FS7: V-Lock Battery for XDA-FS7?

basspig

basspig

Veteran
I'm looking at a pair of Rolux Lion 160Wh batteries with charger for about $400 on eBay.

I just won a XDA-FS7 extension unit and now I need to consider some affordable V-lock batteries to run the camera system.

Has anyone experience with the Rolux batteries? I'm mainly concerned that they are safe to use and not likely to explode or vent flames.
 
I own a rental company and have invested enough in V mount to have learned a few things about some different brands.

BiXPower - Junk

Kayo Maxtar - Decent for the price, especially if you are comfortable fixing them when the pin connector on the bottom breaks. About 1/4 of ours have broken that way over about 18 months. They make huge 177 wh ones that can run the FS7 for five hours at a time. And in addition to the D-Tap, there's a USB port which is quite useful. This is what I use for my purposes (unless I'm shoulder mounted all day).

Dracast - Durable. They seem to be more likely to pop out of lock than any other battery, though, so it's good they hit the ground well! Also the D-tap is like 98% of standard size, just enough to drive me a little crazy. But their customer support and repair department is pretty awesome, at least for LED lighting.

Switronix SWX Hypercore - Holy crap. The Tesla of V mounts. Has a sweet display, good life, D-tap, USB, and tells you how many minutes it will take to deplete or recharge. And not like AB Gold Mount batteries, either. It's accurate to a few minutes. If you have $1000 for three of them, you won't regret it.

IDX 95wh - Very tough, this is what I'll buy for rental customers going forward. Old school pros like having a brand they recognize, too.

I haven't used the Rolux. But, I can tell you that you don't want batteries that big if you want to take them on an airplane. Look for something under 100 wh.
 
Thanks for the accumulated data on batteries that you've drawn from personal observation.

Batteries can be a finicky thing. I have developed a mistrust of a lot of things made in China, but I have to temper that with the fact that I'm not a well off production company either.

I'm not concerned about flying. I've stopped since the introduction of the TSA and don't intend to fly again until they stop treating people like criminals at airports. A 160Wh battery should run the camera and extension unit for a good 4-5 hours, I figure. Camera alone would probably run for 8 hours.

You raised some good points about fit and connections, which I hadn't given much thought to yet. Thanks for raising those important issues.

The major concern of mine is fire. I have a real concern over Lion battery fires.

This review was very favorable, stating that Rolux OEMs for major battery suppliers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Yt_4MmeDIg
 
I'm very much looking forward to it, Piotr!

I'm using the extension unit mainly to get higher frame rates. Hopefully, the added counterweight of it will help with shoulder balance, too.
 
Exactly my reasons, too, Mark. But I must admit buying the Inferno has triggered out some serious expenditures: XDCA module, V-Lock batteries... And while the camera became better balanced indeed, I recently decided it needs a shoulder rig attached permanently to help me handle it (I'm semi-disabled, so it might not apply to you). And being a damn perfectionist, I've of course chosen a very expensive rig, too...

And to think that I never planned to pimp up my FS7 like this, and the Shogun has been purchased with a B-camera in mind which I haven't bought yet (I have the GH5 prepaid, but still hope for some announcement from Sony - if they come out with a Full Frame camera also recording 4K@50p with 10bit 422 color, I'm ready to wait longer and take it rather than the GH5 - if only for keeping everything Sony, but mainly for the Full Frame picture which I just love)... And I suspect Sony will strike hard on the GH5: wouldn't be surprised if they implemented their excellent auto-ND now present in both FS5 and FS7 mkii. So much so that I almost fear the situation when - soon after having bought the GH5 - Sony announces an A7S/Rii successor with this ingenious system, which - considering the lack of any internal ND in cameras this size - would be a real break-through. I remember the hassle of external ND filtering with my FS100; should this be solved with the most advanced internal ND filtering system available (and mind you - there is a room for it even in a smallest form factor body), the GH5 now looking so great on paper would loose much of its appeal.

But I'm digressing; I wish you happy shooting with your - now fully-blown - FS7; I'm happy with mine :)

Piotr
 
I've had an eye on RAW recording for some time, but was put off by the cost of the XDA-FS7 unit. And lately, used ones, when they do show up on eBay, were going for the mid 1800 dollar range. I was lucky with timing to snag one in the low 1400s.

I have friends that shoot lectures with DSLRs, but I could never see the logic in that. I wanted to have two matching FS7s, so that I didn't have subtle color and other differences between cameras. This leaves me with two EX1s, one EX3 and two FS7s. I decided to hang onto the smaller Sonys because the resale value is off by 80% and it's not impossible that I will need five camera angles at a large concert.

In the meantime, I've opted for the Rolux batteries and will see how it goes. I hope to do some nice nature video this spring with the 150-600mm Sigma lens, and utilize crop mode and HFR modes to capture birds in flight.
 
Sony's variable electronic ND provides between 2-7 stops of ND, & moves out of the optical path when the user turns it off, likely replaced by a clear piece of glass so as to not effect the backfocus.

If Sony were to put such a system in a mirrorless hybrid camera it would likely require the body to be significantly larger than their current offerings.
 
In its current form (as per FS5/7) - yes, but I strongly believe Sony is able to modify and cram it into their flagship mirrorless cameras, knowing this (apart from sensor size) might be the only way to fight back on the GH5.... Just speculations, of course.

Piotr
 
The cheap ebay Rolux batteries work perfectly and are extremely good value for money. 2 x 95Wh batts was lasting me all day of filming.
 
Thanks for posting that, Ben. That gives me even more confidence in my purchase decision. Can't wait til all this stuff arrives. Hoping we have an early spring.
 
I've been testing the Rolux 160Wh batteries this week.

I ran the FS7/XDCA for about an hour the other day. Last night I found a coiled D-tap to barrel cable in my Shogun kit and tested with the Shogun powered off the D-Tap. I ran it for about an hour and the voltage was down to 13.4V. A short time later, the FS7 had shut down. The Shogun was still running but 'no signal' displayed.

I didn't expect this to shut down so soon. The low battery shutoff is set to 11.0V. Figured there was at LEAST 2 more hours of power in there. From my initial testing, it appears that a single 160Wh V-lock battery has enough juice to power the camera+XDCA and Shogun inferno for approximately 90 minutes.
 
I have 3x 177wh Kayo Maxtars and I have 1x slightly lower one (160wh?) for air travel. I've had it for the past two years and have been running my camera and LED lights with them. So far no complaints at all. They last a really, really long time and are priced very affordably. It looks like they also make an even cheaper version of the Kayo Maxtar (commador or something like that). It appears to be the same battery but without the USB out.
 
I want to find out how much current the Shogun Inferno is pulling. Wouldn't be surprised if it was over 30W, because it gets almost as hot as a toaster. I was hoping that I could run everything off the one battery all day, but I underestimated the total power budget.

What I could do is set up Shogun's power management to 'battery priority' and let it run on internal batts until they run down, then switch to D-tap power. That way, I should get an extra hour of run time on the camera before putting all the loads on the big battery.

In a way, I miss my VX2000.. 11 hours on a single 960 battery!
 
I run a MixPreD and FS7 from one of the Kayo Maxtars. It pretty much lasts a full day of shooting. One time I powered the camera, MixPreD, GoPro and Canon 5D II all at once for at least 4 hours.
 
I'd say you're assessment is correct, basspig. The FS7 for me can do 2 98wh V lock batteries (switronix XPL90s) for a day's worth of shooting. Occasionally I'll need three, but rarely 4 to get through a very full day of shooting.
I wonder how long the shogun would run - without the fs7 in the mix. Just d-tap to shogun
 
No need to do that - the Shogun manual says:

Battery time (based on 7.4V):
5200mAh - up to 1.5hrs (monitor & record 4K 30p) (included)
7800mAh - up to 2.2hrs (monitor & record 4K 30p)

The above gives an idea of the power draw. As usualy, it depends heavily on usage - keeping the screen in HDR mode will suck the batteries very quick indeed. This is why I always tap the switch off button after establishing the shot (framing, exposure etc.) and only then hit the record button; then I only turn the Inferno's screen on when needed - especially that - frankly speaking - the aids (zebra and particularly peaking) are poor on the Shogun, so I always prefer observing them in the camera's own EVF.

Piotr
 
I have two Rolux 95wH and two Soonwell 95wH batts. They're the exact same battery from the looks of them.

All four work very well. I also have a 130wH Soonwell that works great.
 
moldcad said:
No need to do that - the Shogun manual says:

Battery time (based on 7.4V):
5200mAh - up to 1.5hrs (monitor & record 4K 30p) (included)
7800mAh - up to 2.2hrs (monitor & record 4K 30p)

The above gives an idea of the power draw. As usualy, it depends heavily on usage - keeping the screen in HDR mode will suck the batteries very quick indeed. This is why I always tap the switch off button after establishing the shot (framing, exposure etc.) and only then hit the record button; then I only turn the Inferno's screen on when needed - especially that - frankly speaking - the aids (zebra and particularly peaking) are poor on the Shogun, so I always prefer observing them in the camera's own EVF.

Piotr
Click to expand...

It's probably that HDR screen mode, but also the BGA processor inside. The thing gets as hot as a toaster. I wouldn't doubt it's dissipating 25-30W all by itself.

I don't have a number for the extension unit, but it probably draws a significant amount given the fan cooling it.

How do you turn off the screen on the Shogun? I wasn't aware of such a feature.
 
Hi Mark,

As you know, the hardware on/off button basically is only used for turning the unit ON; for switching it OFF permanently you must press on the on-screen icon for several seconds. However, when you just tap on the side hardware button, instead of switching the unit completely you can just LOCK the screen so that no setting can be changed by accident; this is described on page 18 of the user manual - by itself it doesn't turn off the display, just makes it touch-insensitive. BUT, this can be combined with Display OFF function (page 32 of the user manual). Here is the description of the latter:

The Display off function allows for the screen to be
turned off with out effecting the operation of the unit.
This is combined with the screen lock function and
will become active by tapping the power on/off button
on the side of the unit.
The Tally lights on the front and rear of the unit will still
display red for record and and the idle (green) status
will be displayed on the front screen LED.

I personally use it quite often when shooting from the tripod, and ALWAYS with the camera shoulder-mounted (as I can't see the Shogun screen, anyway).

Piotr
 
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