V-mount or Gold-mount batteries for AF100 accessories???

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Nicholas Natteau

Veteran
Wasn't sure where to post this but as I will be using an AF100 for documentary interviews, I just wanted to know from anyone who has used professional batteries for AF100 accessories like monitors and lighting which type of battery to go for: v-mount or gold-mount? Ikan or Anton Bauer?

Are we talking apples and oranges? Or is one type better than the other?

Thanks very much in advance.
 
Hi Brian, thank you for the link, indeed less expensive! Can you tell me what "Wh" means?

When a battery is labeled "90Wh, 130Wh, 120Wh, 150Wh", what does this mean in terms of battery time? Thanks very much in advance.
 
Nicholas Natteau said:
Hi Brian, thank you for the link, indeed less expensive! Can you tell me what "Wh" means?

When a battery is labeled "90Wh, 130Wh, 120Wh, 150Wh", what does this mean in terms of battery time? Thanks very much in advance.
Click to expand...

Well I have the 150 and I used them with my old 7" Marshall monitor, and it lasted 4 hours. That monitor was a battery hog tho.
 
V mount or AB is a total Coke vs Pepsi debate.

Sony uses the V Mount on their equipment by default, but you can get an adapter to have it be AB. Panasonic usually uses AB by default, but you can swap it out to use V-mount just like on a Sony camera.

If you already own one or the other, it makes sense to stay with one or the other. If not... price it out & see which you can get more with. (Look at IDX as well, they seem to make a lot of variety & they're customer support has been good when I had questions about purchasing.)

#Wh is Watt hour. IE a 60Wh battery should be able to power a 60watt light bulb for an hour. This is of course in theory as real life isn't a lab. Turning on or off a 60watt light will change the amount of power you draw. Taking a battery off the charger, it'll start to lose power over time. etc. etc. etc.

But if the camera X draws 20w of power, you should be able to shoot for an entire day off a 120wh battery.
 
Nicholas Natteau said:
Can you tell me what "Wh" means?

When a battery is labeled "90Wh, 130Wh, 120Wh, 150Wh", what does this mean in terms of battery time?
Click to expand...
It means that it can deliver that many watts over one hour. If you were using a 60-watt device, and had a 90wh battery, then the battery will be able to power that device for an hour and a half. A 120wh battery could power it for two hours. If you instead used that 90wh battery on a device that only draws 9 watts of power, it could potentially power that 9-watt device for 10 hours.
 
Hello and thanks everybody. Barry thanks for the Wh explanation, now its crystal clear. These batteries are for a 30Watt Ikan 500 3-light kit. It's sounds like the IDX 7S (68Wh) batteries I just purchased will power my lights for 2 hrs, 15min. Great to know.
 
Well, be sure to check the voltage and the total current supply requirements (i.e., if the lights draw 10 amps and the battery can only safely supply one amp, etc).
 
Nicholas, both v-lock and Anton Bauer are good but the point of entry is rather high, particularly if you have lenses and camera support purchases in mind. Generally most do when they buy a new camera.

I've bought into the Anton Bauer ecosystem for my work (camera & Steadicam) but there is nothing wrong with the v-lock and in fact there are a couple of v-lock plates available that have both a 12 to 14 volt connector and a 7.4 volt connector on the side of the plate so you dont have to go getting a cable made to step down your voltage. Here's one from B&H but there are others.

When buying either system remember you need to buy batteries, probably 2 to start, a charger, a plate, a power cable and a spliter and additional cables for your accessories. That could easily run you $1400 to over $2000.

Other things to consider of prime importance is hanging the battery. If you have a rails system there are devices available that cost between $275 and $500 to do this.

Someone who is more up on the AF-101 accessories may know of custom battery hanging devices that have been created in the $200 range that will ease the pain.

The big benefit of going this way is once you are into it, the flexibility if gives you in putting together your rigs over time is incredible particularly with counterbalance on a shoulder rig. If you know you are going to be working with crews in your area find out what they use. You want to be using gear that is aligned with your local crews. It all helps.
 
Hi Andrew, thanks very much for your input. After careful research and reading the posts here, I bit the bullet and purchased this IDX kit from B&H along with the v-mount plates (separately):

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/398104-REG/IDX_ES744_ES744_Endura_7S_Broadcast.html

You were right: The kit + the plates wound up costing me about $2,000 from B&H

The IDX E7S batteries (2.25hrs running time) give me more time than I need for powering my 3 Ikan 500 lights for talking head interviews. The 4th battery would power my single 1x1 Litepanel that I hope to use as a background light.
 
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Once the purchase is 6 months behind you and you have used it a bunch in the heat of shooting you will be glad you made the jump. 2 to 3 years from now you can get your batteries re-celled at a fraction of the cost of buying new. If you are even moderately rough with cables make sure you have backups of at least your key cables. Just as a point of reference, most Steadicam Operators use a lot of cables on their rigs and carry doubles of every cable.
 
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Hi Andrew, you mentioned hanging the battery. Can you point to a specific product that would allow me to hang my IDX E7S battery from a light stand like the Litepanels stand?
 
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