My Gear: Power
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Dionic HC Battery | B&H | Mfr. Site |
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VL: While many of you will initially start with basic handheld systems and the Zacuto Z-Finder to keep things simple (and rightfully so!) as you move into full day narrative or documentary shoots – you’ll find that you’ll need professional grade batteries to power your cameras, external monitors, motors, converter boxes etc etc. Anton Bauer is the industry standard battery in the video and film world. Their products are incredibly reliable – and precise. You will find that you can very easily read out the amount of juice you have left at anytime – and also the batteries will give you a read-out of how much time you have left at the current power draw which is incredibly useful. Ergo if it’s late in the day and you’re low on juice – you can turn off one of your two onboard monitors to get some extra time before you empty the battery. The Anton Bauer batteries will power you cameras (with the Viewfactor Contineo cage on the Accessories page) your Marshall Monitors, your LitePanel Lights, you Preston FIZ or other motors, Steadicam units, and pretty much anything on set. Therefore this is a longterm investment you can make witout much reservation. Go to the 3:02 mark in these video to see these in use: 2010 HDDSLR Gear Video from Vincent Laforet on Vimeo. Description (from Anton Bauer): The DIONIC HC is capable of delivering up to 10 amps for high current draw applications, including on-camera lighting. The 91 watt-hour DIONIC HC can operate a 40 Watt HD camera for over 2 hours. |
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Dionic 90 | B&H | Mfr. Site |
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VL: Basically this is the same battery as above – just a little lighter duty. Both batteries are 14.4 volt and approx. 6.25 Amps, (the 90 is a 90Wh battery and the HC 91) but the difference between these two batteries are the cells. HC’s are made with special Li-Ion Mixed Metal cells to handle high current draws of 10Amp constant and 18 Amp spike. (Also the special honey comb cell design and cell configuration offer a great protection aspect to isolate cells in the unlikely event of failure.) Using HC battery will give you longer battery life for your high current draw applications. Using HCX will give you the same, but longer run-times as well (124 Wh). Description (from Anton Bauer): The DIONIC 90 can handle a 6 amp load and is the ideal battery choice when low weight and longer run-times are a priority. |
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TM4 Charger | B&H | Mfr. Site |
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| Description (from Anton Bauer): This four position simultaneous, fast charger is designed to safely and reliably charge Anton/Bauer Logic Series Batteries twice as fast as the TWQ. The modular design, utilizing four independent charging stations, gives the TM4 flexible charging options. Delivering all of the capabilities and efficiency of the field proven InterActive system, the TM4 is the perfect charger for the professional who needs the fastest battery turnaround time while in the field. The TM4 can charge 3 batteries while simultaneously acting as a 70 watt power supply. | ||||
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Quad 2702 PowerCharger | B&H | Mfr. Site |
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| Description (from Anton Bauer): The four position Quad 2702 PowerCharger is the most advanced power system available. This state of the art charger will sequentially fast charge any combination of Anton/Bauer Logic Series Batteries using the advanced charging techniques of the Anton/Bauer InterActive system in a package roughly the size of a notebook computer. Charger firmware is contained on a single field replaceable chip ensuring the Quad’s future compatibility with new cell technologies and charging methods. | ||||
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CINE VCLX | B&H | Mfr. Site |
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VL: This is a heavy duty battery that we use to power numerous systems when a regular Dionic battery can’t handle the energy needed. I have used this extensively on sets to power camera systems on dollies, and taken it in helicopters with me to power our gyro stabilization system. Most recently, we used it to power our entire wireless VTR setup in the desert on the set of "Mobius". Description (from Anton Bauer): The Anton Bauer CINE VCLX Battery is a 14.4v and 28v 560Wh NiMH battery that provides dual simultaneous outputs and is ideal for high current applications. Power output is via two 4-pin XLR connectors for 14.4v and one 3-pin XLR connector for 14.4v. |
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CINE VCLX Charger | B&H | Mfr. Site |
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| Description (from Anton Bauer): The Anton Bauer CINE VCLX CHARGER is a 560 watt charger and power supply for the Cine series batteries. This charger offers one Cine series battery charging capability and multiple power supply outputs. | ||||
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Powerbase 70 | B&H | Mfr. Site |
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| Description (from Switronix): The PowerBase 70 Battery Pack from Switronix contains a 70 Wh, 14.8V Lithium-ion battery designed to extend HD movie recording time for the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and 7D digital cameras. The PowerBase 70 delivers six times more power than the original battery supplied with the camera. It is also intended to streamline your High Definition (HD) movie recording: the PowerBase 70 mounts under the camera and doubles as a grip or can be attached to an HDSLR support via its 1/4"-20 release plate or V-Mt mount. Wired as a 14.8v battery pack, it can provide extended power for up to two additional 12VDC devices such as lights, monitors or HD converters as well as other devices requiring lower voltage (an optional XP power regulation cable is needed). The pack is also furnished with 1/4"-20 threads on either side to mount accessories. | ||||
Found the video above very interesting but I am confused how the battery is connected to the 7D, and how it powers the camera. If you could send me any information on this that would be excellent as I think it would be a brilliant purchase.
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Vincent Laforet Reply:
August 30th, 2010 at 5:51 am
@James Emery, You need to look at the Viewfactor Contineo cage on the “accessories” page – and please watch the video – you’ll see how everything is powered through the cage on the BTS footage from the Italy job.
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Can these batteries also power Macbook Pro laptops somehow?
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Billy Reply:
December 25th, 2010 at 1:03 pm
Answering my own question, found this:
http://www.vfgadgets.com/MacBook-V-Lok-Battery-Adaptor_p_196.html
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Fantastic video! Thanks for great explanation and great attention to details! I’m currently preparing my custom rig based on Redrock’s shoulder mount and have a question regarding attachment of AB battery plate to “microPod accessory plate” (I’d guess it’s exactly that thing we see in video), on Redrock website in description they stated to use it only with several models of AB plates (QR-SP200 or QR-SP400A). So my question is: is there a difficulty to attach different AB plates to mentioned microPod accessory? cause from video I can see you using one from Viewfactor? Thanks in advance!
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WOW!!! B”SD
Thank you!!!
Ra’anan
Jers
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Hi Vincent,
As this is the first post I’ve made on your site, I’d like to preface by remarking, wow! I feel indebted to everyone that I’ve gleaned information and style off of, but not often is one able to converse, even through a blog, to a peer who offers their talents and time so generously to the community. Thank You.
As for this My Gear: Power section of your blog, I’m a bit confounded by commentary and links for the Anton Bauer HC and the Dionic 90. Firstly, the B & H link for the Dionic 90 directs to the page for the Dionic HC. Second, it seems that the commentary for the Dionic 90 comes straight from Anton Bauer’s website. Maybe this was just to save time, but I’m not any clearer on what the difference is between the two batteries. One is 6amp, the Dionic 90, and the other is 10amp, the Dionic HC. They both run for the same amount of watt hours and weigh the same.
So my question is, which one should I buy for an evolving 5D rig centered around a Viewfactor Contineo powered cage, what’s the real-world/on-set difference?
With Regards,
Hunter
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Vincent Laforet Reply:
May 10th, 2011 at 10:53 pm
Hunter – html is a nightmare and we’ve had issues – so something may have gotten swapped…. let me look into this – I use both all of the time to be vey honest. I have 3 of each. HC is going to give you longer duration – but you may not need it. If you’re doing just a 5D w/ cage + one monitor the 90 will do. If you’re adding multiple monitors/EVF and motors / and or Black Magic etc – go for the more heavy duty battery. Cool? (it’s late!)
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@Billy,
you can actually use theAnton/Bauer QRC-MBPA Gold Mount which allows you to use your existing Anton/Bauer battery inventory to power your MacBook
You can find it here:
http://www.antonbauer.com/Products/QRC-MBPA
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The Switronix solution looks neat for indieSLR shooters. Once again thanks for your seemingly never ending benevolent work, Vincent. You are a true inspiration to become a better cinematographer:-)
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