HELP! Atomos D-Tap connector cables?

Duke M.

Duke M.

Veteran
Atomos just delivered the new cables and battery adapters for my Samurai. Its free and I don't want to complain about anything.

The battery adapter wasn't quite what I expected, but it seems to require a specialized cable.

The adapter looks like a battery and slides into the battery slot. At the bottom it has a female D-tap socket.

Now, the batteries I used have a female D-tap socket. So what I need is a cable with male D-tap plugs on both ends. Has anyone seen those anywhere?

Locally I did find I could buy plugs, but at $19 each. It makes for an expensive cable that I have to put together myself. I did find a wholesale D-tap plug seller in China if I buy in bulk at $6 each. I might go that way if I can't find anything and people want in on it. I don't know how many people want to put together a custom cable.

Has anyone seen the D-tap to D-tap cables anywhere? Maybe a group buy to keep the price down.

Thanks,
Duke
 
I would be in on a group buy, ran into the same issue (although mine has not come yet) but I ordered Anton Bauer powertap cable and male kit (about $60 total) and plan to make it myself, but would rather have a manufactured one.
 
It looks like Atomos is failing again...

Sending an adapter without the correct connecting cable? Weird.

I'm waiting for the Atomos Converter since November last year!

B&H announced to expect delivery for these converters by July 30 2012...
The NEW EXPECTED DATE FOR DELIVERY since Friday last week is September 30 2012.

Almost a year for these video converters! Worth the wait?

Sorry dudes... I'm pissed off!
 
CinemaElectronika said:
Sorry dudes... I'm pissed off!
Click to expand...

I don't know. I rec'd two mini-BNC to BNC cables and a battery adapter to D-tap adapter for free. When I bought the unit that wasn't promised. Its all a bonus.

It does make me wonder who designed it though. Most camera people would know a D-tap is usually at the battery and an 4pin XLR or mini XLR is at the unit end.
 
same problem here, really want to use the D-TAP but don't have the correct cable.. be great to lose the weight of the battery. With the D-TAP option, you could even velcro the Samurai to the side of the camera to tify things up a little..
 
I love their device, but the cable things are maddening. That little mini-BNC connector with piggy-back is lunacy. (more connections make for more points of potential failure). PLUS, if one crapped out on-set, I'd be screwed. (and they are always backordered).

On the battery issue, unless this image is wrong, you can get a simple PTAP extender cable.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/829901-REG/ATOMOS_ATOMDTP001_SPARE_DTAP_DUMMY_BATTERY.html
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ..._PTM_PTF_CABLE_PTMPTFCABLE_P_Tap_Male_to.html

As for being too expensive, have you priced LEMO connectors lately? However, I appreciate having them on my RED camera. Even though they are expensive, they are industrial/reliable. Why anyone would actually WANT to have a cheap connection (like PTAP) on their EXPENSIVE camera and priceless data, is beyond me.
 
Hi All,

Just to let you know our thinking on the D-Tap dummy battery. First, D-Tap, or P-Tap is universally used, whereas other connectors, like 4-pin, would not have fitted in the dummy battery. So we felt that D-Tap was the best option.


Second, we decided that we could not include a cable as it would be impossible to cover all the permutations - too short, too long, wrong gender, or wrong connector. Our channel partners advised us that this type of lead is often bespoke for a particular camera or for specialised use. Leads and kits are available from most good resellers so you can buy or have made up for you exactly what you need for your setup.


Below is our tech note on the D-Tap adaptor:


http://atomos.activehosted.com/kb/article/607-dtap


Atomos Support
 
The point is that what most people would need for the Atomos Dummy battery is a male to male D-Tap connector, and these are not available anywhere. The only option is to build/solder your own. I would suggest that Atomos make these available in a short length, then a standard extension cable could be used to make them work for a variety of situations. Even if there was a cost involved, Atomos is in the best position to supply these, since there really is no other application for a male/male D-Tap besides this application. In the future, you might consider a built in Hirose connector, since Hirose to D-Tap is a standard cable.
 
Alex, would you have male to male d tap cables available to make? I think a good many Samurai users would love that. agreed hirose would have made sense. Oh well. Make it work. That's all I do.
 
Atomos support,

What is shown in the picture is easy to buy, but the other end of the wire not shown is a bare wire, and you have to supply your own connector. There are NO male/male off the shelf connectors from Anton Bauer (it is their standard) or anyone else currently. I purchased an extra male end connector and will solder this to the item you show in the picture, but not everyone is adept at making connectors. I appreciate the "free" dummy battery and the longer video connectors sent, but I really think that Atomos needs to complete the loop on this.
 
I'm having 5 double male cables made up from the Chinese supplier of the D-tap plugs. Hopefully full info tomorrow.

Duke
 
eddavid said:
Alex, would you have male to male d tap cables available to make? I think a good many Samurai users would love that. agreed hirose would have made sense. Oh well. Make it work. That's all I do.
Click to expand...
Yes, that is no problem. Just need to know the desired length. Hirose are very nice, but they are more expensive than the AB connectors and more delicate to assemble into a cable.
 
Duke M. said:
I'm having 5 double male cables made up from the Chinese supplier of the D-tap plugs. Hopefully full info tomorrow.
Click to expand...

I'd just sell them at cost. It looks like they'll be ~$25 including shipping in the US if anyone is interested. A couple weeks to arrive.
 
I hooked mine up last night with the Anton Bauer and an extra male end, seems to work fine. The only question I have is that with the Sony battery it says 15.7 Volts and the specs for the Samurai say up to 14.4 Volts on their website, so I hope this is not going to be a problem?
 
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