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Powering GH2
  • 381 Replies sorted by
  • neveraholidayneveraholiday

    voltage was ok. But I think the Amperes where too low. I now installed a higher capacity 12v-limiter (from which I step down to 9.2v with .4v resistors). Now it works.

  • 5thwall5thwall

    @SisterCities I finally took the Jag Battery out on a shoot on Friday. It lasted the whole day without running out of power. So I was very happy. As I've said before, my only complaint about the unit is that I can't also power the Zoom H4n because of the ground loop issue. I need to contact the company about that and see if they are still trying to fix the issue. One of the nice things about the unit is that you can mount stuff on top of it because of the 1/4-20 screw holes.

  • TommyboyTommyboy

    @5thwall

    This great. Please let us know what you find out. I'm also interested in this solution to work with zoom H4n. I'd rather pay for something that works out of the box than doing DIY.

  • Alfi666Alfi666

    Attaching some pictures of GH2 running on Sony NP-F batteries... if anyone is curious.

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  • fehafeha

    @Alfi666

    This is great, please can you let us know how did you fix it ? I have a genuine DC coupler ...

  • RRRRRRRR

    @Vitaliy_Kiselev

    Any chance of Lanparte adjusting their v-mount battery shoulder unit to fit with the gh2 aswell?

  • Alfi666Alfi666

    @feha

    Sorry, what do you mean by fixing it? .. I have used a DC-DC step-up converter to have 9V from 7.2V Sony battery. Then it is just connected to DC coupler... thats all ;)

  • fehafeha

    @Alfi666

    great, i do have some Sony battery adapters, will make it same route, thank you. Also can you confirm, how reliable is this DC-DC converter, does it get hot ?

  • Alfi666Alfi666

    @feha No, they don't get hot, maybe a bit warm - not more than a battery goes warm when it's being used. However, I can't say about reliability... haven't used it for long enough to be able to say...

    I find it still better than using an aftermarket battery, which fails on you anytime, because you don't have battery meter and therefore no idea how much juice it still has.

  • fehafeha

    @Alfi666 thank you, I have ordered two DC-DC converters, and one battery level indicator, as soon as i get them will make one, also a DIY tutorial video ... The benefit is: I use same batteries for Z-96 lights and Lillput monitor :-)

  • SisterCitiesSisterCities

    @5thwall That's excellent; hope you can sort the ground loop issue though. Are you mounting the H4N on top of the battery? Which rig are you using? Curious to see how much space it takes up. Thanks for the update ++

  • 5thwall5thwall

    @SisterCities Not looking good for having Jag fix the ground loop issue. I'm pretty bummed about that. Still a great battery solution for a shoulder rig, but the whole point of the battery is that you can power multiple items, so I must say that this taints my original glowing review. They mentioned getting a cable from Pink Noise Systems (assuming they mean a ground loop isolator). I have another isolator that does a so-so job but doesn't fully fix the issue.

    Regarding my rig, I spent a lot of time researching separate parts and decided on a mix. It's pretty much a Franken-rig (my nick-name for it is Locutus, actually ;). I'll post some pics of it early next week when I'm back in the office. The H4N is mounted on the left side of the shoulder rig, near the front handle. Easy access for hitting record.

  • JackBayerJackBayer

    Resistance is futile!

    PS: I just couldn´t resist...

  • 5thwall5thwall

    Good closing line. Full circle, brilliant!

  • SisterCitiesSisterCities

    @5thwall That is a bummer. Looking forward to seeing the Franken-rig.

  • 5thwall5thwall

    @SisterCities Here are the pics of ol' Locutus powered by the Jag Battery. I'll keep this short since I've pretty much stated everything I know about the battery. If you have any questions about the rig, message me directly. Happy to share what I've learned.

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  • redpawredpaw

    @Meierhans sorry for the delay, but in the meantime i sold gh1 and bought gh2 and gave the power plate to be upgraded to give 8.4V output to power gh2. just got it few days ago - so, the first thing was that after powering on the camera it shows - this battery type cannot be used error (or something similar) - and the output was exactly 8.4V. But increasing it to 9V worked wonders and its working like a charm now. this is what he used for regulating the voltage (its got an adjustable power output so there's not a problem with setting up 8.4V, 9V, 9.2V or 7.2V...etc for gh1, gh2, canons...) http://www.ebay.ie/itm/LM2596-DC-DC-Step-Down-CC-CV-Adjustable-Power-Supply-Module-Output-DC-1-5V-35V-/230723853693?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Components_Supplies_ET&hash=item35b8369d7d&fb_source=message

  • itimjimitimjim

    I've just bought one of those cheap CCTV Li-On batteries off eBay for about £27 from Hong Kong. Supplies 5v, 9v and 12v, which is all I need. This should be easier to attach to the rig than my XPAL18000 which is now going to power a 12v field monitor.

  • disneytoydisneytoy

    itimjim please report back when you get your battery. I want to buy the same. I also need 12v for a slider motor, and the 5v for an Arduino timelapse engine.

  • itimjimitimjim

    Will do @disneytoy. It'll be a good two weeks though coming from HK.

  • MeierhansMeierhans

    @redpaw Thank you very much! This was really the missing part in our rig!

  • redpawredpaw

    @Meierhans no prob. it also can power led light, zoom h4n with its 5V output (a suitable cable is even included) at the same time. very handy just to watch one battery rather then 3 different ones :) especially that 1 or 2 v-lock bat is usually enough for the whole day anyway

  • 5thwall5thwall

    @redpaw do you have pics of your battery setup? Have you tried running h4n and GH2 at the same time (while running audio from h4n to GH2 through a stereo cable)? As I've mentioned in previous posts, my setup has a ground loop issue. I'm starting to look for another solution. Thanks!

  • redpawredpaw

    @5thwall will take a few photos later on or tomorrow, have to go now. got the zoom just recently and didnt get a change to use it in real life yet tho. just out of curiosity - what would be the advantage of running audio from h4n to gh2? wont the files directly from h4n be better quality then from gh2?

  • 5thwall5thwall

    @redpaw. i suppose they are better from a technical standpoint. but on my last shoot, i ran directly from zoom to gh2 and as far as i could tell there was no difference. now, i did a lot of tests beforehand, between zoom and gh2 using -20db tone to see what levels were best and also did comparison tests using the mic running through zoom to get best levels. to my ear and using my speakers, both sounded the same. (btw, those levels are 53 for the output and 65-70 for the mic input using the Rode VideoMic, depending on distance to subject.) also, i found that the quality of the audio increased going through the zoom rather than directly into the camera from the mic.

    for my purposes (web), the sound was actually quite amazing. since I'm a one-man-band, i find that having some AGC in camera isn't necessarily a bad thing. it can help smooth out some of the bumps. but in the case of my last shoot, AGC didn't kick in since i had the levels dialed in properly on the zoom.

    but ultimately, my reason for wanting to run audio into the camera is ease-of-use. it's nice to have the zoom as backup (or primary). but so easy to just start editing, as i had about 4 hrs of footage to start logging and exporting for the producer to watch.

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