AC90: Good third party battery?

S

Speedster159

Active member
What's a good brand for third party batteries on the AC90?

I was looking at the IKAN D54 Ultra High Capacity that claims to double the capacity of the stock battery but i'm not sure if it really does.
 
I bought that big Ikan battery for my PX270 and I can confirm that it does run about twice as long as the stock battery on my camera. In the case of the PX270, that's ~3 hours instead of 90 minutes. The AC90 draws less power and should run proportionally longer with either one.

I have only had it a couple of weeks and can't speak to its long-term reliability, but it's working fine so far. It charges on the stock Panasonic charger or the aftermarket IDX charger I have, although it takes a while.

The only downside (minor) is that it is physically large, and sticks out the back of the camera about an inch farther than the stock battery. The smooth rear end that fully surrounds the battery is supposed to be a selling point for the PX270, making it easier to hand hold, and this battery definitely breaks up those clean lines. In practice, I barely notice it, and the weight penalty is only a couple of ounces.

- Greg
 
Greg Smith said:
I bought that big Ikan battery for my PX270 and I can confirm that it does run about twice as long as the stock battery on my camera. In the case of the PX270, that's ~3 hours instead of 90 minutes. The AC90 draws less power and should run proportionally longer with either one.

I have only had it a couple of weeks and can't speak to its long-term reliability, but it's working fine so far. It charges on the stock Panasonic charger or the aftermarket IDX charger I have, although it takes a while.

The only downside (minor) is that it is physically large, and sticks out the back of the camera about an inch farther than the stock battery. The smooth rear end that fully surrounds the battery is supposed to be a selling point for the PX270, making it easier to hand hold, and this battery definitely breaks up those clean lines. In practice, I barely notice it, and the weight penalty is only a couple of ounces.

- Greg
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Is the battery indicator accurate on the camera with the third party battery?
 
Speedster159 said:
Is the battery indicator accurate on the camera with the third party battery?
Click to expand...

The batteries used by the AC90 and PX270 don't have "smart" communications between the camera and battery, so the viewfinder indicator is just a four-level bargraph icon that gives a rough indication of remaining juice. It works as accurately (or badly) with the big ikan battery as with the standard Panasonic ones. The ikan also has a test button and four-LED bargraph on the battery itself, which is handy; it pretty much agrees exactly with the viewfinder indicator at all times.

The batteries on the HMC series and the AF100 communicate digitally with the camera and allow it to show an hours-and-minutes estimate of remaining time in the viewfinder. After developing that technology, I've always been mystified why Panasonic went back to the "dumb" CGA-D54 type batteries for the AC90 and PX270.

- Greg
 
I've used the IKAN D54 since November 2013, both on my AG-AC90 and also my IKAN VH8 field monitor (using the Panasonic compatible battery plate). In fact I have three spare batteries plus the original Panasonic D54 and rotate through them on the camera and on the IKAN monitor. The IKAN battery has been reliable and has been recharged approx. 30 times.

For several events I've videotaped its been a relief to know that I have lots of recording time from the battery...

I agree with Greg, the batteries 'level' meter generally agrees with the camera's judgement of power remaining. However, I wish all my batteries had the level reading...its most convenient when you just want to quickly see the battery level, and not have to mount the battery in a camera to find out the charge level...
 
drapeama said:
I bought my batteries for my Canon HV40, Canon T2i and Canon XF100 from Lacolorpros.com. The owner is a member here as well.
Here's the one you're referring to. I never had an issue with those and the shipping is quite fast. Might check it out!
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I'll check them out. But I'm not in the same continent as you guys so it might take longer and warranty purposes might become problematic if any.

Greg Smith said:
The batteries used by the AC90 and PX270 don't have "smart" communications between the camera and battery, so the viewfinder indicator is just a four-level bargraph icon that gives a rough indication of remaining juice. It works as accurately (or badly) with the big ikan battery as with the standard Panasonic ones. The ikan also has a test button and four-LED bargraph on the battery itself, which is handy; it pretty much agrees exactly with the viewfinder indicator at all times.

The batteries on the HMC series and the AF100 communicate digitally with the camera and allow it to show an hours-and-minutes estimate of remaining time in the viewfinder. After developing that technology, I've always been mystified why Panasonic went back to the "dumb" CGA-D54 type batteries for the AC90 and PX270.

- Greg
Click to expand...

mrveronn said:
I've used the IKAN D54 since November 2013, both on my AG-AC90 and also my IKAN VH8 field monitor (using the Panasonic compatible battery plate). In fact I have three spare batteries plus the original Panasonic D54 and rotate through them on the camera and on the IKAN monitor. The IKAN battery has been reliable and has been recharged approx. 30 times.

For several events I've videotaped its been a relief to know that I have lots of recording time from the battery...

I agree with Greg, the batteries 'level' meter generally agrees with the camera's judgement of power remaining. However, I wish all my batteries had the level reading...its most convenient when you just want to quickly see the battery level, and not have to mount the battery in a camera to find out the charge level...
Click to expand...
I've read somewhere that 3rd party batteries would show 1 or 2 bars left and suddenly die because the reading was not accurate, hence the reason I asked.

So for double capacity batteries my best bet is IKAN since I think they are the only ones that do it right? But what about for stock capacity batteries? Also other brands are they good?

Is it common for on camera lights to use the Panasonic D54 battery?
 
Speedster159 said:
So for double capacity batteries my best bet is IKAN since I think they are the only ones that do it right? But what about for stock capacity batteries? Also other brands are they good?

Is it common for on camera lights to use the Panasonic D54 battery?
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I only have one other third-party battery, which is another IKAN that is a VW-VBG6 equivalent -- that's the "smart" battery used on the AF100 and HMC series. Its capacity is OK but it doesn't communicate with the camera well, and the AF100 sometimes refuses to start up when using it. So I am not inclined to buy another one of those. However, this kind of problem would not affect the D54 type batteries that don't carry on a digital conversation with the camera.

More of the on-camera lights and monitors I've seen support Sony or Canon batteries than Panasonics, but some have a Panasonic D54 type battery plate as an option. You'll just have to check out the particular models you're interested in. I have to carry around seven different types of batteries and four chargers to support all of my equipment, and it's definitely a pain in the neck to manage them all.

- Greg
 
Speedster159 said:
But what about for stock capacity batteries? Also other brands are they good?
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My other two batteries are Cameron Sino brand and the battery casing is more fragile than the stock Panasonic battery. I had one case start to separate, soon after receiving, and exchanged it with the vendor no problem, but a second battery is showing signs of separating along the seam (about two years old) and so the design is not as good. No issues with the battery capacity or charging...its just the case construction that has me concerned.
 
I also have used the IKAN D54 (or D88) I have 2 of them. Great to have a button to check the charge. Also with mine I use all 4 channels of audio and the LCD & Viewfinder, and it holds up well. The display docent jive with the real life, but its very close and gives me more than enough time to swap as most shows always break at around 2 hours or so. I have had them for almost 18 months now and no issues.

 
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