Thanks,
Yes, the spring has lost its spring. I guess after time we all seem to do that. I will try wedging something under it untill I get a pro battery. That is the next item on my list.
Thanks muchly

Small pieces of velcro can help too. You don't want to be dropping your battery as it can be severely damaged.

bp-945 is only 4500mAh by comparison and runs for how long? i dunno i haven't used it. i just recently got an XL1s and was duped (?) by salesguy to buy 2 battery packs. it was advertised as 8 hrs. will it really do that long during normal usage?

I doubt it'll do 8 hours, but anything over 2 hours is good---probably do 5.5 hours or so. For example, all my 2-hour batteries actually only do about 1.2 hours---with using the LCD, a tad less.

IMHO a battery that outlasts a tape is a great to have. Easy to change batter when tape is changed.

Battery runtime will depend on your shooting technique and modes, whether AF and OIS is on or off, how much zooming you do, etc. As a rough approximation I would say divide the MAH rating by 2000 for a reasonable safe guess of the reliable "camcorder on (in any mode) time" you can get from a battery, and you may get more from a fresh, young battery. And as batteries age, the on time figure drops.

I generally do about 4 hours of recording (not counting time for setup and framing, I should have said 4 tapes) with a 5500 mAh third party no-name battery with my XL1

as of now i have 5 sony 80min tapes, 2 maxell 60min, 2, 6k mAh battery packs and the standard one. hopefully that'll keep me company for a full day's shoot =D. if i become paranoid i can always get 2 more battery packs and let them charge while i'm shooting. i suppose i never really wanna be left w/o power! =D. am i really paranoid or is this normal for all you guys =D.

don i thought lithium ions were supposed to take care of battery 'memory' problems?

Anyone have experience with the Power-2000 BP-945 Lithium-Ion Battery Pack (7.2v, 6000mAh) - replacement for Canon BP-945 Camcorder Battery?

Has a good price...just wondering about reliability. I purchased a couple of other of these types of batteries, a generic brand offered at B&H about a year ago, and now one is dead and the other only holds about half its charge. I should've gone with a better brand, so I'm checking before I buy this time.
_

Well I've had mine for about 16 months and it's still going strong. Haven't noticed any premature expiration or anything.

Aaron

The Power 2000's are my main battery. I have about six of them, all going strong after 18-24 months. I highly recommend them.

Thanks, guys. I'll order a few then.

It is not an issue of the so called "memory effect" seen with NiCD and with NiMH to a somewhat lesser extent. It is just the battery gradually wearing out ver time after many charge/dischearge cycles.

i jjust got 2 of them. hopefully they'll still work in a few years =D

It also depends on what functions you are using on the camera.
Auto functions are power hungry. Especially the autofocus and
zooming with the servo's.

My limited experience has shown me that if you're going downhill with the wind at your back and the moons are all lined up just right, you get about half of what they profess you'll get : )
Randy

Anybody know if the dual battery adapter drains both batteries simultaneously? or sequentially?

Thanks

I believe I read in the manual (maybe the sheet that came with the CH910) that it draws from both batteries simultaneously. My experience using the adapter for many hours of recording would indicate that is the case.

When using the adapter to charge two batteries, they are charged sequentially.

Right, I knew they charged sequentially, but I wasn't sure about the discharge.

Thanks

I very new gig to Xl1s, planning to get best power solution for my Xl-1s ; Opinions and comment on this 2 packages;-

MA-200, Canon CH-910 with 2 x Bp945 batteries (est. 6 hours for 2 batts)
Anton Bauer, 2x ProFormer Batteries, Titan Twin Charger and QR-XL1C Gold-Mount
(est. 6 hours for 2 batts)


Any Suggestions? Which package more worth for long term investment?
How about battery run time?

Good luck getting anything like 6 hours out of 2 x 945's.
I have CH 910 & 2 x 945's & would be lucky to get even 3 hours from the 2 of them. Canon are a long way behind in battery technology. Friend has a PD100 & shoots literally for a day on one of his batteries. PC

is more than the cost on the two systems...the anton bauers are much more expensive. However the ab system will give better shoulder balance due to added weight and the ma-200 is a nice shoulder support. In addition you can mount the ab system on the ma base and use the pull out bars for a wireless and as we all know light is very important especially on these cams, the ab system plate has the powertap and you can mount real lighting options using onboard power (they will drain batterys real quick however) frezzi, ab ultralights....

the difference is one will give you more options but at a much bigger pricetag. I do love my ab system and use both at times you might conisder the plate and batteries from bh (check their used for even bigger batts the proformers are small) and get a charger off ebay.

M

My experience with Canon batteries has been much better than Pete's. I record auto races which requires a good deal of zooming in and out. Using the CH910 and two 945s, the camera is generally powered on for about four hours with a total recording time of about 3 hours. These same two batteries are then used to capture the entire 3 hours and normally they still have some, but not much, power left.

These batteries are over two years old and recently I'm noticing they can still record three hours, but usually can't do the full capture, but they have been recharged many, many times.

Considering I had terrible luck with battery life on a previous Canon camera, I was very pleased with the XL1S.

Having said that, and notwithstanding the cost, there are some real advantages to alternate power sources as mentioned above and in other posts on this board.

Anton Bauer.

We went with the Anton Bauer TrimPacs for a longer run time while being able to power an AB UltraLight 2 on the XL without having to use a separate battery.

Check out some pics at: http://home.mindspring.com/~ricks-pics/

The added weight on the back does help balance the camera a little better. As another SP kinda guy, it has taken quite a bit of getting use to when dealing with these cams.

__________________________________
Aproximate, continuous record time with the TrimPac and no light...4 hours.

With a 25watt bulb burning in the UL2...1 1/2 hours.

RB

Rick
Interesting photos, I have a question re the last shot of the XL1S in the EWA Marine protective housing. How waterproof is it? I would love to be able to go out amongst the surfers and film, but the cost of a hard marine case prevents me, is this waterproof housing just splash proof or is it more? Also where does one enquire as to purchasing said housing?

Regards

Jed

It is a good idea to have charger somewhere where you can stash your spent packs and recharge them. I have my assistant run the spent pack down to the car to recharge them. Canon also makes a dual-pack charger to.

If the shoot is really that important, purchasing another spare pack certainly seem in order. There are other battery options that can give you longer runtime too.

[No longer live in San Antonio, back @ home now]

Any comment on Canon CH910 dual charger coz i just got 1 from canon...personnally i dont like the plastic holder attach to MA-200..seen weak...

does anyone know how about how long a GL2 would operate on one of the Power-2000 6000 mah batteries using the LCD screen? The ebay stores selling a different brand of 6000mah battery claim about 8 hours. Is that about right?

No, 8 hrs. is far too optimistic. It really depends on how much you're playing with the zoom, how much time you're actually running the tape transport. In general, I'd say 3-4 hrs. is more realistic. The Power 2000 batteries are excellent BP-945 replacements, but they're not quite that inexhaustible.

Sorry it took so long to reply...been kind nuts here.

We really use the EWA for Haz-Mat work so the camera is protected and can be decontaminated easily.

The EWA bag is completely waterproof to 30 feet. It should do very well as a surf or splash housing.

It is pretty clumsy to use as an underwater housing. We use Gates Deepwater housings for our underwater work.

It is also rather expensive at about $800.00 US for one.

Go to http://www.ewa-marine.de/english/index.htm , for their website. They may have a dealer listing there.

RB

Hey guys I need to pick up a couple of batteries. I would normally order a couple of BP-945's off of BHphoto, but I need them this weekend.

Locally I found a store that has BP-422 which says it has 3.3 hours of capacity as opposed to the BP-945's 3.5 hours.

Is this a good buy? Or am I going to find out that it lasts for an hour?

The BP-422 is not compatible with the XL1. It's for an Elura.

Try either the Lenmar or Power 2000 BP-945-compatible batteries. Both pack more capacity than the Canon brand and are good, long-term values.

I can vouch for Lenmar. I have a 945 equivalent here and it has
been working great!

The scenario. Two brand new batteries, fully charged. One of them on the camera lasts for a long time. I go to my car to change it, and find the inside of the car has become an oven (even though it's only a comfortable mid-70s outside). The replacement battery, left in the car the whole time, shows up as being almost entirely depleted. Is this usual? If so, I'll have to make it a point not to let my batteries bake any more.

Heat and humidity are a batteries worst enemy. If the battery was fully charged, it's a little odd it drained so quickly. But these things happen, it's not unheard of. Camera and video equipment should be stored in the same conditions as people. If your uncomfortable, so is your equipment.

Robert

Any info on the brand of the battery? I've had similar results with generic batteries--without any heat.... new "5 hour" batteries that went from from fully charged to empty in minutes. I'm not discounting the heat theory, just trying to eliminate other options.

Barry

The mystery became less mysterious upon closer examination. The "fully charged" 2nd battery was actually a 3rd battery that had not been fully charged. It's so hard to tell these things apart--they're all black and the same size and shape! Sorry for the alarm, but my original post was bunk.

As I use numerous batteries during my wedding/reception shoots, I just stuff the charged battery in a sandwich bag to identify it as charged. May not seem like much, but in the typical rush that happens during these events, nice to know the battery you just grabbed is good....

Good tip; thanks Mark.

Many batteries have a little switch that when moved reveals a red dot. This dot is meant to indicate either charged or discharged.

Unfortunately the canon BP-style batteries don't have that feature....

Many third party batteries do. The Lenmar batteries I have for the XL1 do have this feature.

Another tip is to have a rubber band (a tough one, not those wimpy little ones) around charged batteries.

I see the rubber band and "upwrap" it as new when I'm rushing. If it doesn't have a rubber band...it's been used and abused!

Murph

Same experience here with Lenmar batts: they work great.

Hi, perhaps I should have post this in the support forum so feel free to move it.

I would really want to know where to find the "Canon Battery adapter" that Rick Bravo use to modify his GlideCam V-8 Sled.

Look to this adaptor on the two last pics of the Rick's Web site:

http://home.mindspring.com/~ricks-pics/revampedglidecamv8/

Please help me to find this thing!

It looks like a battery charger he has adapted for use on the Glidecam.

Yeah, you are probably right Jeff, thanks!

I could take an inexpensive third party charger and dismantle it to make my adapter.

Jean-Phillippe

Actually it looks like the monitor power adapter from nebtek...they offer a lcd monitor series that uses canon batteries. You can also buy the adapter separately here.

http://www.nebtek.com/poweropt.html


Barry

Thank you very much Barry!

That's exactly what I need!

Sorry I haven't been checking lately, I'm delivering my daughter to the Universtiy of Florida for her first session and just now got her computer up and running.

Barry is correct. The adapter is made by nebtek and it is made specifically to use a Canon battery on a variety of items. This one came attached to the monitor shown. I had it removed and place on the bottom of the GlideCam for better balance.

They also make one for SONY batteries.

Regards, RB

P.S.
Thanks for the heads-up, Hugh!

Has anyone used a third party battery charger for their canon batteries? Like the ones that are being sold on ebay and claim to charge in an hour.