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Dilemma: REDVOLTES VS V-mounts battery?

Dilemma: REDVOLTES VS V-mounts battery?

  • Expensive redvolt

    Votes: 10 23.3%

  • Inexpensive V-mount batteries

    Votes: 33 76.7%
  • Total voters
    43
A

Alexey Datsenko

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Everybody needs to resolve dilemma in what kind of powering for Epic and Scarlet investing.
It seems the question of powering of Epic and Scarlet is not fully resolved.
So why most of people have to make decision of powering EPIC/SCARLET and get V-mount plates (Switronix, Viewfactor).

1. REDVOLTE is very insignificant. Only 30 min. Side Handle is very comfortable but 30 min is very little.
Let's take for example 6 working hours (it is almost all day) with Redvolts and V-mount batteries.

To work with redvolts during 6 hours it is needs to have 12 redvolts. It is with 2 charger (as minimum) around 2600 usd it is very expensive and you need to change battery every 30 min 11 times it is not very good too. And very good design in this case.

2. V-battery. To work with V-batteries during 6 hours (5.50 indeed) needs 2 batteries 160W and 190W (Globalpromedia) it with 2 charger and V-mount plate (Switronix, Viewfactor) and it is 1400 usd (almost twice cheaper) and you need to change battery only ones. But discomfort sometimes with not comfortable big battery on the back of the camera and not very good design in this case but in the most cases design of course is not very important such as price for battery.

So in this case the price of 1 hour of working with redvolts is 432 usd.
And one hour of working with V-mount battery is 241 usd (45% less, almost twice).

3. Solution with Quade and Dual modules doesn't not resolve the problem because Quade is very big and very uncomfortable. (the real price of selling new Quade on reduser even is 400-600 usd when nominal price is 1950 usd). If buy 4 XL redvolt and one charger for it it will be 2000 usd, better but a huge Quade module is very uncomfortable in comparison with V-mount battery. Dual module is better but whenever it is not smaller then V-mount battery and absolutely much more expensive, 6 hours it is the same 2600 and plus 1450 for Dual module so 4000 in sum for 6 working hours.

So in case with Quade module the price of 1 hour of working with XL redvolts is the same 432 usd and 650 usd wit Dual module.


4. RED BACKPACK QUICKPLATE for 650 is not a resolve too because (as I understand) it is required DSMC BACKPACK for 1200 usd. Again, it is not good when solution to work with V-mount plate with Red bricks can cost 650+1200 = 1850 when there are solutions on the market (Switronix, Viewfactor) cost 600-700 usd. And (as I understand) it works only with RED Bricks and it is 1900 usd (3 bricks and charger and it is 7 hours) so it is 650+1200+1900 = 3750 usd.

So in this case the price of 1 hour of working with red bricks is 535 usd.


5. RED BATTERY BELT CLIP (DSMC) for 320 is good resolve but it can't be fixed on the camera so it is very uncomfortable and need to find some way to fix it to the rails. And (as I understand) it works only with RED Bricks in this case 1900 (3 bricks and charger) + 320 = 2220 usd (7 hours).

So in this case the price of 1 hour of working with red bricks is 317 usd.

So Redvolte is very comfortable but very expensive solution almost twice more expensive then V-mount battery, 2600 usd redvolts and 1400 usd V-mount.
RED BATTERY BELT CLIP (DSMC) is good solution, 2200 usd with red bricks but it is need to find some way to fix it to the camera.

Quade, Dual,RED BACKPACK QUICKPLATE are very expensive solutions.

So in this case investment in what solutions more efficient?

1. Very cool designed with expensive redvolts?
2. Or not very good designed but twice cheaper V-mount battery (or Anton Bauer Gold Mount)?
 
You forgot to mention D-Tap (not unimportant for external 3rd party accessories when you don't want to power them with batteries)…
 
Peter Stelzhammer said:
You forgot to mention D-Tap (not unimportant for external 3rd party accessories when you don't want to power them with batteries)…
Click to expand...

Yeah, they really missed that with all REDVOLT modules so far.
But all will be good with the upcoming +1 monitor adaptor that not only provides an additional EVF/LCD port but also an auxiliary power port.
 
Alexey Datsenko said:
So in this case investment in what solutions more efficient?

1. Very cool designed with expensive redvolts?
2. Or not very good designed but twice cheaper V-mount battery?
Click to expand...

I cannot really vote for one or the other because it all depends on the shooting situation and style. I like the compactness for handheld with just a REDVOLT in the side handle, but I will probably always prefer V-Mount to the quad battery module.
 
99.9% v-Mount here. Have an RV as a small-form-factor backup but limited usefulness for my work. Now, if/when vaunted Power Management firmware updates come out, maybe that will change the game? I love the _idea_ of small batteries, I just don't see any immediate benefits w/my Li'l Leaf Blower and its various power hungry attachments... for now, a great concept awaiting technology to catch up.

Stu Aull
SX199
Alaska
 
Bob Gundu said:
The best solution for me was to have both.
Click to expand...

I would agree. I thought I would not use the revolts and considered selling them. On a recent trip to north Kenya shooting a documentary, I found it handy to keep a revolt loaded while shooting with v-mounts. I could not always get to my reserve bag because I was often shooting from a chopper. I could quickly switch from one to the other and not miss any important shots. Also if I need quick pick up shots and don't have proper permits, the epic looks a lot more inconspicuous when shooting with revolts.
 
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Of course there are many situations when Redvolts are very comfortable. Steadycam, Crane, Shoulder rig, just shooting from hands, but it is not long shooting and a few redvolts are enough for these situations I think everybodies have 2-3 redvolts for such cases.
Epic with Redvolts is very good designed and very cool.
But most of shooting situations it is Camera on tripod or Slider and many many hours of non stop shooting, 4,5,7,8 hours of non stop shooting is a common shooting day and in this most standard and common situation redvolts are very uncomfortable because of changing battery every 30 min and plus very expensive 10-16 redvolts are needed. Design of Epic with redvolts is cool but it has to to buy AB or V-mount plate because changing redvolts 10-15 times during the day and spend for these 10-15 redvolts 2000-3000 usd is not good perspective. Because one of the biggest advantage of EPIC is compactness. (Quade and Dual module are not very compact and plus it is very expensive solutions) So now it is needs to install AB or V-mount plate it is not expensive and save compactness but not cool designed.
 
Bob Gundu said:
The best solution for me was to have both.
Click to expand...
Absolutely agree on that. I recently purchased the EPIC and ordered REDVOLTSs as well as a few RED BRICK V-Mount batteries. I love to shoot with a small setup, run and gun style. Therefore, the REDVOLTs come in quite handy. However, if I'm shooting in a studio configuration with a large MB, follow focus unit, PL glass etc. I do prefer a proper V-Mount battery that allows for longer runtimes. I personally own the ActionProducts battery module that can be either attached to the back of the camera or 19mm rods using a swivel mount.
 
There is some detail about AB and V-mount plate.
I see AB plate is more less overhang over camera body maybe 1 cm and V-mount plate is overhang over camera body 3-4 cm.
So may be it is not very important but much better design and more comfortable when Battery is not overhang over camera and don't prevent for top handle or something else and just it looking better as well as designed and compactness is well.
 
ABs definitely fit better... With a cage/top-plate, they almost appear to be made for the size of DSMC cameras. Problem is 90wh batteries are more expensive than 160wh v-mounts.
 
if you want an objective poll - nix those adjectives...

i like redvolts because it keeps you small and light. if i need to do more than a 30-minute take, i'll be plugged in. and in the grand total - they're not that much more expensive. we're talking about a couple hundred here.
 
I have the side handle (stays attached all the time) and 6 redvolt which I use on rare occasions when I need to be very light and don't need to power any accessories.
Other than that, it's V-Mount all the way.
 
Can you add a third choice, "Anton Bauer Gold Mount"?
Not sure expensive/ cheap should figure into it. Redvolts are one style, V-lock another, A/B a third. All have strengths and weaknesses.
i have a bunch of the small Redvots for the random "strip the camera down" handheld shot, but mostly use Dionic 160's.
V-lock and A/B can be found cheaply as knockoffs, but I personally am only interested in quality equipment.
Cheers,
Harry
 
I still haven't bought batteries, awaiting on my Scarlet and going to use a/c for now. I know I am going v mount but I am not sure whether I want to deal with third party stuff over the bricks. Supposedly if bricks blow your camera out its under warranty, if third party batteries blow it, good luck..
 
I will go with REDVolts when travelling light. Serves two purposes. But for longer, I either use QUAD BATTERY MODULE (where I can) or V Mount + Backpack (But i think Viewfactor's battery plate is cheaper and better solution)
 
I agree with Paul, this "poll" is corrupt from the get-go. "Expensive Redvolts" vs "Inexpensive V-mounts" is a poor attempt to sway an outcome. Must be an election year.

As for batteries, my reaction is, who cares? Use whatever works best for you. Don't worry about what everyone else is doing. Way too much "me too" going on in these communities. Right now I'm using the Redvolt XL's and they're working great. Are they the best form-factor? No. But they're pretty good. Are V-mounts a good form-factor? Hardly. It's a giant wart sitting on the back of the camera. But then again, so are the Redvolts. They're all necessary evils and compromises of what is available now.

If you don't like the Redvolts, buy V-mounts. Simple, done. Why do we need a poll to see what we already know, most people are using AB or V-mounts vs Redvolts. And each one has a perfectly plausible defense for their choice.
 
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