Pro Tape in Houston is a great place for tape and Misc. production supplies. Stuff like gaft tape and gell. Brad Bassit is a really nice guy and will get stuff to you ASAP.

That's just fine... Pro-Tape is Pro-Tape, whether it's Austin or Houston or wherever. It's all Craig Berlin which is a very good thing.

http://www01.bhphotovideo.com/default.sph/FrameWork.class?FNC=ProductActivator__Aproductlist_html___227259___POBP945___REG___CatID=0___SID=ECC 6F25A4D0

Has anybody had any experience with this Power-2000 battery for the XL1? The B&H listing (linked above) claimes a whopping 6000 milliamp-hour charge life. In comparison, the BP-945 made by Canon claims only 4500 milliamp-hour life and is 50% more expensive.

In another thread, some folks gave positive testimonial for the Lenmar batteries, but Lenmar doesn't seem to make a BP-945 equivalent.

So is this Power-2000 the real deal, or too good to be true?

I don't know, but they sure look good to me, Robert.

Lenmar does indeed make a BP945 equivalent. It's at least a BP941 equivalent, yet it easily out-lasts my Canon BP945.

And while we're on the subject, Chris, where does one provision his Black Gang coffee?

Hi Robert,

Thanks for joining us here, by the way -- I hope to see you again sometime soon, my next trip west out your way will happen later in the summer.

Black Gang coffee, it'll spin your rotor! Generally it's not how you procure it but how you cook it and with whom you drink it. Black Gang coffee is not so much a brand of coffee as it is a kind of experience... best brewed around 0430 deep down in the engine room, with good friends, away from the topsiders and far from officer's country.

Go to the Announcements forum, find the thread "Many thanks to all -- 1,000 posts in two months" and down the screen a ways you'll find Mike Butler and myself discussing fond memories of Black Gang coffee, which might clear this up for you a bit.

;-)

For even more details, you'll have to read Richard McKenna's "Sand Pebbles" cover to cover. Black Gang coffee is explained fairly early on, but you won't be able to put the book down until it's completely finished. Hope this helps,

Hi Robert,

I have been using this battery and a bp-945 since mid-Febrauary on a XL-s. I haven't done any formal testing, but have done quite a bit of wildlife taping with the camera, some of it in fairly cold weather. I usually top the batteries off at night so I don't know how long a charge will last, but I can say that I have never used more than half of the charge in the Power 2000 battery while the bp-945 will soon drop to that level. In short I feel the Power 2000 is a much longer lasting battery, but of course it is also physically much larger and protrudes quite a distance from the side of the camera but that doesn't really bother me.
Will

Will:

Thanks a lot for your feedback. I guess I'll be investing in a Power-2000 battery or two.

Chris Hurd:

Don't bother looking me up in L.A. ... I finished off my MS at USC last summer and moved back home to Cleveland. Trying to start my career as a filmmaker. Have been putting together a little XL1s rig to work on the small pet projects I've always wanted to do. Which explains my gradual reinvolvement in the Canopus and DVinfo.net boards. I'll always remember the breakfasts shared with you and Mike Downey... although getting a receipt for my Storm system out of that guy has been an improbably ongoing project!

Thanks Robert,

You can find Black Gang coffee anywhere in the world, even Cleveland... it's how you make it.

If we started a Canopus forum or a PC-based NLE forum here, would you care to visit? Things have changed since that breakfast.

Glad you got the Frezzi, zchildress, I still haven't got any closer to getting barn doors for mine. Prolly will call B&H when I get around to it.

Hey, on that 6-hour battery, how long must that puppy take to recharge? It takes long enough for my 2-hour to top up with the wimpy little charger Canon gives you.

Can I charge this battery in the Canon charger and will it give me the usuall indications ie (one blink - nearly empty, three blinks - nearly charged)

thanks
Keith

Keith -- yes you can and yes it does -- this is how I'm charging my own LenMar by the way.

www.aspenelectronics.com, mentioned in another thread, offer a 12V to 8V battery converter that will allow XL1/GL1 cameras to be powered by 12V batteries while at the same time providing 12V pass-through to power other camera mounted accessories. Item number is XL7A. Check the New Products page.

Hi Ed,

If one could find a source for Canon batteries (before they put the batteries in) anyone on the forum could build one of these adapters for next to nothing. There is no rocket science in this. Aspen Electronics charge US 125. The components I doubt would cost more than US25.

Chris H should we look at providing a circuit for the Watchdog.

Regards
Andrew

Howdy from Texas,

Here's my take on it. The type of shooter who would most likely benefit from being able to use a pro NP-style 12v brick battery is a professional shooter, i.e. one who does it for money. $125 should represent no more than two hours of billable work... for some of us, just one hour or even less.

You could conceivably go to the trouble of locating the battery housing, buying the connectors, obtaining the circuitry and cobbling up such an adapter on your workbench, but how much time and trouble does that represent? Would it be worth that kind of slice out of your life when you could be shooting (and billing) instead.

I was in the Canon booth at NAB when Aspen brought that adapter over for us to look at. The Aspen guy asked my friend Mike Mount of Canon USA, "what would you pay for that?" Mike responded, "about $125." The Aspen guy said, "that's exactly what it costs." Personally I think $125 is a more than reasonable price for that adapter.

I would rather charge a couple of billable shooting hours to make $125, order it and have it here in the next day or two than spend my free time building one. But that's just my own nature I guess. I suppose my point is, if this is something you really need, just buy it; otherwise do without it. Perhaps I've finally succumbed to consumerism but life is just too short to be meddling with work-arounds just to get over a measly hundred bucks.

Very sorry but that's my opinion, much respect to anybody who actually *does* build their own, and if you come up with the circuitry then yes I'll put it on the website. Frankly I'm just happy that Aspen even bothered with making this available and as I said for a piece of pro gear, $125 is next to nothing.

Hi Chris,

no need to apologise for your opinion. You are right, sometimes it is not worth the effort, spend the money.

I am the "problem". Firstly I love tinkering in my workshop making things and secondly with our currency being so weak US 125 is a lot more money in S.A. than in US.

I am nearly finshed with my "steadicam", almost entirely made from machined aluminium. Initial testing looks good. Hoping to have it complete by July.

Cheers
Andrew

I thought this particular adapter might be of interest because I remember several months ago, someone was trying to figure out how to power camera, light, lcd, wireless etc. all from one battery. This item might be just what they were looking for. Some of the batteries offered by this company also have ports for accessories built into the battery housing. (At least I think that's what I read)

I know its not the most economical solution but the Anton Bauer setup is very nice. It gives you the option to run several different types of batteries and it also has a 12v power tap so you can power your on-camera light as well. The biggest improvment was how stable the camera became after putting the AB rig on it, without he OIS, the stability has improved 10 fold! With the OIS on its hard to tell you arent shooting from a tripod. I also like their 3 year warrany for the batteries, if for any reason they dont last as long as they did new, send 'em in.

Chris

Hey gang...

Anyone ever used these batteries? Are they as good
as those 7,5 - 10 hour lenmar (?) batteries?

http://www.zgc.com/html/expedition_batteries.html

Does ZGC also ship overseas? I'm thinking of buying
a package from them with all sort of stuff in it.

Thanks!

Hi Rob,

I remember seeing these batteries when I purchased equipment from ZGC several months ago. I never asked, but from reading the information on them and considering the price, I suspect they are not rechargable. Note the "long shelf life" and "disposable" wording in the description. I also noted that ZGC does not offer a charger for these batteries. Again, I may be totally wrong about this. Wouldn't be the first time.

Additional information can be found at:

http://www.automatedmedia.com/index.html

Im not sure if this is a silly question but it says nothing in the manual about it.
how long can you leave a battery charging for after the red light
stops flicking and glows?.
say I switch the charger on and disappear for 6/9 hours and come back and the battery will be fully charged is there any damage to either the battery or charger. Or perhaps if I switch it on over night.
I might just be a little over anxious
thanks

Howdy from Texas,

Nothing to worry about. You won't hurt these lithium-ion batteries if you leave 'em on the charger all day. The old lead-acid style batteries would suffer, but not these. I wouldn't leave them sitting on the charger for several days or anything, but I wouldn't worry about anything less than 48 hours or so. Hope this helps,

Chris is correct. I've been leaving batteries on all night (because I'm too tired to get up from sleeping!) for years now and the same batteries are still going strong!

The Expedition batteries can be recharged, but the solar chargers are extremely expensive. ZGC chose to market the batteries as long-running alternative batteries to Canon's that can be used for projects out in remote and very cold areas for camera operators without a huge budget. -- You're on top of a mountain in the snow somewhere, you've got a Portabrace Polar Bear cover on your camera, but that extra Canon battery in your pack just froze up. With the Expedition battery you've got hours of running time on one battery that's good to go in extreme cold. Once spent, you can toss it (in an appropriate receptacle, of course) and not worry about toxicity issues.

Yes! ZGC ships overseas all the time.

I've got two batteries and want to know if I'm hurting them by using one battery over and over while the other one is just sitting in the bag or getting the occasional top-off charge? Is there any point in rotating them? Will the one battery die sooner (because it's used a lot) and the other one stay "like-new?"

Batteries do have rated number of recharge cycles. I would recommend rotating them for best results and longevity.

I have just borrowed this camera video and the battery cr2025 is missing, i get the sign for the little battery normal but as well when i try to put a dv tape it doen't want to reconize it and i have the icon telling me that there is no tape in the view finder, normal? if i get this battery it should be fine? thanks for your help

Hi Geronimo,

this 2025 is to ensure the camera remembers all the basic camera settings and program info it had when it left the factory.

As to if it sorts out your problem? I'm sure it will. Whether you like it or not you gotta have one. I always keep a spare in my camera box.

Regards
Andrew

Be sure to push the tape transport in first and let it go down before closing the tape compartment door. Don't close the door and let it push the transport.

If that dosen't work I'd get the tape transport checked, it sounds like something is amiss.

thanks Adrian that was the problem, it is working now.

Yeah, it usually is something simple. It's a pretty reliable camera, and most problems are often user error.

I have added accessories and will be doing longer on location shoots now I realize I will need more/longer battery power.

I looked at B&H's selection and got a little confused. I think the batteries I use on the camera are 7.v but the belts seem to say 12 volts? Also what chargers or connectors should I worry about, there is a rather large selection.

I need roughly 6 to 7 hours worth of power for on location shoots. (large building no power). The only other accessory is a 5"Nebtek monitor mounted on the camera, that I hope to connect also.

Suggestions on good belts and where to buy very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance
—Lia

Hello Lia,

Indeed, the XL1 uses a 7.2 volt power supply. Larger cameras and lighting gear often use a 12 volt supply.

I'd recommend getting the Canon CH-910 dual battery charger/holder. As its name implies, it can hold (and charge) 2 batteries simultaneously. It has a belt clip (just don't forget you're wearing it when you walk away from the camera <g>). You can also mount it to the back of the camera if you have an MA-100 or MA-200 adapter.

I'd also recommend the Power 2000 high-capacity batteries (if you can find them). These are BP-945 replacements that feature 6000 mAh of power (vs the Canon BP-945's 4500 mAh). If you can't find them, the Canon BP-945's will be fine. (I think others found yet another brand, but I don't recall what it was.)

The Nebtek monitor uses the same batteries as your XL1 so that should be no problem. Since it sips power you can use a lower capacity battery for that.

Where to buy? ZGC (one of our site's sponsors) is an excellent source for this gear. B&H is also a highly reputable supplier.

One last tip. It sounds like you'll be in a challenging location. If you need power for other stuff take a look at

http://www.store4power.com/

They have a variety of portable batteries (with inverters) which can be really handy if you don't want to deal with a noisy, smelly generator. Very reasonably priced, too. I've used one of their Jazz Portable Power 250 units to run a Lowel caselight 4. These are also handy gizmos to have around the house for power outages.

Good luck on your shoot, Lia!

You might want to check out NRG Research at the following URL:

http://www.nrgresearch.com/pp.html

scroll down the page to the professional power belts. don't know if that's what you're looking for . . .

You might want to check the following thread:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1702&highlight=battery+adapter

12v adapters are discussed there.

I will look into the links suggested.

I'm hoping to power the camera 7v and the Nebtek monitor 12v at the same time, but not nessarily on same battery. Some kind of belt combination. I am shooting in a 560.000 sg ft building with no power inside (yet). I called Nebtek and they said they will look into it too.

These boards are great. I think it says someting about the quality of folks shooting video and willing to build community I don't think you'd find a better bunch anywhere!

A big THANK you!

Lia

Lia, when you call Nebtek, be sure to speak to Rob DuBree. He knows me personally and is a member of the boards here. Thanks and looking forward to your input,

Great guy, he mentioned you too...now off to a shoot up in Lake County, better informed and better equipped thanks to you know who.


—Lia

Hi Lia,

Since your monitor is 12v it sounds like the XL7A adapter from www.aspenelectronics.com is just what you are looking for. With it you can power everything with one 12v battery.

Keep in mind that while using some of the external 7.2V converters you would loose the benefit of the VF "fuel gauge". The camera thinks that it is powered by the external AC power supply/charger and disables the icon.
Alex Dolgin
Dolgin Engineering
http://www.dolgin.net

I cannot afford Anton Bauer batts on my best day. So I got in touch with Doug at Long Valley Equipment about his DeWalt battery rigs. He is working on a set-up for the XL1 for me. I am really stoked as his adapters are pretty bomb-proof and totally affordable compared to A.B. offerings. They are also 12v so you can run OCL's or a TFT off of them as well! Will let you know how his solution works out.

I use an NRG belt and recommend them (and I have put mine through hell). The belt I use has a set-up where the battery itself actually velcro's to the belt and then XLR's into a connector box. That way you can swap batteries off and on the belt so you don't have to deal with disconnecting the belt from accessories and the camera. I dunno if other manufacturers' belts offer this but it is a nice feature that comes in handy all the time. they also have a "fuel gauge" so you have some idea of where you stand battery-life wise.

I purchased XL1s PAL through ZGC in February, 2002.
A tiny little backup battery was burned out within a week.
I'd replaced them 3 times already.
When I don't use the cam, I turned it off and a fully charged BP-945 battery was in the cam.
Chris (ZGC) is looking for Cannon contact.
Has anyone have this experience?

I got a Cannon contact from Chris (ZGC).
I am sending my cam to Cannon Factory Service in NJ.
I hope they can fix it.

Sounds like a short somewhere. Keep us advised as to what happens with your camera.

Canon says don't leave a battery on the camera when your not using it. The battery will trickle discharge. If you try to open the tape transport, with the battery on the camera, with the camera in the "off" position, the door will open and the tape transport will come out. This tells or proves to you that the battery is always "on" and ready. Now take the battery off the camera and try the same thing. Result: the door opens but the tape transport will not pop out. If you leave the batt on the camera for a week, it's been "everyready" waiting for you to put in a tape and therefor has been discharging 24/7.

That's one possibility.....
The other possibility is you have an xl-1s with a problem.

Are you talking about the MAIN battery now or about the BACKUP
(the little on) battery? I'm assuming that since your tape door
opens when you leave your battery on the camera you are
talking about the MAIN battery? Steve, I think, was talking about
that little backup battery that makes sure your time and other
settings are remembered.

Saga contiunes...

XL1S repair in NJ received my XL1S PAL in Tuesday morning according to FedEx tracking. I have not received any response from them and called them today (Friday 6/28/02).
They said that according to their testing, there is no problem in the cam and they shipped it back to me. I was upset that they didn't even call me to explain how they tested and ask me more about the problem.

My problem (as you may already read about):
I bought my XL1S PAL from Canon UK through ZGC in February, 2002. The original battery burned out within a few days and I called ZGC. They cannot explain why it happened. And I thought I just had a bad battery from Canon and replaced it with the one by RadioShack and things worked fine for 2 months.

In May, 2002, I found the backup battery burned out again, put a new one and it was burned out 10 days later and I replace it again. Same thing happened a week later.

I sent the cam to Canon XL1 Repair, Jamesburg, NJ a week ago.
The Canon repairman was not able to find the problem and concluded there is not problem in my cam and returned it to me.

I should have asked them to keep the cam with a new backup battery at least 2 weeks to find how the backup battery is drained so quickly. Canon rep said they usually don't keep the cam for repair that long period time. According to my experience with the problem, they cannot regenerate the problem unless they keep it as least 2 weeks during the battery drain.

Canon rep. suggested me to return my cam to Canon Repair and let the head technician take care of this problem. I will do that.

I am not sure what to do if they cannot fix the problem again.
Any advice?

PS: I apprecite Chris at ZGC for the help.

Chris at ZGC is indeed awesome.

Was Canon Service in Irvine aware that this was a PAL unit? I think you should take them up on their offer to send it back in. The head tech is (I think) Jerry Sullivan. I'm not sure but I thought all PAL units go to the UK for service issues.

I'm willing to bet the problems lies in some form of incompatibility between the Panasonic CR2025 back-up battery and the PAL version of the XL1. It may require some other battery type? Send it back and make sure they know it's a PAL unit.

Don't give up on the Service facility just yet. Keep trying and good luck,