06-13-2016 04:18 PM
Looking for a way to remote the camera battery into my clothing (under an arm) to keep it/them warm for prolonged cold weather shooting. Is there a product available? (Either Canon or 3rd party)
06-13-2016 11:24 PM
@diverhank wrote:
@wm700293 wrote:Looking for a way to remote the camera battery into my clothing (under an arm) to keep it/them warm for prolonged cold weather shooting. Is there a product available? (Either Canon or 3rd party)
This one might fit the bill?
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1100255-REG/lanparte_pb_600_e6_e6_portable_battery_with.html
And the reviewer of that device who speculated that the 5D3 has a way to feed the wire through without filing is correct. Presumably the 5D4 will be the same in that respect.
06-14-2016 04:29 AM
"And the reviewer of that device who speculated that the 5D3 has a way to feed the wire through without filing is correct. Presumably the 5D4 will be the same in that respect."
I looked at it and thought, "Oh, neat. But, can the battery door close with a wire hanging out of it?" The door must fully close.
06-14-2016 05:52 AM - edited 06-14-2016 05:54 AM
@Waddizzle wrote:"And the reviewer of that device who speculated that the 5D3 has a way to feed the wire through without filing is correct. Presumably the 5D4 will be the same in that respect."
I looked at it and thought, "Oh, neat. But, can the battery door close with a wire hanging out of it?" The door must fully close.
Yes. http://www.kenrockwell.com/canon/images/5d-mkii/cutaway-2k.jpg
Look at bottom left. What I know, all Canon cameras have that kind of hatch.
06-14-2016 07:46 AM
@Waddizzle wrote:"And the reviewer of that device who speculated that the 5D3 has a way to feed the wire through without filing is correct. Presumably the 5D4 will be the same in that respect."
I looked at it and thought, "Oh, neat. But, can the battery door close with a wire hanging out of it?" The door must fully close.
If you open the battery door and look very closely at the edge of the opening, you'll find a rubber plug that can be opened to accommodate the wire. On the inside surface of the battery door is a tiny pair of graphics that hint at how it's done.
06-14-2016 08:38 AM
Well, if history is any indicator, then the 5D4 will have provision for an external power cable. My old original 5D even has this provision, right down on the inside of the grip in the front where the right "little" finger rests. I might also add that both of my (different) battery grips have a provision for a cable to exit the battery chamber of the grip. It is located on the "left" side of each grip's battery chamber when viewed from the rear with the door open. I checked a friends 10D (really ancient) and it too has this provision. I assume this has been provided to enable optional AC power to the camera.
06-14-2016 07:34 AM
First off, how cold is it? I have shot in what I consider to be pretty cold and the 1 series cameras still work, I just put extra batteries inside my coat. Just change them as they start to fail. Put the cold ones back insdie your coat for the next change. A 1 series camera will work in 0 temps. I know! I have friends that use a 1Dx in -20 and it works. That was too cold for this ole photographer!
If you get the grip for a 5D series you can put Energizer Lithium Alkaline batteries in it. They will work in very cold conditions. Keep and extra set in your inside coat pocket.
06-14-2016 11:05 AM
This request isn't too different from what many astrophotographers want to do. They want to do astrophotography out in the field (away from AC power). The "problem" is that to get really good smooth results, you should ideally capture between 4-6 hours of data on just one object. This is with the camera almost continuously capturing data. No battery will last that long.
Canon's 60Da (the "a" is for "astronomy") comes with the Canon AC adapter (a dummy battery is connected to a power brick which transforms 110 or 220 AC power into the 7.5 volt DC power required by the camera) -- but in the field there's no place to get AC power.
One would think Canon would have made a 12v to 7.5v adapter... but they do not (they make a charger that can re-charge the internal battery from a 12v source -- such as a car -- but not something to run the camera continuously from that 12v source.
It turns out there are some DIY folks who have done this themselves.
What you need is the dummy battery from Canon and then a way to power it.
First, here's the link to the dummy battery: http://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/dc-coupler-dr-e6
The next challenge is that would normally be connected to a power brick that transforms the source power to 7.5 volts -- that's what the camera wants.
For example, as an astro-imager, I'd want something that can run on 12v power. So I'd do a search for "buck converter 12v to 7.5v" and my screen would be plastered with products that all do this. But you'll see it's just a tiny module with two wires in (the source power) and two wires out (the camera power). You'd then have to get the appropriate connectors, probably a project-box, etc. But I can easily imagine being able to build something that you wear under your coat to keep the battery warm and just feed the power cord out to the camera.
As another option... if you can find a way to get to 7.5v of battery power then you wouldn't need a buck converter. e.g. 5x 1.5v AA batteries (in a series -- not parallel) would do this. So I noticed that Canon's battery grips which normally hold two of their E6 batteries will hold SIX (not 5) AA batteries. Six batteries is technically 9 volts -- not 7.5 volts. So clearly there's a bit of a window of tolerance on the camera voltage but I don't know what the voltage range is.
So far as I know, nobody makes a product that's already built and ready to go (and if you find one... please let me know.)
06-14-2016 11:38 AM
@TCampbell wrote:
As another option... if you can find a way to get to 7.5v of battery power then you wouldn't need a buck converter. e.g. 5x 1.5v AA batteries (in a series -- not parallel) would do this. So I noticed that Canon's battery grips which normally hold two of their E6 batteries will hold SIX (not 5) AA batteries. Six batteries is technically 9 volts -- not 7.5 volts. So clearly there's a bit of a window of tolerance on the camera voltage but I don't know what the voltage range is.
So far as I know, nobody makes a product that's already built and ready to go (and if you find one... please let me know.)
Note, however, that a NiMH rechargeable AA battery, whose electrochemistry is different from that of an alkaline AA, puts out 1.2v, not 1.5. Six of those, wired in series, give you 7.2v, which is probably where the 7.5v spec comes from. And since six alkalines won't fry a battery grip, it stands to reason that the acceptable range spans at least 7.2 to 9 volts.
06-14-2016 07:04 PM - edited 06-14-2016 07:06 PM
"So far as I know, nobody makes a product that's already built and ready to go (and if you find one... please let me know.)"
As of now, your best compromise could be a portable AC power supply, and a Canon DC power adapter. Instead of gas powered generated, use a battery powered AC generator.
http://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/ac-adapter-kit-ack-e17
Many UPS systems have online calculators that allow you to size a UPS according to your load requirements, and how long your load needs to be supplied with power.
I doubt if a DSLR is much of a load compared to PC. Who knows, maybe a simple UPS for a PC could be enough to power a DSLR all night long. An APC "Back UPS" Pro 1500 can supply 50 watts for 12 hours.
06-15-2016 09:45 AM
Yeah, but I would not want to carry one in the snow and ice, which is the OP's problem.
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