BMPCC 4K Tilta Cage and F970 Battery Baseplate

When I was looking at the Tilta Cage and Battery Baseplate I couldn't find any images of the 2 together so thought it would be useful for people to see both.

The battery baseplate outputs both 12v and 7.4v I am using the 7.4v option with a dummy battery to get the on screen battery information. If you use the 12v option the screen just says AC. With a full charged non genuine NPF 970 7800mAh I am getting 1Hr 35mins of continuous 4k ProRes recording before the battery level gets to 25% and recording stops.

If this configuration the set up weighs 2.4kg

All the metal work and cables are Tilta with the exception of the top handle which is smallrig, for some reason the Tilta top handle is nearly the same price as the whole cage.

I really like that 970 battery holder and the angled cable adapters. Makes things easier. I need to see if they will fit my SmallRig cage.

I have one of those Tilta grips with sony battery holder on back-order. But since my cage arrived about 3,5 months late, I don't think I'll be seeing that grip very soon.


Cool to know it has about 90 mins. of extra power. I'll be using it as AC (if possible), so I can have a backup battery in the camera.


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Thanks for the pictures!

It looks good but I get 3h05mins to sd and around 2h30 to ssd with basic f970 going into dummy battery. 1h35 seems really poor.

With as much bulk as that adds, it seems better to just step-up to v-lock and get far greater run times as well as the ability to power other accessories.

I'd rather put some rods and put the baseplate or vlock on them. To better distribute the weight. Though the side handle battery mount looks good and impressive especially with the future nano focus I think I would need to work out and develop stronger biceps.


Ricardo Marty

It looks good but I get 3h05mins to sd and around 2h30 to ssd with basic f970 going into dummy battery. 1h35 seems really poor.

With everything set the same I get 37mins of recording from an LP LP-E6 so I am happy 1Hr 35mins and I already have loads of NPF batteries.

This is about the fourth iteration of my P4K rig. It might appear beastly, but it's actually quite compact, and nearly perfectly balanced.

By using short extension cables for all of the connections (power, USB, HDMI) and an arca-swiss adapter, I can detach the camera and go handheld in about 5 seconds. In combination with VCT-14 for the shoulder rig, I can go from handheld to shoulder to tripod to gimbal to jib to slider to whatever with minimal fuss.

When handheld, the internal LP-E6 powers the camera. (Notice how nothing but the SSD is mounted to the camera itself.) I almost never shoot handheld, but if I do, I want it as absolutely compact/light as possible.

9 times out of 10 when i want a "handheld" look, I'm going to go shoulder mount. It looks better and I can operate the camera forever in that position.

That cheap v-lock battery powers EVERYTHING for an entire day.

Hi all, a future bmpcc4k user here, order placed but delivery pending until the end of days

Andrew, I'd be interested to know if you can use the battery baseplate with a (smaller) gimbal like Ronin S. It seems to me that configuration raises the center of gravity too much for balancing the gimbal. The same goes with the v-mount baseplate as well which I'd rather get but it just might be overkill for Ronin S.

When I was looking at the Tilta Cage and Battery Baseplate I couldn't find any images of the 2 together so thought it would be useful for people to see both.

The battery baseplate outputs both 12v and 7.4v I am using the 7.4v option with a dummy battery to get the on screen battery information. If you use the 12v option the screen just says AC. With a full charged non genuine NPF 970 7800mAh I am getting 1Hr 35mins of continuous 4k ProRes recording before the battery level gets to 25% and recording stops.

If this configuration the set up weighs 2.4kg

All the metal work and cables are Tilta with the exception of the top handle which is smallrig, for some reason the Tilta top handle is nearly the same price as the whole cage.

Hi Andrew! Have you had any luck trying this on a gimbal? I'd love to have this or the v-lock one but still be able to use a gimbal quickly if needed

Just in case anybody was wondering how the new NPF+T5ssd side handle by Tilta looks like instead, here it is.
(I'm still waiting for the micro 12v power cable from tilta and the shorter USBC cable...)

Camera gets quite wide but it solves all the battery and storage issue with one useful side handle and without cables running around the whole camera.. (I get 2/2.5hr out of those cheap 25$ NPFs).

It's literally the opposite approach of the battery baseplate but I guess there are people who prefers vertical and those who prefer horizontal and it's nice that Tilta offers a solution for both.

That cheap v-lock battery powers EVERYTHING for an entire day.

What do you consider "cheap" for a V-lock battery?

Got my NP-Handle last week and was already able to test it on a festival. With a LP-6 in the camera and a 6600mAh Pantona NP in the handle I got around 3-4 hours recording/stand-by mix without turning the camera off, except maybe once for a few minutes. Used a SD-Card (1080 50p, ProRES LT), two mics (3,5 & XLR without +48V), headphones and the Lumix 12-35 f2.8 with stabilizer.

Got my NP-Handle last week and was already able to test it on a festival. With a LP-6 in the camera and a 6600mAh Pantona NP in the handle I got around 3-4 hours recording/stand-by mix without turning the camera off, except maybe once for a few minutes. Used a SD-Card (1080 50p, ProRES LT), two mics (3,5 & XLR without +48V), headphones and the Lumix 12-35 f2.8 with stabilizer.

Nearly 3 hours continuous recording, no LP-6. NP-F 970 batteries are rated for a variety of Whs. This battery was 64Wh. The camera uses about 22Wh with SSD (using Samsung T5 in my case) and Lumix 12-25 with stabilization. I've seen 990 rated to just over 80Wh so I may buy and try. 3-4hrs is plenty for batteries in the $25-$35 range. No V-Locks I know of at that price.

Just in case anybody was wondering how the new NPF+T5ssd side handle by Tilta looks like instead, here it is.
(I'm still waiting for the micro 12v power cable from tilta and the shorter USBC cable...)

Camera gets quite wide but it solves all the battery and storage issue with one useful side handle and without cables running around the whole camera.. (I get 2/2.5hr out of those cheap 25$ NPFs).

It's literally the opposite approach of the battery baseplate but I guess there are people who prefers vertical and those who prefer horizontal and it's nice that Tilta offers a solution for both.

Thanks for sharing! I'm guessing this wouldn't work with a gimbal like the Moza Air 2?

Thanks for sharing! I'm guessing this wouldn't work with a gimbal like the Moza Air 2?

Too wide (and probably too heavy), I usually just take the side handle out to put it on the gimbal and if I need it for more than 45minutes I'll connect the camera to the gimbal for power..

Thanks Alessandro. I am now really glad I did not order that handle. I was tempted because of the placement of the T5, but I know I will have my BMPCC4k on the Moza Air 2 too often to make use of a handle.

How hard is it to remove the handle to mount the cage on a gimbal?

Hi Andrew! Have you had any luck trying this on a gimbal? I'd love to have this or the v-lock one but still be able to use a gimbal quickly if needed

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I have the Crane V2 and the Tilta cage and NPF 970 Battery plate won't balance on this gimbal, or give the full range of movement. I have now swapped to using the Tilta cage and NPF 970 Battery Plate and then another battery plated mounted on the gimbal handle. Suspended on the gimbal head I use the BMPCC4K plus,
Olympus 12-40 f/2.8
full Tilta cage
Samsung T5
Tilta T5 bracket
Tilta USBC cable

Using the standard Crane/Manfrotto plate it just balances with the above kit. I started out using the standard internal battery but found that I couldn't get the battery out without moving the camera and then having to re-balance. I think the battery plate on the gimbal handle seems a better solution.

Thanks Alessandro. I am now really glad I did not order that handle. I was tempted because of the placement of the T5, but I know I will have my BMPCC4k on the Moza Air 2 too often to make use of a handle.

How hard is it to remove the handle to mount the cage on a gimbal?

That's the great thing about it, it takes a second, it has a proprietary quick release system so you just need to press a little button and slide it out...

Hi Andrew,

Do you still use the battery baseplate?

I’ve just gotten the V-Lock version. I REALLY wish they used that sliding lock mechanism thing on the bottom instead of having to screw it on. Because of this i’d Have to unscrew it if I want to not use the battery baseplate

When I was looking at the Tilta Cage and Battery Baseplate I couldn't find any images of the 2 together so thought it would be useful for people to see both.

The battery baseplate outputs both 12v and 7.4v I am using the 7.4v option with a dummy battery to get the on screen battery information. If you use the 12v option the screen just says AC. With a full charged non genuine NPF 970 7800mAh I am getting 1Hr 35mins of continuous 4k ProRes recording before the battery level gets to 25% and recording stops.

If this configuration the set up weighs 2.4kg

All the metal work and cables are Tilta with the exception of the top handle which is smallrig, for some reason the Tilta top handle is nearly the same price as the whole cage.

They have released other battery mounts

https://tilta.com/product-category/tiltaing/components/

Ricardo Marty

Is the cable on the pictures the 20cm or 30cm one?

This vlock battery has various mounting options, not just to a plate.

Ricardo Marty

This is about the fourth iteration of my P4K rig. It might appear beastly, but it's actually quite compact, and nearly perfectly balanced.

By using short extension cables for all of the connections (power, USB, HDMI) and an arca-swiss adapter, I can detach the camera and go handheld in about 5 seconds. In combination with VCT-14 for the shoulder rig, I can go from handheld to shoulder to tripod to gimbal to jib to slider to whatever with minimal fuss.

When handheld, the internal LP-E6 powers the camera. (Notice how nothing but the SSD is mounted to the camera itself.) I almost never shoot handheld, but if I do, I want it as absolutely compact/light as possible.

9 times out of 10 when i want a "handheld" look, I'm going to go shoulder mount. It looks better and I can operate the camera forever in that position.

That cheap v-lock battery powers EVERYTHING for an entire day.

Smart set up. Looks quite good. Can you name the parts if possible? I'm trying to get together something like that too.

Just in case anybody was wondering how the new NPF+T5ssd side handle by Tilta looks like instead, here it is.
(I'm still waiting for the micro 12v power cable from tilta and the shorter USBC cable...)

Camera gets quite wide but it solves all the battery and storage issue with one useful side handle and without cables running around the whole camera.. (I get 2/2.5hr out of those cheap 25$ NPFs).

It's literally the opposite approach of the battery baseplate but I guess there are people who prefers vertical and those who prefer horizontal and it's nice that Tilta offers a solution for both.

What do you think of the handle ? I read that there's no locking system, and sometimes the battery drops by itself ? I'm still looking for a good power solution for travelling and this handle seems to be the best option.

heres the way I attach the F970 plate. I have a hybrid rig combining tilta tactical cage and LanPorte matte box and shoulder rig. I can attach two batteries to mount points on the shoulder pad - (if I'm using the video assist I have a smaller mount that will power that separately from the camera) and these help to counterbalance the very forward loaded weighting of camera/lens/mattebox.

I hate the stacking method of fixing the tilta battery plate - especially as it makes the whole rig very unbalanced.

Just in case anybody was wondering how the new NPF+T5ssd side handle by Tilta looks like instead, here it is.
(I'm still waiting for the micro 12v power cable from tilta and the shorter USBC cable...)

Camera gets quite wide but it solves all the battery and storage issue with one useful side handle and without cables running around the whole camera.. (I get 2/2.5hr out of those cheap 25$ NPFs).

It's literally the opposite approach of the battery baseplate but I guess there are people who prefers vertical and those who prefer horizontal and it's nice that Tilta offers a solution for both.

What do you think of the handle ? I read that there's no locking system, and sometimes the battery drops by itself ? I'm still looking for a good power solution for travelling and this handle seems to be the best option.

I can assure there is a locking system and there is no chance that the battery can drop by itself.

Just in case anybody was wondering how the new NPF+T5ssd side handle by Tilta looks like instead, here it is.
(I'm still waiting for the micro 12v power cable from tilta and the shorter USBC cable...)

Camera gets quite wide but it solves all the battery and storage issue with one useful side handle and without cables running around the whole camera.. (I get 2/2.5hr out of those cheap 25$ NPFs).

It's literally the opposite approach of the battery baseplate but I guess there are people who prefers vertical and those who prefer horizontal and it's nice that Tilta offers a solution for both.

What do you think of the handle ? I read that there's no locking system, and sometimes the battery drops by itself ? I'm still looking for a good power solution for travelling and this handle seems to be the best option.

I can assure there is a locking system and there is no chance that the battery can drop by itself.

The locking system is by turning the screw until it presses against the sides. Yes, the battery can fall off very easily if you are not gripping it with your hands. plus you need to buy the power cable.

Ricardo Marty

The locking system is by turning the screw until it presses against the sides. Yes, the battery can fall off very easily if you are not gripping it with your hands. plus you need to buy the power cable.

Ricardo Marty

The locking system has two parts, the screw and a physical lock that only opens when you press a button.
How can the battery fall off? It’s locked in by a pin that you need to push in order to unlock it... you can hold the camera with a top handle and nothing will fall off, even if you don’t tighten the handle screw...

I actually have problems getting the battery out, once it's locked..
Everything locks very tight over here and is working great. Maybe you should return your handle?