PMW-350 Power D-Tap prob?

[Tim Lucas]

Hi all.

The front power D-Tap (at the front below the handle) is always live even when the camera is off. It never used to be but something has changed. I have my Nanoflash powered from this plug and recently noticed that when powering off, the Nano would stay powered up running the battery flat.

I have a DSR450 with almost the identical D-Tap setup which does turn off on power down. The 350 should do the same thing.

I cant see any power settings for the front connector in the camera menu.

Any ideas?

Tim.

[Tom Roper]

I power my nano from that d-tap as well, and although I don't have it with me, as I remember there is a switch on or near the handle. In one position of the switch, the d-tap is live whenever the main power switch is on, in the other position it's live only when recording. Sorry, that's no help whatsoever. I don't remember there being a menu setting for this.

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Friends,

I agree, setting the PMW-350 D-Tape power swtich to On While Recording is not appropriate for powering the nanoFlash. The nanoFlash needs power prior to starting recording, and needs power after the recording stops, at least for 10 seconds or so.

So, the D-Tap power switch must be in the always on position for use with the nanoFlash.

But, this should not be any real problem.

You can set the power save options in the nanoFlash on.
Then the nanoFlash will go into a very low power draw mode (<0.1 watt) when the camera is off.

An Anton Bauer / IDX/ Sony battery will not be drained with such a low current.

I would, however, remove the Anton Bauer or other battery, at the end of the day, but one would do this anyway to charge it.

I ran a test, with a very small, 2-Cell Lithium-Ion battery, with the nanoFlash in low-power mode.
I gave up after 4 days, it was not draining this small battery by much.

[Tim Lucas]

Yes the switch is always in the manual position. The fact is that the power tap is still live when the camera is off. This should not happen.

I'll look at the power save option from the sdi output as you discussed when the cam returns from a hire.

Thanks.

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Tim,

You will need to be on our latest firmware, 1.6.248 for power save to work.

[Chris Clifton]

Does this apply to the 320 as well?

[Tom Roper]

It applies but the issue at hand is that Tim's 350 has a malfunction.

[Tim Lucas]

I will try the Nano in Power save mode.

Dan I see that the Nano does not actually turn off but is safe to leave plugged in for a while?

Tim.

[Dan Keaton]

Dear Tim,

If the nanoFlash Power Save settings are on, and System|Source is SDI, then the nanoFlash will draw approximate 0.1 watt, which is insignificant.

Just based on the math, a Dionic 90 would power the nanoFlash for 900 hours when the nanoFlash is in power save mode.

[Tim Lucas]

Thanks for the info Dan.

I guess the real problem here is why the D-tap is still live. I have a call into Sony and will keep everyone updated.

Can anyone here with a 350 confirm that a video light plugged into the front D-Tap will turn off when the cam is powered off?

Thanks, Tim.

[Luc De Wandel]

Hi Tim,
just checked it and the D-tap on my PMW-320 also stays live when the camera is switched off completely, but only for a short while. That means the video light stays on, even when the camera is off... but only for about 7 or 8 seconds. There's a delay circuit apparently... That's in 'manual' mode. In 'auto' mode, the D-tap doesn't stay live at all.

[Tim Lucas]

Thanks for checking Luc.

Seems wrong to me as I have other Sony cameras with the same power tap that turn off on power down.

Oh well, that the way it is I guess. Time to get on with life.

Tim.

[Samer Aslan]

Hi Tim, I checked that also on my 350 and i can confirm what Luc said in his reply, the D-tap goes off after about 5 seconds after switching off the camera.and i can't switch on anything via D-tap with the camera off. i have also the nano flash but i power it from the battery directly via D-tap and i find it very usefull this way i can use the camera's D-tap for light on board or to connect my dp6 monitor. i always keep the power save mode on in the nano flash and it works perfectly for me,with my battery i can power camera and nano flash for more than one day shooting...it's incredible how little power camera and nano consume...you can see it in this picture.
Samer

[Tim Lucas]

Ok. I dont think I read Luc's post propery.

So it goes off after a while. I'll try that.

Tim.

[Tim Lucas]

Ok, tried that. Mine just stays on continually.

Strange.