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Pocket Camera Battery Life
Hello.
I’m sure this topic has been brought up before, potentially many times, so I apologize if that’s the case and would love to be linked to an already-determined solution if there is one. However, I’ve looked all over the internet and can’t seem to find a commonly-agreed-upon fix for this, so…here goes.
The battery life, unplugged, on the BMPCC is atrocious. The other day, I filmed a vlog with the camera accidentally unplugged (the power cord came out without me realizing it) and I just barely managed to record 20 minutes of footage before returning to the camera and seeing it had reached 2% battery life. Now, normally this would just be an annoyance and I would simply make sure the camera is plugged in whenever I shoot…but this becomes extremely problematic when I need to do outdoor and/or handheld shoots, or in any situation when I am not anywhere near an outlet, or the power cord would get in my way a lot.
I have seen a handful of videos and tutorials for buying a big ol’ honkin’ battery pack and plugging the camera into that, but that means also buying something with which to strap the pack to my tripod…and what happens when I want to go handheld? Do I just awkwardly hold the battery pack while I run around filming? It’s not very practical.
Basically, I’m wondering if there is a better solution or if there’s anyone here who’s had experience with this battery pack fix and can give me some advice, both on how best to attach/use it, as well as which brand to go with, how big of a battery, whether it’s worth it, etc. I really want to use this camera for some of my more big-budget stuff, but right now it’s a pain in the butt.
Thank you so much for any help,
James Strecker
James Strecker
JTS Entertainment
https://www.youtube.com/JTSEntertainment -
4 Replies
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If your external battery solution doesn’t have mounts for the camera, typically people use a rail system to mount batteries like v-mount and AB brick batteries.
Switronix makes a nice range of power solutions for the BMPCC.
https://www.switronix.com/products?page=shop.browse&category_id=53
Erik Cantu
Video Producer
RadioU TV & Animal Basement
14 years experience as a fulltime broadcast shooter, editor & broadcast designer. -
Thanks. I have looked at stuff like this before, but not this specific website. My main question for this is: if I attach the camera to one of these packs, can I then attach the pack to my tripod? Or will it just perch defenselessly on top? Haha.
James Strecker
JTS Entertainment
https://www.youtube.com/JTSEntertainment -
There are quarter twenties on the bottom. Check out the pics and product description.
Erik Cantu
Video Producer
RadioU TV & Animal Basement
14 years experience as a fulltime broadcast shooter, editor & broadcast designer. -
I didn’t want to attach a battery pack to the top of my camera and I don’t like bulky cages, so I solved my BMPCC’s battery problem with:
– a $25.90 ILED NPF-Series Battery Plate Adapter for BMPCC
– a couple of $6.98 2900mAh Sony NP-F550 batteries
– a $1.79 1/4″ to 1/4″ double male screw adapter
– a $32.69 pistol grip and
– a $15.99 dual channel charger
Here is a picture of my setup (before I screwed the battery pack to the bottom of the grip).
If you want more storage, you can buy a $33.99 set of NP-F970 batteries with 8700mAh of storage each instead of the NP-F550s.
Hope this is helpful and good luck solving your power problem!
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