other battery band than sony for EX1

[Brian Cassar]

Unfortunately I've only used the light for very limited short periods of time so really I cannot tell about running times. However theoretically

the battery is 56WHr

the camera (13watts without monitor) + Lamp (20 watt halogen) draw up 33WHr

Therefore the battery should give you a continous run time of 1 hours 40 minutes. This will be reduced if the monitor is used (which unfortunately I cannot find out how much wattage it uses up)

I must say something about the BEBOB Coco EX however. I do not want to give any bad publicity, in fact I really want to say that they have an excellent after sales service.

However what happened was this - when I bought the Coco ex and tried it out with the lamp (PAG 20 watt), the camera did not power up. When I removed the Coco ex and tried to switch the camera with the battery only, it did not power up also. At this point sweat started coming out!

However I soon realised that the Coco ex must have drawn too much power and the battery auto-shut off for safety. What I did was I put the battery back on the charger for a few seconds and everything came back to life (this is written in the instruction booklet of the battery).

To cut a long story short I contacted BEBOB, who were unaware of the situation. After conducting there own tests, they confirmed my theory and informed me that they will be updating the unit to include a soft start to avoid the sudden kick of power. They even offered me to send one of their LED lights as a temporary measure!

However I decided to fit my PAG light with a soft start and I'm working fine. Thus the new updated BEBOB coco ex should have a soft start circuitry in it.

[Sebastien Thomas]

FYI, I was shooting the whole weekend.
As I still haven't found a cheaper EX1 battery, I went to the parts store and bought a 12v acid-lead (7VA) battery.
It is bigger than the EX1 one, but is perfect when you are on a tripod. Just put it on the floor and voila !

For simplicity I opened the battery charger, removed the cable that goes to the camera and put XLR4 plugs on each side.
My new 12V battery also have a female XLR4.
I made a powercord with XLR4 and 12v car plug.

The EX1 battery lasts for almost 2 hours
The 12V battery lasts for almost half a day (I will buy a new one this afternoon... 27€)
The car plug can last for weeks if you have gaz :)

This setup may not be fine for guys alone, but is perfect when you shoot a "movie" with a team.

I'll add some pictures soon to show you.

[Piotr Wozniacki]

Brian,

I read you're using a PAG light - I also have one, but it has the PP90 type of the power base lead plug; what do I need to use it with the Bebob adapter? Can you tell me the PAG part number for the proper lead - is it the (9014) Snap-on Power Base, or the XLR-4 Power Base?

[Brian Cassar]

Originally Posted by Piotr Wozniacki

Brian,

I read you're using a PAG light - I also have one, but it has the PP90 type of the power base lead plug; what do I need to use it with the Bebob adapter? Can you tell me the PAG part number for the proper lead?

Piotr,

You need the Pag light power base Snap-on compatible (500mm) Model 9961 as can be seen here:

http://www.pagstore.com/store.pl (go under paglights and I believe it's on the 2nd or 3rd page)

The lenght of the wire is just right - I have tie backed it to the handle and you wouldn't notice that there is a wire. Even if you remove the Bebob, the wire will remain in place - if you need to remove alltogether the snap on base then it would be a problem. But most of the times (or rather 100% of the time) I'll leave the PAG base in place.

Now if only Sony had incorporated an output that triggers the light with the record button (like I had on my DSR-300) it would have been perfect!

[Piotr Wozniacki]

Thanks, Brian!

When you were saying about fitting your PAG light with a soft start - is it also a PAG option? If so, which is it?

Or - after the lesson you have given to Bebob - will their new adaptors take care of that?

[Brian Cassar]

Originally Posted by Piotr Wozniacki

Thanks, Brian!

When you were saying about fitting your PAG light with a soft start - is it also a PAG option? If so, which is it?

Or - after the lesson you have given to Bebob - will their new adaptors take care of that?

Yes Piotr, it is a Pag accessory model no 9938 and costs about €74. Bebob should be incorporating such a soft start (I was told).

[Piotr Wozniacki]

Thanks Brian for your detailed explanation, and I hope I'm not the only one to benefit :)

[Alex Dolgin]

Originally Posted by Brian Cassar

the battery is 56WHr

the camera (13watts without monitor) + Lamp (20 watt halogen) draw up 33WHr

Therefore the battery should give you a continous run time of 1 hours 40 minutes.
...However I soon realised that the Coco ex must have drawn too much power and the battery auto-shut off for safety.

Brian, you identified the problem correctly. Still, let me add a little more in depth explanation. What you experienced was more of a simptom than a problem (the battery internal circuit breaker tripped), and by putting a soft start circuit in the adapter they compensated for the simptom, which on the surface makes it appear like you are OK now, powering both your camera and the light. In reality, any batteries, and Li-Ion in particular do not want to be loaded more than so much relative to their averall capacity. In general, if a battery is 56WH like yours, loading it so that it only lasts 1.5 hours puts great stress on it, it gets warm, and it wears out sooner than otherwise. For a battery to be comfortable, it needs to run at least 3 hours for a given load. In other words, if a battery is 30wh, its load should be 10W or less. For your battery, do not load it more than 15W-18W, otherwise it will not last for too many cycles. I know, it is not what you want to hear, but unfortunately this is what it is.

[Lonnie Bell]

Sebastian - you are a mad-man and I love it.
I would love to see some pics of the overall configuration and some details of your cables and connectors you hand crafted. I love it!

And Alex - thanks for bringing in some reality to this. You are right - not what we want to hear but, but truth trumps wishful thinking!

Lonnie

[Brian Cassar]

Originally Posted by Alex Dolgin

Brian, you identified the problem correctly. Still, let me add a little more in depth explanation. What you experienced was more of a simptom than a problem (the battery internal circuit breaker tripped), and by putting a soft start circuit in the adapter they compensated for the simptom, which on the surface makes it appear like you are OK now, powering both your camera and the light. In reality, any batteries, and Li-Ion in particular do not want to be loaded more than so much relative to their averall capacity. In general, if a battery is 56WH like yours, loading it so that it only lasts 1.5 hours puts great stress on it, it gets warm, and it wears out sooner than otherwise. For a battery to be comfortable, it needs to run at least 3 hours for a given load. In other words, if a battery is 30wh, its load should be 10W or less. For your battery, do not load it more than 15W-18W, otherwise it will not last for too many cycles. I know, it is not what you want to hear, but unfortunately this is what it is.

Alex, thanks for your input. No it's not what I want to hear, but even so, the BP-U60 are relatively cheap. So if they give me a year and a half of life I think it will be good.

Having said that, I used to shoot with 105 WHr V-mount batteries and I used to drain 45WHr from them. They gave me 3 solid years of life - not bad.

So in view of this, is there a way your company provides us with a more powerful battery, say a 70WHr one?! And whilst at it, when will you provide us with a 4 simultaneously battery charger for these 12V batteries?

[Alex Dolgin]

It is not black and white, if you loaded them 45/105wh it is about .42, which is not bad. Loading the U60 33/56wh is .58 which is worse. You might get lucky and get away with it, but the general rule is still the same. Heavier work equals shorter life (like many things in life :-).
I do not think we will see too many 3d party U60 generic batteries, as whoever tries to make them, have to crack Sony' communication code, which is frustrating and time consuming. Without it done the camera will not turn on.
As far as 4x charger, we are looking to ship some time in May-June time frame.

[Sebastien Thomas]

Originally Posted by Lonnie Bell

Sebastian - you are a mad-man and I love it.
I would love to see some pics of the overall configuration and some details of your cables and connectors you hand crafted. I love it!
Lonnie

Lonnie, my work is pretty basic. I wish I could find cases for the batteries. For the moment the plug is juste gaffered around the battery.
Check it our on my blog : http://www.lecentre.net/blog

[Lonnie Bell]

In reference to cracking Sony's communication code,
did you try Sony's mother's maiden name... ;)

This one's on the house.

[Lonnie Bell]

I love it Sebastien - thanks for the pics!

[Alex Dolgin]

duh... did not think of it. as soon as it works, you will receive a case of the U600 batteries on the house.