D-Tap Power for 7D & 5Dm2
 

Switronix has released a power adapter to power the 7D & 5D Mark II. I hooked it up to an Anton Bauer battery and was able to run the camera for many hours. Read my post about it here - Canon 5D/7D Power Tap Adapter | CineTechnica

I was wondering when someone was going to do this. Looks like you still have to buy Canon's AC adpater. It something I had played with using the AC adapter cable, and running to 12 volt.

I'd been looking at this--it's simply a power regulator, no? >12v to regulate 7.9v? Wasn't sure if there were additional electronics in it--I think the critical ones are in the Canon dummy battery cable?

Charles -- the dummy battery has the circuits to tell the camera that it is an A/C adapter and that it is ok to power up. If you have a good 8V power source, the camera doesn't care how it is fed into the barrel connector on the dummy.

Chris -- did you try running the camera at +12V? That would simplify things if it wasn't necessary to step down to 8V like the A/C adapter. Since the battery voltage varies it seems that there must be some tolerance inside the body for a range of voltages.

It has a power regulator in it to adapt the 12v+ source to 7.9v. Additionally it has another D-Tap so you can power 12v accessories as well. It uses the standard Canon dummy battery to power the camera, which is an additional piece to buy but it works well.

Thanks gents.

You know, this inspired me to look up for once and for all the right answer to the question--is it P-tap or D-tap? And much to my chagrin I see that while the official Anton Bauer name is Power-tap, other manufacturers call it D-tap and I've been saying P-tap all these years. D-tap it is. Thanks Andy!

Hum... a bit off topic, but I have the Anton Bauer Gold plate for the XLH1 and I don't use it anymore. Since it must output someting like 7.2V, I wonder if I could not replace the dummy XL battery by the dummy 7D battery and use it to power the 7D ? What do you think?

Battery Warning Still Work?
 

If the battery (whatever that may be, switronix, anton bauer) is almost dead, does it tell the camera too? I dont want it turning off in the middle of a take and losing that footage forever.

Tramm:

Sorry I missed this earlier. No I haven't tried yet. Camera at repair for hot pixel. I did intend to figure out a how to drop the voltage to 8 Volts.

Missed this before. I've been running a 7.2v dummy battery hardwired into an old IDX battery plate designed for the Canon XL1. Works a treat with both 5D and 7D and has a 12v d-tap as well.

Dan

Dan, could you elaborate on what you mean, and do you have a picture of what you are talking about?
What voltage are you feeding the 5d/7d?

The 7D is being fed 7.2v because in the IDX plate for the XL-2 there is a little step down circuit with reduces the v battery's output. I simply unsoldered the XL-2 connector and replaced it with a Canon 5DmkII, 7D dummy battery.

It also has a 12v d-tap on the plate as well.

Dan

Re: D-Tap Power for 7D & 5Dm2
 

Sorry to revive a necro post. I'm looking in to getting a Steadicam Pilot and I've never used the larger pro batteries. So, I need either an Anton Bauer, IDX, or some other battery with a DTap and this adapter? Could I also run the monitor and electronic follow focus off of it?

Related question - should I pass on the kit monitor and go with something with features better suited to a DSLR? Like a SmallHD or one of the new Marshalls that adjusts to the 5Ds changing HDMI output?

Re: D-Tap Power for 7D & 5Dm2
 

Good questions Kevin, and you are heading in an intelligent direction with the gear. While it is cheaper to go the AA route, if you go with a standard manufacturer battery in either gold mount or v-mount as you indicated, you will be able to use those batteries on cameras down the road as well. I have long been a proponent of powering things off as few batteries as possible. I find it a little amazing that folks are satisfied with powering their DSLR off an internal battery, then powering their onboard monitor with up to two more batteries, then if they have any other components onboard they get their own battery--then you put the whole thing on a stabilizer which has it's own battery. While flying this setup, each battery you have in the system will go down at different rates and it's a real pain to keep track of. When the picture dies, you have to go through and figure out which piece of the puzzle is responsible. Ugh.

So yes, you are better off powering off the sled's battery. Use a power adaptor for the camera. I think Tiffen sells a bare lead cable that plugs into the top stage--you can buy the Anton Bauer 4-way powertap splitter and splice the two together, then velcro that under the stage and you are set to power 4 components.

As far as replacing the Pilot's monitor--it's not the worst idea in the world as that monitor is not exactly world-class, however it is treated for anti-reflection and will do a bit better in sunlight than the ones you mentioned. Forget using any kind of wraparound sunshade with a Steadicam monitor--you need to be able to view off-axis at any given time. Also bear in mind that using anything other than a composite video signal will require running the appropriate cable (i.e. HDMI) from the top to the bottom of the sled (best done from the front of the stage directly down to the monitor). It doesn't get in the way of standard operating but it's not the cleanest look, and it can get caught on things--so if you do this with an HDMI cable, make sure it is strain-relieved at both ends.

Now--which "electronic follow focus" were you thinking of....?

Re: D-Tap Power for 7D & 5Dm2
 

Thanks for the insight and advice - I hand thought directly after posting that the cabling would be all wrong for an HDMI based solution, but figured there wasn't a work around (mostly because I'm not sure what can and can't connect to each other and not ruin the stabilization).

As for the follow focus… I'm not sure. The only one I've actually seen/held is the brand new jag35 wireless unit and I'm not 100% sure what to even look for. Any thoughts on this?