PL-U95 - Has anybody tried this battery? at DVinfo.net

Stanley Law · June 24th, 2009, 11:45 AM

I realize most people have gone with an alternative solution to power their camera, monitor, 35mm adapter and hmi light, but has anybody tried using the PL-U95 battery?

I'm not ready to justify an external battery pack, so the extended life from this 3rd party battery looks promising.

There's really no information and it seems only the manufacturers of the battery are commenting on webforums about it.

A cursory search of our forum yielded no search results.

I won't bother bumping if nobody has an answer.

Thanks,
Stanley

Ben Westaway · June 24th, 2009, 02:18 PM

Not used these - but have had some experience of cheaper Z1 copy batteries being quite unreliable.

Quite keen on this battery though - anyone with experience of these?

http://www.swit-battery.com/swit2006...ductdetail.asp

D-tap power is a very useful addition in my opinion.

Bob Grant · June 24th, 2009, 05:15 PM

Interesting battery. It's got more juice and it's 20mm longer, 130gm heavier and like the Swit includes a D Tap.
Might be good if running the higher power on camera lights.

Bob Grant · October 6th, 2009, 05:19 AM

Couldn't resist so I bought one :)
I wanted more power to run an on camera light without having to go to a brick battery and this battery seemed like a bargain.

Pros: It comes with a D-Tap lead. A short one terminated in the same plug as used for the EX. Just the D-Tap plug alone down here costs around $35 so it's a worthwhile addition.
Assuming the battery lives up to it's claimed capacity it'll run the EX1 and a light for quite a while. Li-Ion batteries have a high internal resistance so the bigger capacity batteries perform better than the smaller ones.
It might make hand holding the EX1 easier, see photo!

Cons: It's BIG and it's heavier. The weight's barely noticeable but the extra length is very noticeable.
The D-Tap connector ends up on the bottom of the battery in the EX1. Not a huge issue however with the plug in it'll be an issue putting the camera down. I think if you were to leave a release plate on the camera then the plug would clear.
Like all 3rd party batteries the camera only provides voltage indication so it's a bit harder to know how much juice you have left.

After taking the photo I realised the lead can be dressed a bit better by laying it into the groove in the battery, ends up much neater than in the photo. Overall I'm quite happy with this battery. The only other way to get this capacity is quite expensive and between it, the battery that came with the camera and a BP-U60 I can shoot all day off batteries.

David Issko · October 6th, 2009, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ben Westaway

Not used these - but have had some experience of cheaper Z1 copy batteries being quite unreliable.

Quite keen on this battery though - anyone with experience of these?

http://www.swit-battery.com/swit2006...ductdetail.asp

D-tap power is a very useful addition in my opinion.

In addition to 2 BP-U60s, I have 2 of the Swits that power my Ex3 & nanoFlash. Very good setup but you have to plug the cable from the battery into the DC input, even though you can lock the battery into the receptacle. The camera does not recognise the battery, so instead of seeing how long you have till the battery needs changing, you get a voltage display instead.

Ramji Meena · October 7th, 2009, 04:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Issko

In addition to 2 BP-U60s, I have 2 of the Swits that power my Ex3 & nanoFlash. Very good setup but you have to plug the cable from the battery into the DC input, even though you can lock the battery into the receptacle. The camera does not recognise the battery, so instead of seeing how long you have till the battery needs changing, you get a voltage display instead.

I am about to receive the Swit batteries I hope it comes with the required cables

Bob Grant · October 7th, 2009, 05:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ramji Meena

I am about to receive the Swit batteries I hope it comes with the required cables

It comes with the cable to connect the battery to the camera. The cable snakes into a slot in the top of the battery. You have to unfurl the cable and connect it to the camera. Note that you can pull extra cable out of the battery body. This is not obvious, I was quite reluctant to do this at first thinking I'd pull internal connections apart. Fear not, it is designed to do this.
When charging the battery you must plug the cable into the socket in the battery.
Hope this helps, this might all be covered in instructions that come with the battery...or not.

Charles Newcomb · October 7th, 2009, 09:41 AM

I've been using this swit 0620090816a on Flickr - Photo Sharing! with the Bebob adaptor. It gives me d-tap, and about five hours of service. It also balances out the handheld shot so they aren't so front heavy. I have 4 of them. Have never used the stock battery that comes with the EX3.

Tip McPartland · October 9th, 2009, 01:12 PM

It seems that having one of these batteries could help you hold your genlock with another device in the field, in my case a Sound Devices 788T. Turning the camera off will force me to reset sync as I understand it, but with one of these batteries already plugged in when I pull off the Sony battery power won't be interrupted. Or not?

Tip

Hiram Yates · November 9th, 2009, 09:12 PM

I know this is an older thread but I was wondering if anyone can say how long their PL-U95 are actually lasting in the field? I'm thinking of picking one of these up in a few weeks, but if the performance is only slightly better then the U-60 then I may not buy this behemoth and stick with the U-60 for compact-sake.

Nathan Hudson · November 12th, 2009, 01:56 PM

Check out this battery over at B&H from Switronix. Claims of Double the life than the Sony U60. I'm really intrigued as the one being discussed here (PL-U95) is rumored to only get around 6 hrs. Having an 8 hr battery would be awesome!

Heiner Boeck · November 13th, 2009, 07:03 AM

Got me one of 'em big Swits with D-tap for my EX3. Generally, a good buy - if you mostly use it with some onboard-device like a lamp. Otherwise, I prefer one of the original Sony batteries.

Andrew Stone · November 14th, 2009, 11:23 PM

Yes it seems to me the Swit battery would be good when you have to power outboard stuff like a Frezzi or a nanoflash and don't want the extra weight (and cost) of the full size Anton Bauer or V-mount battery. For most people even if you are running say a Frezzi off it and your EX camera that should last a shoot if you are turning off your peripherals between takes. Certainly for handheld work it beats an Anton Bauer hanging off unless it is providing balance over the shoulder.

Bob Grant · November 15th, 2009, 05:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nathan Hudson

Check out this battery over at B&H from Switronix. Claims of Double the life than the Sony U60. I'm really intrigued as the one being discussed here (PL-U95) is rumored to only get around 6 hrs. Having an 8 hr battery would be awesome!

My PL-U95 was showing 75% power remaining after having the camera powered for 4 hours and in record for 3.5 hours of that. It would appear that the PL-U95 is probably the same capacity as the Swit however it is around $100 cheaper.
This battery is quite a bit longer than the Swit which may mean they're using lower density cells and that can mean the battery will have a longer service life. On the downside I must say (again) it is quite a bit longer than the Swit :)

Dean Harrington · November 15th, 2009, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Grant

My PL-U95 was showing 75% power remaining after having the camera powered for 4 hours and in record for 3.5 hours of that. It would appear that the PL-U95 is probably the same capacity as the Swit however it is around $100 cheaper.
This battery is quite a bit longer than the Swit which may mean they're using lower density cells and that can mean the battery will have a longer service life. On the downside I must say (again) it is quite a bit longer than the Swit :)

I wonder what the PL-U95 battery life would be if you were using a nanoFlash unit on the camera?

June 24th, 2009, 11:45 AM	#1
Stanley Law Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Milpitas, California Posts: 42	PL-U95 - Has anybody tried this battery? I realize most people have gone with an alternative solution to power their camera, monitor, 35mm adapter and hmi light, but has anybody tried using the PL-U95 battery? I'm not ready to justify an external battery pack, so the extended life from this 3rd party battery looks promising. There's really no information and it seems only the manufacturers of the battery are commenting on webforums about it. A cursory search of our forum yielded no search results. I won't bother bumping if nobody has an answer. Thanks, Stanley

October 6th, 2009, 05:19 AM	#4
Bob Grant Trustee Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 1,570	Couldn't resist so I bought one :) I wanted more power to run an on camera light without having to go to a brick battery and this battery seemed like a bargain. Pros: It comes with a D-Tap lead. A short one terminated in the same plug as used for the EX. Just the D-Tap plug alone down here costs around $35 so it's a worthwhile addition. Assuming the battery lives up to it's claimed capacity it'll run the EX1 and a light for quite a while. Li-Ion batteries have a high internal resistance so the bigger capacity batteries perform better than the smaller ones. It might make hand holding the EX1 easier, see photo! Cons: It's BIG and it's heavier. The weight's barely noticeable but the extra length is very noticeable. The D-Tap connector ends up on the bottom of the battery in the EX1. Not a huge issue however with the plug in it'll be an issue putting the camera down. I think if you were to leave a release plate on the camera then the plug would clear. Like all 3rd party batteries the camera only provides voltage indication so it's a bit harder to know how much juice you have left. After taking the photo I realised the lead can be dressed a bit better by laying it into the groove in the battery, ends up much neater than in the photo. Overall I'm quite happy with this battery. The only other way to get this capacity is quite expensive and between it, the battery that came with the camera and a BP-U60 I can shoot all day off batteries. Attached Thumbnails

October 9th, 2009, 01:12 PM	#9
Tip McPartland Major Player Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Crestline, California Posts: 351	Helps you hold genlock? It seems that having one of these batteries could help you hold your genlock with another device in the field, in my case a Sound Devices 788T. Turning the camera off will force me to reset sync as I understand it, but with one of these batteries already plugged in when I pull off the Sony battery power won't be interrupted. Or not? Tip

November 13th, 2009, 07:03 AM	#12
Heiner Boeck Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Varkaus Finland Posts: 33	Pl-u95 Got me one of 'em big Swits with D-tap for my EX3. Generally, a good buy - if you mostly use it with some onboard-device like a lamp. Otherwise, I prefer one of the original Sony batteries.

June 24th, 2009, 02:18 PM	#2
Ben Westaway New Boot Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: London England Posts: 13	Not used these - but have had some experience of cheaper Z1 copy batteries being quite unreliable. Quite keen on this battery though - anyone with experience of these? http://www.swit-battery.com/swit2006...ductdetail.asp D-tap power is a very useful addition in my opinion.

June 24th, 2009, 05:15 PM	#3
Bob Grant Trustee Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 1,570	Interesting battery. It's got more juice and it's 20mm longer, 130gm heavier and like the Swit includes a D Tap. Might be good if running the higher power on camera lights.

October 7th, 2009, 09:41 AM	#8
Charles Newcomb Major Player Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Salida, Colorado Posts: 561	I've been using this swit 0620090816a on Flickr - Photo Sharing! with the Bebob adaptor. It gives me d-tap, and about five hours of service. It also balances out the handheld shot so they aren't so front heavy. I have 4 of them. Have never used the stock battery that comes with the EX3.

November 9th, 2009, 09:12 PM	#10
Hiram Yates Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: United States Posts: 72	I know this is an older thread but I was wondering if anyone can say how long their PL-U95 are actually lasting in the field? I'm thinking of picking one of these up in a few weeks, but if the performance is only slightly better then the U-60 then I may not buy this behemoth and stick with the U-60 for compact-sake.

November 12th, 2009, 01:56 PM	#11
Nathan Hudson Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Winter Park, FL Posts: 55	Check out this battery over at B&H from Switronix. Claims of Double the life than the Sony U60. I'm really intrigued as the one being discussed here (PL-U95) is rumored to only get around 6 hrs. Having an 8 hr battery would be awesome!

November 14th, 2009, 11:23 PM	#13
Andrew Stone Major Player Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Vancouver, Canada Posts: 975	Yes it seems to me the Swit battery would be good when you have to power outboard stuff like a Frezzi or a nanoflash and don't want the extra weight (and cost) of the full size Anton Bauer or V-mount battery. For most people even if you are running say a Frezzi off it and your EX camera that should last a shoot if you are turning off your peripherals between takes. Certainly for handheld work it beats an Anton Bauer hanging off unless it is providing balance over the shoulder.