battery
 

I have never bought a battery belt. I plan on going to Africa to do a documentary and I don't want to run out of battery power. Are there good battery belts out there that will supply power for me for many, many hours?

Is a belt the way to go, or are there other more preferred methods?

What camera? And exactly how many, many, many hours? My Z1U works about 3-4 hours on a Sony NPF970 battery and I have two of them, plus the stock battery... I can film about 7-8 hours unless I need to attach extras.

Battery life and weight are closely related. You could ship several hundred pounds of automotive batteries down there and power a camera for months. If you want to run a couple thousand watts of light, a car battery will last for about a minute or two. It all depends on what you are trying to do.

To get the most power per weight, get a NiMH or Lithium battery system. NiMH is about half the weight per power output as Lead Acid. A large NiMH battery pack will cost about twice that of a Lead Acid system, but halving the weight is worth the price.

Another thing you need to consider is how you will charge the batteries. What is the power system like where you are going?

Camera and power source
 

I will be in Africa, so the power source will probably be a foriegn power outlet. Also, I am taking my Panasonic DVX100b. Any more thoughts?

I'd look into the Bescor and NRG line of battery belts. Get the charger as well as an adapter for your camera. They might even be able to supply you with a charger that will work in Africa.

http://www.nrgresearch.com/

http://www.bescor.com/catalog.php?page=05

Let us know how it goes!

Good luck!

Mark

Matt, I suggest you not going the belt direction. They are great for powering on camera lights, as the lights need lots of power, at 12V. Your camera does not use 12V, you would need a step down converter, which is typically 75-85% efficient. A typical belt has about 60Wh-80Wh, while your camera uses 10W. This translates into 6-7 hours of filming on one charge. A belt can be 5-10lb to carry. If you just buy 2-3 high capacity 5400mah camera batteries, you would be ahead in run time (each would run 4-5 hours), weight (they are about 1/2 lb) and cost.
hth

It still would be nice to know what you are trying to power with external batteries. I would guess you might be using lights, but you didn't specify anything but the camera.

If you aren't sure what power system they use, you might want to add a 12V inverter or a battery charger that will run off 12V. I think cars are fairly standardized at 12V DC worldwide and that may be all you can count on. There is no way you can bring enough battery power to last your whole trip unless it is short and you don't want to shoot very much. Bring enough camera batteries to last a couple of days and bring an AC charger that you think will work and a 12V DC charger that can be used on the move.

What part of Africa are you going?

Stelios