Sat Sep 28, 2019 8:06 pm
All,
So like Rick I was hoping this would be specifically available for the BMPCC4K. I also wanted to see a hot swap option for the batteries.
Like some others on here, I decided to build a simple DIY 4x18650 pack. It is crude, and I still havent done anything like velcro, etc to make it easy to mount. I have a long barrel connector to the DC input on the BMPCC4K. That is plugged in to the battery pack that has a female barrel connector.. and in turn the pack is wired in series. In total, $30 including 4 NCR/Panny 18650 protected cells. I used some electrical tape to tape up the soldered ends and thin wire leads between each cell. Again, not pretty but it does work.
With this I get a bit over 3 hours of recording 4K to the T5 SSD and the screen on. Mind you, this includes the 30 or so minutes the internal battery uses.
My point in this post so many months later is to first indicate that I could build a 2nd, 3rd and more of these super simple/cheap series wired 4x battery holders with barrel connector, and have them with me. When plugged in, it charges the battery in the camera. What is great is, I can hot swap these all day because when you unplug one, the battery in the camera takes over with no interruptions. It only takes a minute or two to grab a 2nd pack, plug it in and go.
Dmitry's offering is great.. though for the price and not being ready to go out of the box for the BMPCC4K/6K to me is not the way I would go at this time, especially when it is so cheap to build a simple holder + series wired setup. It isnt as professional, but you can for sure make it work.
Another member here talked about buying the bike lights.. they are about $20, they hold 4 18650 batteries, with a water tight screw lock that is easy to open and swap batteries. Only down side is they are in a 2x2 config, so it isnt enough power to power the camera. One of these days I am going to try to rewire it to be in series, but that is an ideal setup. Having a 2x2 "cartridge" similar to the cheap ones you buy to put 3 or 4 AA or AAA in to a C or D slot/conversion.. would be perfect with a cartridge receiver that has a couple power output options. It is a shame nobody has created one yet. I would think being able to quickly hot swap smaller and might lighter sets of batteries would be a lot more desirable than carrying around larger VMount batteries for most BMPCC4K/6K users. I can see on larger camera setups with tripods, dollies, etc where weight is handled for you, that the larger batteries make sense. But for gimbal users and those just rigging up a BMPCC4K/6K, a small 2x2 or 4x1 hot swap battery pack just seems to make a lot more sense. It gives 2 to 3 hours of record time, so it is not like you are swapping it out every 30 minutes and having to interrupt the recording.
Anyway.. if I had the 3D printer and the chops to make it work, I would consider doing what Dmitry has done but with a more hot swap capable option and in a 2x2 layout.
Custom DIY AMD1950x 16-core/32-thread, liquid cooled, 64GB 3600Mhz RAM, 950Pro-512GB NVMe os/apps, 2x500GB 850 Evo RAID 0 SATA3, Zotac 1070 8GB video, USB 3.1Gen2 RAID0 2x4TB, 2x2TB Crucial MX500 SSD SATA3.