Has anyone tried feeding the EX1 through DC-in from a PAG battery (through PAGlock)? A special cable (PP90 to Sony Dc-in) is needed, which I'm planning to make myself - but would like to know beforehand there are no problems with the PAG batteries real max voltage vs the EX1's protection circuitry, etc.

Any input much appreciated!

Many of us have been running the EX1 from the Sony Li-Ion brick batteries. Unless the PAGs are something very odd no reason they shouldn't work just as well. If you want to save money I can recommend the Comer batteries. These can be had with a D Tap built into the battery which makes it easier to power a light as well as the camera from them.

BP-U60 is 14.4v at 56 Wh
http://www.sonybiz.net/biz/view/ShowProduct.action?product=BP-U60&site=biz_en_EU&pageType=TechnicalSpecs&imageType=Main&category=BatteriesPowerSupplies

This one is 14.8v at 186 Wh and should last more than twice as long (if you can adapt it) at roughly the same price as the BP-U60.

http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=4164

John

Thanks guys, I see your points - my own is, however, that I already own a couple of 100Wh PAG batteries (in addition to the PAGlock systems to be used either at my belt, or at the back of the PAG Orbitor shoulder support); the PAGlock has two power outputs (one feeding the PAG light, of course) - with the other being wasted so far...

I spoke to PAG back in February. They were in the process of sourcing the connector for the EX1. Have not heard anything yet, they are still working on it.

Thanks Bruce - are you still in touch with them? Because if the only reason for not providing their customers with the right cable is the connector being difficult to get, with no other reasons for their batteries to not work properly with the EX1 DC-in - I guess I would be willing to cut the cable of my EX1 charger, fit it with XLR connectors, and use an XLR to PP90 adapter cable in order to plug it into my PAGlocks...

I will chase them next week. I offered to send them my charger cable but they wanted to do it properly and get a product that all could have easily.

Sounds promising, Bruce - please keep us informed ('ll wait with cutting my charger's cable for now)....

I have a packet of 50 plugs for the EX1, feel free to drop me a PM if you need any. These are the straight solder on variety. A right angle entry one would be nicer but they have to be molded onto the cable, that could be arranged too but only economic if I ordered over 500.
From memory the connector is "EIAJ 4" if you're trying to find one yourself locally.

If our vDoubler can be acceptable for semi mobile use, it can power the cam for about 6-7 hours or so using Sony L or Panasonic batteries.

fyi...

the zylight z90 plug is the same as the ex1's.... so all the accessories power cords and supplies will work. ( and visa versa )

http://www.zylight.com/servlet/Categories?category=accessories%3Apower

If our vDoubler can be acceptable for semi mobile use, it can power the cam for about 6-7 hours or so using Sony L or Panasonic batteries.


How?

If the four-hour Sony BP-U60 is a 56 Wh battery at 14.4 volts and the highest capacity "L" battery Sony makes (NP-F970) is 47 Wh at 7.2 volts then the current draw of the camera will drain a pair of NP-F970s in "less" time than a single BP-U60 will it not? Hooking the batteries up in series does not increase the Wh capacity of the batteries as far as I know.

John

Oh yes. When you connect 2 47Wh batteries, you get 94Wh total (which is 4Wh more than Dionic 90). Doing math, you get 6.7 hours run time (94Wh/14W =6.7h)
Regards

Oh yes. When you connect 2 47Wh batteries, you get 94Wh total (which is 4Wh more than Dionic 90). Doing math, you get 6.7 hours run time (94Wh/14W =6.7h)
Regards

I think I must be forgetting basic electricity. If one puts two batteries in series, the voltage doubles but the amperage does not.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_difference_between_1850_mAh_and_2850_mAh_in_rechargeable_batteries

"Actually, if you put two 1.5V 2850mAh batteries in SERIES, you will get a 3V and 2850mAh battery. The voltage doubles but the current capacity does not. If you were to put the two batteries in PARALLEL, the voltage would remain 1.5V but the current capacity would double to 5700mAh. "

John

You are almost there... you are correct that the amp hours do not change, but it is 7800mah@7.2V for the largest Sony L battery. So connecting 2 of them together gets you a 7800mah@14.4V battery. The U60 is only 4000mah@14.4V. Using 2 Sony L batteries, a camera will run almost 2x long as on the U60.
HTH

I will chase them next week. I offered to send them my charger cable but they wanted to do it properly and get a product that all could have easily.

Hi Bruce

Did you talk to PAG about the cable?

Hey Bob, did you find those locally or did you need to order from O/S??

R.

You are almost there... you are correct that the amp hours do not change, but it is 7800mah@7.2V for the largest Sony L battery. So connecting 2 of them together gets you a 7800mah@14.4V battery. The U60 is only 4000mah@14.4V. Using 2 Sony L batteries, a camera will run almost 2x long as on the U60.
HTH

Thank you for correcting your error above claiming that the watt hours increase when two batteries are connected in series.

As far as your statement that the largest L-battery is 7800 mAh, the largest L battery (as I stated earlier) is the NP-F970. I am looking right at the back of one as we speak and it says 47.5 Wh which converts to 6600 mAh and not 7800 mAh as you stated. A quick check of the Sony website confirms this:

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&productId=11040788&langId=-1

Sony does not list a higher capacity L battery than the NP-F970 unless you know of another one they don't list.

Wh = Ah x V

Ah = Wh / V

Thus 47.5 Wh / 7.2 V = 6.6 Ah To convert to mAh multiply by 1000 to get 6.6 x 1000 = 6600 mAh for the NP-F970.


As far as the mAh or Wh for one application (load) (camera) being directly comparable to another I disagree. The discharge characteristics are different for each application depending upon the load and the battery combined with it. That is why my BP-U60 lasts only four hours in my EX1 and my NP-F970 lasts eight to ten hours in my VX2000 with the LCD closed in both cases. Maybe you should test two if them in your voltage doubler hooked up to an EX1 before you make some of these claims.

John

Thanks Bruce - are you still in touch with them? Because if the only reason for not providing their customers with the right cable is the connector being difficult to get, with no other reasons for their batteries to not work properly with the EX1 DC-in - I guess I would be willing to cut the cable of my EX1 charger, fit it with XLR connectors, and use an XLR to PP90 adapter cable in order to plug it into my PAGlocks...

Did something like that some time ago :
http://www.lecentre.net/blog/archives/242

now I can power the EX1 from external 12v, like another power source, a battery or a car plug (turn off the EX1 when starting the car as the voltage can drop down so the camera turns off).

Have just spoken to PAG. They now have cables with EX1 connectors in stock. I am using L95s and ZL50s with a V Lock PAG plate and cable with female XLR plug. My EX1 cable will be male XLR to EX1 connector. Do not know the price yet but you can contact PAG for a costing on your particular wants.

Thanks Bruce - what I need is PP90 - to - EX1, 1-m cable; hope they have it as well.

Thank you for correcting your error above claiming that the watt hours increase when two batteries are connected in series.

As far as your statement that the largest L-battery is 7800 mAh, the largest L battery (as I stated earlier) is the NP-F970. I am looking right at the back of one as we speak and it says 47.5 Wh which converts to 6600 mAh and not 7800 mAh as you stated. A quick check of the Sony website confirms this:

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&productId=11040788&langId=-1

Sony does not list a higher capacity L battery than the NP-F970 unless you know of another one they don't list.

Wh = Ah x V

Ah = Wh / V

Thus 47.5 Wh / 7.2 V = 6.6 Ah To convert to mAh multiply by 1000 to get 6.6 x 1000 = 6600 mAh for the NP-F970.


As far as the mAh or Wh for one application (load) (camera) being directly comparable to another I disagree. The discharge characteristics are different for each application depending upon the load and the battery combined with it. That is why my BP-U60 lasts only four hours in my EX1 and my NP-F970 lasts eight to ten hours in my VX2000 with the LCD closed in both cases. Maybe you should test two if them in your voltage doubler hooked up to an EX1 before you make some of these claims.

John

John, the last thing I wanted is to get into an argument with you. What I write here is factually true, you can verify that by reading up a bit more online or in the textbooks.
As far as the largest Sony battery, while Sony does not make 7800mah L batteries, some 3d party vendors do, like this Lenmar http://www.huntsphotoandvideo.com/detail_page.cfm?productid=LIS970P is listed at 7800mah. We actually tested this particular model, it truely delivers what promised. But the point here was not who makes the largest battery, the number I used was just for the reference to illustrate how math works here.