Wednesday, April 28, 2004
Big DV Camera Batteries Mean Less Event Stress: The Canon BP-945 Battery
Posted by Jason Dunn in "HARDWARE" @ 10:00 AM
I don't use my Canon GL2 a great deal - perhaps a couple of times a month - but when I do it's usually as the "unpaid event videographer because we couldn't afford a real pro". :lol: So this usually means that I'm there with the goal of archiving the event, and that means all of the event, not just a casual "Oh, I think I'll capture this part." I have two standard batteries for my GL2, each battery lasting about 60 minutes or so. Given that in standard recording mode you can fit 60 minutes of footage on a MiniDV tape, you'd think this would work out just fine. What I've found in using my GL2 over the past year is that you can never have enough battery power, and it's less stressful to change a tape during a brief break than to change a tape and a battery.
So a few months ago I decided that I wanted to get as much battery power as possible for my GL2 - which meant getting one of the massive BP-945 batteries. I purchased it brand new off eBay, and got a great deal. This battery is BIG - make no mistake. It adds a fair amount of weight to the camera. Is it worth it? Absolutely.
Much to my delight, it performed amazingly well! I shot 100 minutes of footage, and I only used up about 20% of the battery. This is even better than the Canon estimate of 200 minutes total battery life. It was mostly wide-angle stage shots with little to no zooming and no LCD screen, which means less power being used. When I needed to change tapes, it was a quick six-second process, and not having to worry about the battery was a big relief.
There's one other additional benefit of having this big 4500 mAh battery that I hadn't considered until now - after this 100 minutes of shooting, I still had enough battery life left to transfer the entire footage over Firewire, meaning it saved me having to set up the external power supply. The less cables the better!
If you're interested in picking up a BP-945 for your Canon MiniDV camera, Amazon.com has them for $119.99. [Affiliate]
So a few months ago I decided that I wanted to get as much battery power as possible for my GL2 - which meant getting one of the massive BP-945 batteries. I purchased it brand new off eBay, and got a great deal. This battery is BIG - make no mistake. It adds a fair amount of weight to the camera. Is it worth it? Absolutely.Much to my delight, it performed amazingly well! I shot 100 minutes of footage, and I only used up about 20% of the battery. This is even better than the Canon estimate of 200 minutes total battery life. It was mostly wide-angle stage shots with little to no zooming and no LCD screen, which means less power being used. When I needed to change tapes, it was a quick six-second process, and not having to worry about the battery was a big relief.
There's one other additional benefit of having this big 4500 mAh battery that I hadn't considered until now - after this 100 minutes of shooting, I still had enough battery life left to transfer the entire footage over Firewire, meaning it saved me having to set up the external power supply. The less cables the better!
If you're interested in picking up a BP-945 for your Canon MiniDV camera, Amazon.com has them for $119.99. [Affiliate]
