PYXIS BPU vs V-Lock battery duration

Hi everyone!
I would like to know: are there any differences in battery life between the V-Lock and a BPu battery with the same Wh?
One of the latest updates promises a longer battery life for the BPU, is this also true for external batteries?
Do I have to use an adapter to connect the V-Mount to the BPU input or is it also fine to do what I'm doing directly with the power input cable?

I'm not sure of that claim. I would say that the measurement on the Pyxis monitor doesn't feel accurate with percentage. I have both V Mount and BP-U's that have a power level button to check or a percentage readout. I'll consult that before.

I'm not sure of that claim. I would say that the measurement on the Pyxis monitor doesn't feel accurate with percentage. I have both V Mount and BP-U's that have a power level button to check or a percentage readout. I'll consult that before.

great! and can you tell me if with the same Wh the V-Locks last longer or shorter than the BPUs?

In my testing:
Core BPU 98x - 2 hrs 25 min

Andycine 95w VMount - 2 hrs 5 min

This was without the Pyxis monitor btw

In my testing:
Core BPU 98x - 2 hrs 25 min

Andycine 95w VMount - 2 hrs 5 min

This was without the Pyxis monitor btw

Have you tested the V-Lock by attaching it to the Lemo pin or with an adapter directly to the BPU input?

No i was using a Tilta adapter. BPU to V Mount.

I haven’t tried connecting a v Mount directly via lemo on the Pyxis. Only only the BMCC 6k.

Hi all,

have investigated on the V-Mount usage with the Tilta adapter to the BP-U port. Camera shuts down if voltage touches 12.7 V which is about 15% left.

Using Anton Bauer Titon Micros 150 Wh, if accessories are still on there is no change. Camera shuts down, everything else stays on. But even if shutting down anything else before this still occurs.

Runnin latest 9.2.1 update. Which did improve this situation, but not necessarily to where it should be. In my opinion camera should start warning when reaching around 20%, which it does, but continue to run until battery is depleted.

Rarely empty the battery completely anyway, but looking at the right time on screen to verify the voltage status with it shutting down that quickly is not ideal.

To add on below from yesterday.

Continued to test the same battery, but connected via Dtap-Lemo to the camera. It picked up with 12.5V and continued to run until voltage reached 9.8V. At that time battery was flashing red signaling it is depleted and camera shut down.

I think that BP-U and V-Mount have a different voltage span, with a BP-U actually being empty around 12.5V and the V-Mounts are not. But handled by the same port and via adapter, the camera always thinks it is a BP-U.

From my perspective this would mean a firmware update is necessary which allows the user to select which type of battery he is using, which then changes the voltage handling in camera for the warning and ultimately shutdown procedure. @blackmagic to confirm or follow this

To add on below from yesterday.

Continued to test the same battery, but connected via Dtap-Lemo to the camera. It picked up with 12.5V and continued to run until voltage reached 9.8V. At that time battery was flashing red signaling it is depleted and camera shut down.

I think that BP-U and V-Mount have a different voltage span, with a BP-U actually being empty around 12.5V and the V-Mounts are not. But handled by the same port and via adapter, the camera always thinks it is a BP-U.

From my perspective this would mean a firmware update is necessary which allows the user to select which type of battery he is using, which then changes the voltage handling in camera for the warning and ultimately shutdown procedure. @blackmagic to confirm or follow this

thanks for your tests. I'm interested too. in the meantime, have you managed to figure out if the V-Lock via BPU adapter lasts longer? even if it lasts longer but the camera turns off sooner, it doesn't make sense in fact. So it's better to keep the V-Lock with the Lemo.

Unfortunately, I do not have a comparable BP-U capacity available to my V-Mounts. So I cannot really tell the something about a potential runtime difference.

The V-Mount adapter and battery is powering the whole rig though, monitor, camera, motors and wireless transmitter. That alone is one advantage for me right now. Technically, I could have made it work with a battery plate as well though, but that would mean I would always need rods, which I can leave out if I wanted to right now.

Have opened a service ticket with BMD. I think that this can be solved easily by firmware update giving the operator the choice about the battery typed actually used with the BP-U slot.

Hi,

I use the SWIT OMNI-992 with a Lemo pin cable. I get around 2hrs 40 mins, with the EVF. I have not tested with the monitor as yet.

Using the Lemo cable method, if I have a Sony battery on the camera too, it lets my hot swap the V-mount battery. Very handy.

I hope that helps,
Shaun