What's everyone using to power their small cameras, monitors and audio recorders?

I

Imamacuser

Veteran
I'd like to get away from having to charge a million little batteries after every shoot, and I'd like to find a cheaper and less bulky option than V-mount batteries and a power distribution plate.

I want to make a custom battery with 18650B Li-ion cells that has two 8.4v DC outputs, one 5v DC output, and one DC input for charging the cells. The beauty of a custom battery is that I could place the cells in these plastic holders and just swap out the cells once they've lost capacity after a few years; although the plastic holders might melt under high current. The problem is that there's a lot of nuance to wiring these kinds of batteries and it's a fair bit above my head.

I posted on allaboutcircuits.com, but I didn't get the answers I needed.

Plan B is to make a DIY Gripper Series battery out of three Sony L battery plates attached to aluminum T-bar attached to rails with a 15mm clamp and powered by NP-F970 batteries. Could have each battery power a separate device or combine wiring in series or parallel with DC to DC converters for custom voltages.

So what kind of batteries are you guys using, and does anyone happen to know anything about electrical stuff?
 
I forgot to mention that I'm a penny pinching cheap skate, and I'm not even Dutch. :) The Atomos Power Station is more than I want to spend and the ergonomics aren't what I'm looking for either. This IndiPRO Tools power system is more reasonably priced, but I can't find one that comes with a Nikon dummy battery. I wish they put DC outputs on the Gripper Series batteries, but they're still out of my price range. I think I could put a DIY Gripper battery together for about $50, not including dummy battery or NP-F batteries. I've looked at cellphone and laptop power banks, but most of them don't support dual output, and if they do it's at a pretty low amperage.
 
Seems like you're going through a lot of trouble to home-brew stuff that already exists.

I don't really use these much anymore since so many of my batts have power taps and USB's built-in, but I have two and they have come in handy at times in the past. It's more than you wanna spend, several times over, without even talking about a battery or cables, but one of these with a brick(batt) and the cables you need is so much more elegant and (probably) reliable than a homemade solution.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/677606-REG/Anton_Bauer_QR_QUAD_PT_4_PowerTap_Sandwich_Adapter.html
 
Are there any companies that make rechargeable AA sized Li-ion batteries? I'm still inclined to go with the DIY Gripper Series battery, I guess because I enjoy DIY projects, but I'd rather make one out of 18650 Li-ion cells, if I could ever figure out how to do it correctly. BTW, what brand NP-F batteries do you like? I have a few ancient Sonys that have lost a lot of capacity, a Watson that cracked open when I dropped it 1' on to a tile floor, and one that was listed as Neewer brand but ended up being a generic version that's solder joints failed after 9 months. Watsons seem pretty good capacity wise, but I've very disappointed in their build quality. Surprisingly the Neewer on used 6 18650 cells as opposed to 2 cells and an empty shell or scrap steel as weights. In the reading that I've done some people liked Wasabi, Kaster and DSTE; what's your take on after market NP-F batteries?
 
It depends on what cameras you are using. I power all of my little Sony cameras with external USB power banks for longer recording. Cheap.
 
I power my Sony from large Sony batteries. 960 for the NX5U, V100's for the AX53, AX100 and they will last all day !! At least 5 hours for the V100's. For a show I never need to change them. Good idea for the USB power bank though.
 
Bern Caughey said:
https://youtu.be/zQheOtdCTjs
Click to expand...

:eek:Yah I'd like to avoid flaming batteries. I was thinking of using 18650 Li-ion batteries as they're more stable than Lithium polymer ones. I don't believe that DIY stuff should inherently looks like crap, be done incorrectly and be nonfunctional; it all depends on the builder.

A couple people suggested cellphone power packs, but they usually don't support dual output, and if they do it's at a very low voltage and amperage. My Nikon d7000's power cord outputs 9v 4.5 amps, but it then connects to a dummy battery which may or may not step down the volts and amps (camera batteries are 7v 1.9 Ah). My monitor’s DC input can accept 7-24v, but it’s power cord is 12v 1.5 amps (specs say that the monitor draws 12 watts). My audio recorder’s power cord outputs 5v at 2 amps. Near as I can figure, I need at least 8 amps to simultaneously power all devices.
 
If you need a Li-ion to 5V regulator, there are some very inexpensive ones on ebay. I bought a 12v to 5v regulator and it worked great running off the NPF batteries. It even comes pre-wired with the USB connector. http://www.ebay.com/itm/DC-DC-12V-T...685438?hash=item3f6d00723e:g:JegAAOSw8gVX~z0f.

I was setting up a wireless director monitor. The monitor ran off an NPF battery. The trick I learned is that the power from the battery was present on the monitor's 12v input. I was able to use that to backfeed the 5v regulator for the wireless receiver. Depending on what you are doing, you may be able to take advantage of that.
 
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