XDCam Batteries

[Brian Ladue]

Any Advice on which battery system would be the best with the XDCam HD Cams? Longest runtime? charge time? cost? weight?

thanks

[Nate Weaver]

Runtimes are generally a product of the watt/hour rating of the battery, not the brand or the mounting method (Anton Bauer or v-mount).

I have 90wh lithium batteries, it seems to last about 3-4 hours on the camera.

There's a hierarchy in efficiency/weight based upon the cell technology. It goes:

NiCD (Nickel Cadmium, old school)
NMIH (Nickel Metal Hydride, newer school)
Lion (Lithium Ion, best efficiency per weight)

Each tech has a different product name with the Anton Bauer folks. Dionics are the newest Lion batteries...about $450 for a 90wh Dionic. A 90wh litthium ion for example, is a pretty lightweight battery. A NIMH battery of the same weight and size would probably be only 45-50wh (and run an XDCAM for only about 1-2 hours).

There is a new stream of batteries coming from China these days, being sold under a vast number of names. I own some resold by batteries4broadcast.com, and so far after 10 months mine are working fine. The chinese comapny making them is called Beillen.

[Brian Ladue]

Thanks Nate, will the IDX Endura E-10 98whr Vmount batteries work on this Camera (350)? I am pricing out equipment for the complete XDCAM HD 350 setup (Cam,lenses,Batteries,case, etc..) i am soon to make the purchase... so i want to do some research and get the right accessories. You guys are a great help....thanks a million.

Brian.

[Morton Molyneux]

I'm using the IDX Endura 10S and 7S batteries on my F350 with no problems.

cheersd

Morton

[Nate Weaver]

To confirm what Morton said, but put another way:

V-mounts are v-mounts, and 98wh is a good capacity for the camera. I personally wouldn't go below 90, but you certainly could.

[Matthew Ernest Adams]

Joe Teodosio from Anton Bauer said he wouldn't recommend the Dionic 90 for the 350 (not that it wouldn't work fine, just not the best for this particular camera).

We had Hytron 140's from our previous cameras and he recommended we stick with those. He said the Dionic 160's would be fine, but the expense doesn't add up for us and the improvement from the 140's wouldn't be very significant.

I was surprised because we entered the conversation with me saying I was looking for some new lithiums to save weight and he lost a sale by telling me that we had was the best setup ... probably gained many more sales from us by being honest about his products.

[Simon Wyndham]

AB told me the same thing. They highly recommended the Hytrons with the XDCAM because of the power spike when the recording system starts up. Among other things.

Actually their specific advice was to have a mixture of batteries. The Li-ions have a limited lifespan whether they are used or not. So they recommended to me that I perhaps have 2 Dionics and 2 Hytrons.

My Dionic 90's have served me well, although I do get fed up with the constant changes often needed on longer shoots.

[Greg Boston]

Originally Posted by Simon Wyndham

AB told me the same thing. They highly recommended the Hytrons with the XDCAM because of the power spike when the recording system starts up. Among other things.

Actually their specific advice was to have a mixture of batteries. The Li-ions have a limited lifespan whether they are used or not. So they recommended to me that I perhaps have 2 Dionics and 2 Hytrons.

My Dionic 90's have served me well, although I do get fed up with the constant changes often needed on longer shoots.

The Hytrons are better battery chemistry for handling the larger power drain with a 50 watt camera light in operation.

That said, I too am using a Dionic 90 as my main battery and I don't put the VDR in SAVE mode which eliminates a lot of those spikes, and keeps the camera ready for action. The last one is now moot since the cache record function has been implemented.

-gb-

[Matthew Ernest Adams]

Originally Posted by Greg Boston

I don't put the VDR in SAVE mode which eliminates a lot of those spikes, and keeps the camera ready for action.

-gb-

Val from Sony mentioned that it's almost pointless to use the save function unless you are only using the camera as a live head.

[Greg Boston]

Originally Posted by Matthew Ernest Adams

Val from Sony mentioned that it's almost pointless to use the save function unless you are only using the camera as a live head.

I'd have to agree. But if I was using it as a live head only, I wouldn't have a disc in the camera anyway so I'd be unlikely to gain much by using the SAVE function in that scenario either.

-gb-

[Michael Knight]

Originally Posted by Brian Ladue

Thanks Nate, will the IDX Endura E-10 98whr Vmount batteries work on this Camera (350)? I am pricing out equipment for the complete XDCAM HD 350 setup (Cam,lenses,Batteries,case, etc..) i am soon to make the purchase... so i want to do some research and get the right accessories. You guys are a great help....thanks a million.

Brian.

Brian - having just been through that process, here's a suggestion I got re batteries from Greg Penniket, a friend/colleague cameraman in New Zealand who was among the first to go the XDCAM route (SD)...

He emailed and said: "My batteries are the largest I could find and are:
Globalmediapro Li 90s Stats- 13.2Ah 14.8v 190Wh the 190 meaning it goes
for many hours!"

FYI - the 120-volt mains power V-mount unit for the XDCAM HD can charge a battery while running the camera, so if you do not anticipate any extended run time with batteries alone you could conceivably save a bit by not buying the double charger. (You can actually keep your batteries up to snuff while running the camera to download to your NLE).

Also - although we haven't yet bought the Globalmediapro battery, it's definitely on the future shopping list because the two batteries we got from Sony don't last very long - especially if doing time-lapse shots.

Globalmediapro sells/ships out of the UK.

Michael Knight.

[Nate Weaver]

The Globalmediapro batteries are the Beillen units I mention above...same as my Batteries4broadcast.

[Bob Armstrong]

Something to keep in mind with the Dionic 160. You have to declaire it as "dangerous goods" to take it on a plane and are limited to 2 bricks. If you travel a lot, save the hassle and go with something a bit smaller or non-lithium. I went with the Hytron 140 and it's great.

[Alister Chapman]

I'm using Swit S5115S 115W/h NiMh V-lock batteries. These were pretty cheap, yet I am delighted with them. I get about 3 to 4 hours of typical use from one brick. Being NiMh they are heavier than the Li-ion equivalent, but the extra weight on the back of what is a pretty short camera really helps balance it up well, esp with a larger or heavier lens. When I used the camera with some IDX Li-ions, I found I got arm ache when handheld a the camera was too front heavy.

[Greg Boston]

Originally Posted by Bob Armstrong

Something to keep in mind with the Dionic 160. You have to declaire it as "dangerous goods" to take it on a plane and are limited to 2 bricks. If you travel a lot, save the hassle and go with something a bit smaller or non-lithium. I went with the Hytron 140 and it's great.

That's true, Bob. I recently saw a web site selling high capacity LIon batteries in v-lock and a/b that separate into two halves, thus rendering the battery safe for airline travel (they were labled as airplane safe) cause the positive and negative material are apart which would prevent the internal shorting that has caused all the fires with these things.

-gb-