Blackmagic Forum

This is just for the record. I've seen many posts questioning using NP vs V mount batteries. I only have a few different batteries so I can't comment on battery brand deviances.

Test:
1 hour run time with T5 SSD, Screen full brightness, Peaking 85%, No internal battery in camera.

Powerextra NP-F 980L, 74.37Wh. Used Tilta battery plate / (Booster). After test two of five bars left. I would trust this to run the camera for max 1.5 hours. A far cry from calculated battery life.

GVM 95Wh V-Mount. After test three of four lights left. I would trust this to run the camera for 3 hours max. Much closer to calculated battery life using 25W for camera and Wh + V * mah.

Don’t trust the indications on an NP F. As the capacity drops so does the output voltage. Under load the voltage drops further. When the output is sufficiently under volted the battery will shut down regardless of remaining capacity. Two bars could mean thirty minutes, could be five. Anton Bauer, and other, NP F970s would power my old camera monitor combo for 15 minutes then shut down with 75% left in the tank.

A lot of it comes down to input voltage. The newer Pocket cams have a wider input tolerance. The OG Pocket and micros for example would cut off at hard at 7V where the newer Pockets are stable down into 6V territory. Battery plates can exascerbate or mitigate the issue but it’s case by case. With the Micros folks were getting better results using 7.2V-12V plates because the plates were stable at lower voltage than the cams.

My new favs are the IDX iMicro98. They’re about 100g heavier than the Powerextra with 2-4x the capacity.

Good Luck

Howard Roll wrote:Don’t trust the indications on an NP F. As the capacity drops so does the output voltage. Under load the voltage drops further. When the output is sufficiently under volted the battery will shut down regardless of remaining capacity. Two bars could mean thirty minutes, could be five. Anton Bauer, and other, NP F970s would power my old camera monitor combo for 15 minutes then shut down with 75% left in the tank.

A lot of it comes down to input voltage. The newer Pocket cams have a wider input tolerance. The OG Pocket and micros for example would cut off at hard at 7V where the newer Pockets are stable down into 6V territory. Battery plates can exascerbate or mitigate the issue but it’s case by case. With the Micros folks were getting better results using 7.2V-12V plates because the plates were stable at lower voltage than the cams.

My new favs are the IDX iMicro98. They’re about 100g heavier than the Powerextra with 2-4x the capacity.

Good Luck

Thanks for chiming in. That was my suspicion. I’ve noted all the np 7.4V batteries showing 50% charge after the camera shuts down at the low voltage limit. I’m changing all my rigs to V-mount at this point. Np style batteries have 1/3 usable Wh ratings while V-mount are close to bang on.

If you use a dummy battery you’ll get way more out of the NPF. I easily get 3 hours with ssd. I also use voltage for battery read out and it’s super consistent.

I know people don’t like dummy batteries but have not had one problem…

Rrrbbb wrote:If you use a dummy battery you’ll get way more out of the NPF. I easily get 3 hours with ssd. I also use voltage for battery read out and it’s super consistent.

I know people don’t like dummy batteries but have not had one problem…

That's great input and good to know. Personally, I can't get around having to leave the battery door open or modifying it. Others may not find that problematic however and find using a dummy battery a great solution. Glad you posted this!

No modification required. The battery door is designed to be removed. There’s a small clip on it. I couldn’t handle the door open or modding either

Rrrbbb wrote:No modification required. The battery door is designed to be removed. There’s a small clip on it. I couldn’t handle the door open or modding either

Now your costing me money dude, lol. I'm going to give it a shot. A $20 dummy with cable is a lot less than a new V-mount plus plate and cord. I already have a Tilta NP style plate with a 7.4V output.

wemrick1 wrote:

Rrrbbb wrote:No modification required. The battery door is designed to be removed. There’s a small clip on it. I couldn’t handle the door open or modding either

Now your costing me money dude, lol. I'm going to give it a shot. A $20 dummy with cable is a lot less than a new V-mount plus plate and cord. I already have a Tilta NP style plate with a 7.4V output.

It's better if you don't use them. NP dummy setups cause too many problems.

ShaheedMalik wrote:

wemrick1 wrote:

Rrrbbb wrote:No modification required. The battery door is designed to be removed. There’s a small clip on it. I couldn’t handle the door open or modding either

Now your costing me money dude, lol. I'm going to give it a shot. A $20 dummy with cable is a lot less than a new V-mount plus plate and cord. I already have a Tilta NP style plate with a 7.4V output.

It's better if you don't use them. NP dummy setups cause too many problems.

What kind of problems have you had using them?

Rrrbbb wrote:No modification required. The battery door is designed to be removed. There’s a small clip on it. I couldn’t handle the door open or modding either

Don't know if you will ever see this but if you do I want to thank you again for the post. I got a dummy battery today and tested it with my 4K. My results were consistent with yours. This will give me plenty of battery for my next two gigs where the camera will be running for awhile. In the end you saved me a good amount of money as compared to buying V-mount batteries and plates. I'm getting approx. double the time as compared to boosting to 12V via the plate.

wemrick1 wrote:
Now your costing me money dude, lol. I'm going to give it a shot. A $20 dummy with cable is a lot less than a new V-mount plus plate and cord. I already have a Tilta NP style plate with a 7.4V output.

It's better if you don't use them. NP dummy setups cause too many problems.[/quote]

What kind of problems have you had using them?[/quote]

Many times people use NP adapters and end up underpowering their camera due to only providing 7.4 volts to the Wepiu adapter.

wemrick1 wrote:

Rrrbbb wrote:No modification required. The battery door is designed to be removed. There’s a small clip on it. I couldn’t handle the door open or modding either

Don't know if you will ever see this but if you do I want to thank you again for the post. I got a dummy battery today and tested it with my 4K. My results were consistent with yours. This will give me plenty of battery for my next two gigs where the camera will be running for awhile. In the end you saved me a good amount of money as compared to buying V-mount batteries and plates. I'm getting approx. double the time as compared to boosting to 12V via the plate.

Great! Thanks for update.

Every time anyone mentions dummy batteries people say not to use them due to problems. I’ve been doing it since camera first came out and we have 4 using them in our university and there has not been one problem during actual use.

Rrrbbb wrote:

wemrick1 wrote:

Rrrbbb wrote:No modification required. The battery door is designed to be removed. There’s a small clip on it. I couldn’t handle the door open or modding either

Don't know if you will ever see this but if you do I want to thank you again for the post. I got a dummy battery today and tested it with my 4K. My results were consistent with yours. This will give me plenty of battery for my next two gigs where the camera will be running for awhile. In the end you saved me a good amount of money as compared to buying V-mount batteries and plates. I'm getting approx. double the time as compared to boosting to 12V via the plate.

Great! Thanks for update.

Every time anyone mentions dummy batteries people say not to use them due to problems. I’ve been doing it since camera first came out and we have 4 using them in our university and there has not been one problem during actual use.

The more I think it through the better I like it. Electrically, it's no different than having a battery in place. It's the proper voltage delivered to the proper contacts. No dc to ac to dc boosting conversion.
Now that I know how the door comes off, that's not a problem either. No different than changing any other rigging. I've seen blurbs here and there that are negitive regarding the dummy battery but non of them have been qualified. I'm buying another one shortly for my second 4k. I'm a happy camper at this point.