Anton Bauer ElipZ 10K batteries

[Martin Catt]

Just got through machining an adapter to let me fit Anton Bauer ElipZ 10K batteries to my shoulder mount for my Canon XF300 camcorder. Hard to imagine that an inch-and-a-quarter by two-inch chunk of quarter-inch aluminum would take two and a half hours to make, but that's what it clocked out. Four holes, three tapped, one untapped, plus two matching holes drilled in the shoulder mount. AB intends for the battery to be mounted below the camera using a bracket screwed into the tripod mount. I --might-- try that for tripod work, but for shoulder work I wanted a little more mass hanging off the back of the shoulder rig to counterbalance the decidedly nose-heavy XF300. It helps a little.

AB sells a complete kit for Canon cameras that use the BP-series batteries. I stumbled across it at B&H while trying to assemble a similar set of components, one at a time. The kit comes with one charger, one 10.5 AH battery, and the required cable adapter to fit the camcorder battery compartment. Buying the kit saved me roughly $100 USD over the individual total price, so I spent a little extra and got a second battery.

Got a little torqued when I discovered either the recess in the battery housing was a bit too deep, or the provided mounting bracket was a bit too short, and required a little shimming to get the proper clearance so the battery could slide on and off. Apparently, AB knows about the issue: why else would that little sheet of self-adhesive rubber strips be in the box?

Anyhow, long story short is now I've got enough battery capacity to shoot roughly fourteen hours straight on just the two AB batteries before switching back to the smaller Canon batteries. You can never have too much battery capacity.