a bust, since the coupler was so loose, it lost connection all the time.
Seemed to fixed it by: at your own risk: disconnect from mains!! Then use e.g. a thin needle to gently bend the 2 internal 'connectors' inside the yellow plug slightly inward. This will make the coupling tighter and so far the connection seems quite solid.
Best of luck, Arie
 
I'm sure this thread is old hat by now, but for anyone still interested...

I use a Poweradd Pilot Pro (32,000mAh Lithium Ion power bank. $90 at the time of this writing) for charging my laptop, tablet and smartphone when I'm in countries with unreliable power. If I set the output voltage to 9v, and plug it into a DMW-DCC8 adapter ($12, eBay), it powers my FZ200 with no problems. I'd be curious to see how long it can run my camera. The Poweradd Pilot Pro can power my HP laptop for ~8 hours.

My old Lumix FZ35 has a DC power input jack. I bought an 8-AA battery clip from eBay ($3) and soldered the correct plug to it, popped 8-AA NiMh batteries ($20) into it, and ran my FZ35 for +7hrs. I used a TEnergy 8-bay charger ($30) to charge the batteries at the end of the day.
 
linearconcepts said:
I'm sure this thread is old hat by now, but for anyone still interested...

I use a Poweradd Pilot Pro (32,000mAh Lithium Ion power bank. $90 at the time of this writing) for charging my laptop, tablet and smartphone when I'm in countries with unreliable power. If I set the output voltage to 9v, and plug it into a DMW-DCC8 adapter ($12, eBay), it powers my FZ200 with no problems. I'd be curious to see how long it can run my camera. The Poweradd Pilot Pro can power my HP laptop for ~8 hours.

My old Lumix FZ35 has a DC power input jack. I bought an 8-AA battery clip from eBay ($3) and soldered the correct plug to it, popped 8-AA NiMh batteries ($20) into it, and ran my FZ35 for +7hrs. I used a TEnergy 8-bay charger ($30) to charge the batteries at the end of the day.
Click to expand...

If you're in the mood for math, you can figure it yourself by comparing capacity and run time from batteries that you do know (stock battery and AA pack), and figuring out the ratio to apply it to the power bank's mAH capacity. I'm not much help beyond that as I'm not in the mood for math right now, and I don't have a panasonic camera anymore so I don't recall the runtime or mah capacity of the ones I had back when I did.
But one thing to take into consideration, is that mAH is only interchangeable, as I understand it, across the same voltage. For example, 10,000mAH at 3.7v is not the same capacity as 10,000mAH at 9v. The problem with variable voltage battery supplies is that they rate the capacity of the cells before the voltage is modified, and these cells are usually around 3.7v individually. So when the unit you have states it offer 32,000mAH, it doesn't necessarily mean 32,000 at 9v. You might have to also do the math to determine how many mAH you actually have at the correct output voltage and then compare that to the capacity of the stock battery.

Or, if you are feeling lazy and have battery life indicators on the pack, leave it running for an afternoon until you get about half way on the pack. Then look at how much time you recorded and double it. :)

Good luck!
 
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