Because of the inconvenience of powering down and swapping batteries every 45 minutes during a shoot, not to mention the extra weight moves the centre of gravity back to the shoulder - resulting in steadier hand-held shots.

So don't use 45 minute batteries. Use 3 & 4 hour batteries readily available for $15. Powering down is what we all have to do regardless of the battery type so I still don't see the main advantage. The only plus (if you call it that) is the weight distribution, but for $400-600 bucks, that's an awfully expensive paper weight.

- Shannon

Do you have a model number for these batteries? And have you actually used them on the camera for 3 hours?

I know of no JVC style batteries that would last 3 or 4 hours - let alone for $15.

The battery that ships with the JVC HD100 is a 2800mAh battery. The HD100 draws 17W.

So 2800mAh = 2.8Ah

Wh = Ah x Voltage, therefore the JVC BN-V428U is a 20.1Wh battery. (2.8Ah x 7.2v)

Divide 20.1Wh by 17W and the camera should run for 1.18 hours (just over an hour.) That is probably a fair estimate, but in reality the voltage drops below 7v after about 45 to 55 minutes.

In contrast, my 88Wh AB batteries will run for over 5 hours (88Wh divided by 17W)

If you could find a JVC style battery that lasted 3 hours on this camera, it would need to be 51Wh, or over 7000 mAh.

I believe that the BN-V428U is the largest battery JVC sells (2800mAh) and they sell it for $89.99.
http://www.jvcservice.com/store/Prod...?part=BN-V428U

Now you may be confused my marketing statements claiming 4 hours of operation time - but keep in mind they are given a best-case scenario using a little handycam. Just look at the fine print that says "Naturally, depending on your model, feature usage, etc will affect power consumption and battery life."
Maybe you could find OEM third party batteries that are larger, but you will need 7000+mAh battery 3 hours of run-time.

I absolutely do:
http://www.power101.com/item.htm?id=60010 BP-945 for the XL series. I have 4 of these for my XL1s, and just ordered 3 more for my XL-H1. On my XL1s they each last "AT LEAST" 3 hours of continuous operation.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NP-F960-F950-F93...QQcmdZViewItem for Sony. This is an ebay link, because power101 has sold out because they are cheaper (about $16 bucks each), but I have bought 4 of these from powere101 for my Z1U and they each last "AT LEAST" 3 hours as well. (more like 4-5 hours of normal use)

For JVC...I can't answer...because my DV500 uses an NP style battery. On the HD100 it's obviously different. If nobody makes a high MaH battery for the JVC, then I can understand you guys' frustration and see why you're forced to buy Anton Bauer stuff. For Sony & Canon (who both have AB adapters) it makes no sense to me.

- ShannonRawls.com