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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

D-tap -to- Epic Lemo DC cable?

S

stu aull

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I have spent _hours_ going thru every battery-plate/battery maker, many of whom make RED-specific stuff yet no one I can find offers what I would have thought would be THE no-brainer connection. A D-Tap -to- Epic LEMO cable...
I mean the D-tap plug seems to be pretty universal betw manufacturers yet there is not an EPIC (Scarlet) one.

Is there some technical reason these cannot work and therefore are not being made?
OR (fingers crossed!)
IS someone making them - and who are they!!

I read of all you guys with yards of DC cable wrapped all over your cameras and wonder, with all the great modularity, why we are forced into these bizzare adaptions to get power to the camera...

Stu Aull
Alaska
 
Greg M said:
Its usually on the battery plate, most v-dock and anton bauer plates have a d-tap on board. Red also will have a module that will have one soon.
Click to expand...
Understood -
BUT: we need the _cable_ to connect plate-to-camera DC.... which is my question....
anyone??
;)
Stu Aull
Alaska
 
Greg- yoik! really? an $800+ solution to D-tapping of a "regular" battery plate? Now, I get that $800 is not a big leap on a $50K epic kit, but for Scarlet users? 10% of the camera price?
Guys- There are _numerous_ generic-but-adaptable battery plates out there- IDX, AB, etc. etc. all make them - yet no one seems to want to offer a simple D-tap to power an Epic/Scarlet! Am I pissing into the wind here? RED is about to unleash X-1000's of Scarlets and I can't imagine all those new owners jumping into RedVolts-only power. V and AB mount batteries are an industry staple, so how long can a simple thing like this be ignored?

Sorry if I am sounding like I'm on a rant - I am just amazed that the Cine-world is chock full of so many wonderful, eclectic gadgets yet I can't seem to find something I would think is stupifyingly obvious...

;)

Stu Aull
Alaska
 
I still don't understand what you want. Are you asking for a cable to power a Scarlet or Epic from a D-tap?? If so this is a really bad idea.
or are you asking for a d-tap port available on a battery plate, if so pretty much every battery plate has this.

What EXACTLY are you looking for?

I just re-read your first post...it sounds like you want to power the Epic from a D-tap...if thats the case there is a valid reason this does not exist. Its a accident waiting to happen. DO NOT POWER A CAMERA FROM A D-TAP.
 
Greg, where did you find the info that a Epic Module will get a D-Tap ? Was asking that question in another thread, since i could´t find any info on that matter.
I´d really love to use the Quad module instead of V-Mount Batteries for some configs, but i need to get Accessories powered and didn´t find a solution yet.
 
Manuel Wenger said:
Greg, where did you find the info that a Epic Module will get a D-Tap ? Was asking that question in another thread, since i could´t find any info on that matter.
I´d really love to use the Quad module instead of V-Mount Batteries for some configs, but i need to get Accessories powered and didn´t find a solution yet.
Click to expand...

I thought Jarred posted in one of the threads that they "have a solution" coming. He said it wasn't the battery module, but something else.
 
BTW- back to original question. The reason a D-tap to Lemo does not exist is because it is very easy to flip the dtap connector and blow up your camera. The d-tap was originally designed to power on camera lights on ENG cameras. It was never intended to power a camera. The connector is weak and not safe for powering a camera.

There are homemade solutions, but my advise is DO NOT include this in your kit unless you are suicidal. I really don't understand why you would want to do this anyway. if you need to get power from a block battery or even a car battery use a 4 pin XLR. The XLR is idiot proof and industry standard. Dtap is not.
 
THANK you Greg!
OK - so cameras in general are never powered via D-taps off plates then? (I'm still an NP-1-on-the-camera user so this whole "plate" approach has been an education). D-taps for camera power has no industry standard then. Fair enough. I have used XLR cabling for power for years. So the "correct" route then (and please may it exist!!) would be an "XLR-to-EPIC-Lemo" adapter cable then?

All righty then. I will start hunting for THIS type of cable instead.
...and hopefully not have to come back here to beg for a manufacturer of these...
(but if anyone has suggestions...??)

Stu Aull
Alaska
 
stu aull said:
THANK you Greg!
OK - so cameras in general are never powered via D-taps off plates then? (I'm still an NP-1-on-the-camera user so this whole "plate" approach has been an education). D-taps for camera power has no industry standard then. Fair enough. I have used XLR cabling for power for years. So the "correct" route then (and please may it exist!!) would be an "XLR-to-EPIC-Lemo" adapter cable then?

All righty then. I will start hunting for THIS type of cable instead.
...and hopefully not have to come back here to beg for a manufacturer of these...
(but if anyone has suggestions...??)

Stu Aull
Alaska
Click to expand...

D-tap is to power accessories, which is why its on the battery plate. Cine Tape, follow focus, monitors, wireless devices, etc.

XLR-to-EPIC-Lemo is to power the camera from a block battery.

The first question is what do you want to power the camera with? Then you get a cable to match this source. For example, if you want to power the camera from a Anton Bauer brick, then AB makes a plate with a built-in cable that plugs into Epic lemo. The whole deal is about $200.

If you want to use a Red Brick, there are solutions for that (Like the one I posted earlier or some that are much cheaper) VF has one coming.

If you want to use RedVOLTS...u don't need a cable.

etc, etc
 
D-Taps aren't good for powering the camera because the cable is generally not shielded end to end.
 
:)
ah. understood! Thanks all for setting me straight. One bullet dodged!
The accessory hunt continues....

Stu Aull
Alaska
 
Actually these cables do exist, just used them to power the Epic on 2 different jobs over the past few days. Got them from Chater Camera, whom I trust know what they're doing. And they did pass on voltage info. They were also very thick, so maybe they were shielded? Anyway there is no way you could insert the d-tap backwards, at least with the supplied battery plate. I've heard of people doing this, but have yet to see a d-tap receptacle loose enough to allow it...

The only issue I had with the system was a one-time spontaneous power down while hot swapping the v-lock batts with a redvolt in the handle. This only occurred after I pulled the old brick and as I put on the new brick. So probably a bad idea to try that while rolling.
 
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