Q regarding NP-F570 batteries for 6K Pro

So I bought my first Blackmagic camera, a 6K Pro. I'm still waiting on two Samsung T5 SSDs and a Wise CFAST card which should arrive tomorrow, so I haven't been able to try it out yet, but I am rather stumped when it comes to batteries.

I get that there's one battery in the box, but no shop here in Austria actually has the Blackmagic branded batteries yet, so I tried to find some other NP-F570s, but that's not as easy as it sounds. No one is selling original Sony-branded batteries, and any third party batteries vary widely in their capacity.

I suspect that they might be compatible when mounted to the back of a device, but their size might not fit inside the BMPCC 6K Pro. There's this, for instance:

on Amazon.de Product ID B07VPMN3FV (I'm not allowed to post URLs)

which would be wonderful at 5600 mAh, but that extra capacity has to be stored somewhere, right? So where am I supposed to find suitable extra batteries and what am I even supposed to be looking for? It's not really a question of finding a cheap replacement battery, I can't find anyone who's selling any at all. Is anyone else having this problem? Any ideas where to order one in Austria or Germany?

Thank you,
Matthias

Hi Matthias,

I researched batteries quite in detail for the 6K Pro - you can find it over in the 6K Pro thread, but I will break it down for you here. I'm located in Germany as well so hopefully it's helpful for you.

The NP-F550 and F570 have the same form factor. Most aftermarket batteries are thus named NP-F550, the earlier and much more common version of this battery. They will both fit in your camera. So try searching for that.

In terms of batteries, I personally found the Patona Protect series, rated at 3500 mAh, the best bang for buck. I picked up 8 of them on Ebay for about 15 Euros a piece, although that deal might be gone now. They held up of 65 minutes, while the BMD branded one held up for 70. At 40 Euros price difference those 5 minutes less runtime were ok to me. Hawk and Kinfinity also sell 3500 mAh batteries, those seem to be the highest capacity at that form factor, but they come in at a similar pricepoint as the BMD ones. Then there is a bunch of 3000 and 3200 mAh batteries available, all for similar prices to the Patona, but I don't have any personal experience with those.

The battery you found probably has a different form factor - there is a whole range of different L-Series batteries - they all start with NP-F but they will not fit your battery. The rating you listed seems to high for 550/570 series.

Also be prepared that you will be getting less runtime with the SSD than when you're recording to CFast.

Matthias, try to call Pro-Media:
https://www.pro-media.at/akku-typ-np-f5 ... b-product2

I don't know if they have them in stock, but its worth a try.

Some batteries may have higher capacity than others but these are claimed. Also some may be great at first but after a number of recharges falls off quicker than others in holding a charge. If something is going for cheap its usually for a reason.

Matthias, try to call Pro-Media:
[URL deleted]

I don't know if they have them in stock, but its worth a try.

Thank you. I did, and they haven't. They said that there is currently no "in stock" estimate either (the guy blamed the pandemic), so I moved on.

Matthias

Yeah, incidentally I got a call from them today morning because I was waiting for some Aputure stuff I had ordered 6 weeks ago. It's the same - they get no estimation from the manufacturers and it seems most camera manufacturers do not have stuff in stock too. Pandemic seems to have created a shortage on some special electronic parts and so they can't ramp up productions.

You cant find any Patona Protect NP-F550 anywhere now at least not cheap. Even the Baxxtar ones are sold out or marked up in price. I bought a couple of Baaxtar in a discount deal yesterday after weeks of being out of stock and they are out of stock again.