FZ2500 Impressions and Comments?

Chris Harding · February 24th, 2017, 02:15 AM

Hi Mike

It still seems a back to front way to go to achieve an 8.4 volt output ... so it uses a 5 volt supply (USB) and then the adaptor inverts it up to 8,4 ... I've always used a 12v CCTV battery pack (cheap as chips) even for a 10,000 mah pack and drop a tiny voltage regulator chip onto the pack (3 components only) and adjust the 12.6v nominal down to 8.4v ...even if the battery pack drops down to 10.00v as it discharges you STILL can get 8.4v ....

Just for interest what is the minimum voltage threshold your adapter will accept as an input before it cannot lift the voltage to 8.4 any more ... There must be a minimum from the power bank before it falls over. Remember your Mac hub is running from the computer's PSU so it will always supply 5 volts unlike a portable power bank which will eventually go flat in the field ... I'd rather have too much voltage and be able to drop it down than have too little input voltage.

Frank Grygier · February 24th, 2017, 06:38 AM

Just ordered this one to use with my FZ2500.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Mike Griffiths · February 26th, 2017, 12:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Harding

Hi Mike

It still seems a back to front way to go to achieve an 8.4 volt output ... so it uses a 5 volt supply (USB) and then the adaptor inverts it up to 8,4 ... I've always used a 12v CCTV battery pack (cheap as chips) even for a 10,000 mah pack and drop a tiny voltage regulator chip onto the pack (3 components only) and adjust the 12.6v nominal down to 8.4v ...even if the battery pack drops down to 10.00v as it discharges you STILL can get 8.4v ....

Just for interest what is the minimum voltage threshold your adapter will accept as an input before it cannot lift the voltage to 8.4 any more ... There must be a minimum from the power bank before it falls over. Remember your Mac hub is running from the computer's PSU so it will always supply 5 volts unlike a portable power bank which will eventually go flat in the field ... I'd rather have too much voltage and be able to drop it down than have too little input voltage.

Sorry Chris I have no way of knowing, I'm not that skilled in electronics. I've ordered the battery pack recommended by Frank. No one will post it to Thailand so I have to get it sent to my son then he'll post it on.

Chris Harding · February 27th, 2017, 12:58 AM

No issue ..tell me how it works though and whether it will run the camera on something like a dance recital that runs for maybe 2 hours non stop?

Chris Harding · February 28th, 2017, 01:51 AM

Try your camera not in STD mode but also in Portrait mode and push the sharpen slider to +5 and the Noise slider to -5 ....makes a huge difference to your image and video too!!

Mike Griffiths · March 1st, 2017, 06:41 PM

Well it looks I've come to a halt,at least for now. Since January it has become impossible to ship lithium batteries by air, no one will do it, so my battery pack is sitting in the UK and I'm in Thailand. It seems you can ship lithium batteries if they are inside a camera for example but not separately. Makes no sense to me and of course people carry them on aircraft all the time.

Chris Harding · March 2nd, 2017, 06:32 AM

Hi Mike

That's a bummer! I was under the impression that they could be sent if they were packed correctly so they cannot short or be damaged. You now need to find someone flying from the UK to Thailand that can take them for you as carry on luggage? Maybe advertise and offer someone a nice dinner once you get the pack.

Is it only Thailand that's the issue or all countries??? You could put an ad on Helping Hands on this forum and hope someone is doing the UK>Thailand trip soon.

Mike Griffiths · March 3rd, 2017, 12:10 AM

It's all countries, IATA rules from 1.1.17. I tried to get a battery from China, no luck so I've no idea how commercial enterprises will get their stocks. There must be some way to send them by air but I can't find it I'm asking around in the UK

Chris Harding · March 3rd, 2017, 02:30 AM

Hey Mike

I guess they buy enough stock to warrant a container so it comes by sea. That's a bad situation if you need to buy batteries. So one assumes it can only be the battery that fits in the device ? That's stupid ..previously you could ship lithiums as long as they were individually packaged and there was no chance of them short circuiting but I guess that's out the window now!! Hope you find a speedy solution!!

J.T. Price · March 3rd, 2017, 04:01 PM

Does it also apply to LiPo? The Lithium Polymer batteries are much safer (and lighter and don't discharge over time).

Larry Johnson · March 3rd, 2017, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frank Grygier

Just ordered this one to use with my FZ2500.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I haven't been following the thread much. Battery consumption by the FZ2500 is certainly rapid. I bought two extra ones just to be safe. I don't record many minutes during a day afield, but I do manage to go through a couple of batteries.

Frank, I've never used one of those portable chargers. Can the fz2500 charger be plugged directly into that device to charge its battery out of the camera.

Mike Griffiths · March 4th, 2017, 01:16 AM

To clarify, you can carry Lithium batteries as hand luggage but not in hold luggage. They can be separate but must be protected from shorting out.
It seems you can't ship separate batteries by air ( i.e. buy or sell)

Ronald Jackson · March 4th, 2017, 03:44 AM

So how does the portable charger connect with the FZ2000 and how long does it take to recharge a battery?
Not much use to me if I can't use the camera while recharging takes place.

Ron

Dave Blackhurst · March 4th, 2017, 04:20 PM

Before spreading too much FUD about batteries, check this link...

https://www.iata.org/whatwedo/cargo/...nt-2017-en.pdf

Along about page 12-13, it covers "consumer" type devices and batteries.

IF batteries are not overly high capacity and are packed properly, they should be shippable. At one point I checked the Wh limits, and the typical consumer grade battery (phone, camera, laptop, etc...) does not even come close to being "regulated". One should still observe reasonable packaging techniques to prevent any trouble, but that isn't THAT difficult.

That said, of course there are potential issues even with small consumer grade batteries, as Samsung discovered....

Chris Harding · March 4th, 2017, 05:48 PM

Hi Dave

Over here the rating of the battery is only an issue with carryon luggage ..in other words you can carrry on multiple batteries below a special capacity ...that, of course doesn't help Mike who is trying to ship a battery pack from the UK ...That's a power bank so it might even exceed the carry on capacity too so it's worth checking.

Ronald ? You need a DC coupler for the camera which is essentially a dummy battery which can then connect to a mains adapter OR another power source as long as it has around 8.2v available.

I shot a wedding yesterday with the 2500 and had 2 bars left in the evening ... Both my FZ1000's and FZ2500 normally allow me to do a wedding and I would only need a battery change in the mid evening....also I normally change when it hits 1 bar so I don't have a battery failure whilst the brides father is doing a heartfelt speech ....running non stop your battery should last at least an hour or more

February 24th, 2017, 02:15 AM	#76
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: FZ2500 Impressions and Comments? Hi Mike It still seems a back to front way to go to achieve an 8.4 volt output ... so it uses a 5 volt supply (USB) and then the adaptor inverts it up to 8,4 ... I've always used a 12v CCTV battery pack (cheap as chips) even for a 10,000 mah pack and drop a tiny voltage regulator chip onto the pack (3 components only) and adjust the 12.6v nominal down to 8.4v ...even if the battery pack drops down to 10.00v as it discharges you STILL can get 8.4v .... Just for interest what is the minimum voltage threshold your adapter will accept as an input before it cannot lift the voltage to 8.4 any more ... There must be a minimum from the power bank before it falls over. Remember your Mac hub is running from the computer's PSU so it will always supply 5 volts unlike a portable power bank which will eventually go flat in the field ... I'd rather have too much voltage and be able to drop it down than have too little input voltage.

February 24th, 2017, 06:38 AM	#77
Frank Grygier Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Austin,TX Posts: 125	Re: FZ2500 Impressions and Comments? Just ordered this one to use with my FZ2500. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

February 27th, 2017, 12:58 AM	#79
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: FZ2500 Impressions and Comments? No issue ..tell me how it works though and whether it will run the camera on something like a dance recital that runs for maybe 2 hours non stop?

February 28th, 2017, 01:51 AM	#80
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: FZ2500 Impressions and Comments? Try your camera not in STD mode but also in Portrait mode and push the sharpen slider to +5 and the Noise slider to -5 ....makes a huge difference to your image and video too!!

March 1st, 2017, 06:41 PM	#81
Mike Griffiths Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Chiang Mai Thailand Posts: 152	Re: FZ2500 Impressions and Comments? Well it looks I've come to a halt,at least for now. Since January it has become impossible to ship lithium batteries by air, no one will do it, so my battery pack is sitting in the UK and I'm in Thailand. It seems you can ship lithium batteries if they are inside a camera for example but not separately. Makes no sense to me and of course people carry them on aircraft all the time. __________________ Mike

March 2nd, 2017, 06:32 AM	#82
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: FZ2500 Impressions and Comments? Hi Mike That's a bummer! I was under the impression that they could be sent if they were packed correctly so they cannot short or be damaged. You now need to find someone flying from the UK to Thailand that can take them for you as carry on luggage? Maybe advertise and offer someone a nice dinner once you get the pack. Is it only Thailand that's the issue or all countries??? You could put an ad on Helping Hands on this forum and hope someone is doing the UK>Thailand trip soon.

March 3rd, 2017, 12:10 AM	#83
Mike Griffiths Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Chiang Mai Thailand Posts: 152	Re: FZ2500 Impressions and Comments? It's all countries, IATA rules from 1.1.17. I tried to get a battery from China, no luck so I've no idea how commercial enterprises will get their stocks. There must be some way to send them by air but I can't find it I'm asking around in the UK __________________ Mike

March 3rd, 2017, 02:30 AM	#84
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: FZ2500 Impressions and Comments? Hey Mike I guess they buy enough stock to warrant a container so it comes by sea. That's a bad situation if you need to buy batteries. So one assumes it can only be the battery that fits in the device ? That's stupid ..previously you could ship lithiums as long as they were individually packaged and there was no chance of them short circuiting but I guess that's out the window now!! Hope you find a speedy solution!!

March 3rd, 2017, 04:01 PM	#85
J.T. Price Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Saxlingham Nethergate UK Posts: 37	Re: FZ2500 Impressions and Comments? Does it also apply to LiPo? The Lithium Polymer batteries are much safer (and lighter and don't discharge over time).

March 4th, 2017, 01:16 AM	#87
Mike Griffiths Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Chiang Mai Thailand Posts: 152	Re: FZ2500 Impressions and Comments? To clarify, you can carry Lithium batteries as hand luggage but not in hold luggage. They can be separate but must be protected from shorting out. It seems you can't ship separate batteries by air ( i.e. buy or sell) __________________ Mike

March 4th, 2017, 03:44 AM	#88
Ronald Jackson Major Player Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Southport, United Kingdom Posts: 723	Re: FZ2500 Impressions and Comments? So how does the portable charger connect with the FZ2000 and how long does it take to recharge a battery? Not much use to me if I can't use the camera while recharging takes place. Ron

March 4th, 2017, 04:20 PM	#89
Dave Blackhurst Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Apple Valley CA Posts: 4,874	Re: FZ2500 Impressions and Comments? Before spreading too much FUD about batteries, check this link... https://www.iata.org/whatwedo/cargo/...nt-2017-en.pdf Along about page 12-13, it covers "consumer" type devices and batteries. IF batteries are not overly high capacity and are packed properly, they should be shippable. At one point I checked the Wh limits, and the typical consumer grade battery (phone, camera, laptop, etc...) does not even come close to being "regulated". One should still observe reasonable packaging techniques to prevent any trouble, but that isn't THAT difficult. That said, of course there are potential issues even with small consumer grade batteries, as Samsung discovered....

March 4th, 2017, 05:48 PM	#90
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: FZ2500 Impressions and Comments? Hi Dave Over here the rating of the battery is only an issue with carryon luggage ..in other words you can carrry on multiple batteries below a special capacity ...that, of course doesn't help Mike who is trying to ship a battery pack from the UK ...That's a power bank so it might even exceed the carry on capacity too so it's worth checking. Ronald ? You need a DC coupler for the camera which is essentially a dummy battery which can then connect to a mains adapter OR another power source as long as it has around 8.2v available. I shot a wedding yesterday with the 2500 and had 2 bars left in the evening ... Both my FZ1000's and FZ2500 normally allow me to do a wedding and I would only need a battery change in the mid evening....also I normally change when it hits 1 bar so I don't have a battery failure whilst the brides father is doing a heartfelt speech ....running non stop your battery should last at least an hour or more