DSMC2 Battery Hotswap - Advice

[Tom Van]

My Epic-W takes about a minute to boot up. Feels like an eternity. Here are some options I found searching around. Has anyone had any experience with the following?....

1. Movcam hotswap module
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1271208-REG/movcam_mov_303_2605_hot_swap_plate_for.html

2. Hawk-Woods plate
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1382307-REG/hawk_woods_vl_mcf2_dual_mini_v_mount_to.html

3. RED Revolt base explander

4. Switronix plate
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/359201-REG/Switronix_GP_TS_GPTS_V_Mount_Hot_Swap.html


Particularly interested in the Movcam module. If anyone has experience with it, please let me know how it holds up.

 

[Grzegorz Gill]

Been using the core swx sharkfin the last two years. Works great, no problems, cheap solution. The only downside is you will never get time remaining, only battery %. The hawk woods will only work with their mini v locks, def can't put two red bricks horizontally on that thing.

 

[Curtis boggs]

core sharkfin is awesome, love mine!

Also i use the Red remote/belt battery holder w a small
Red battery and just plug into camera to do battery swap.
http://www.red.com/store/products/battery-belt-clip-dsmc

Curtis

 

[Jarek Zabczynski]

I have the Blushape hotswap module. It works well enough. The only problem is you really gotta make sure your battery is locked in place. It’s a snug fit.

 

[William Long]

... or use intelligent linking batteries ...?

https://www.paguk.com

 

[Matthew J]

I had one of the sharkfins with my original red one and hated it. Have used it recently on a Scarlet-W and still hated it. I personally have the Movcam hot swap and like it fairly well. The bad part about it is that it reports the wrong voltage to the camera if you battery doesn't support % output (the camera sees the v-mount and the hotswap battery power together). However, it does have a voltage readout on the side, so you can see the voltage of the v-mount and you cal also remember that batteries need to be switched out around 13.2/3 volts. If you want to go for 1/3d the price, I would certainly look at the blueshape hot swap.

 

[Mike Altino]

Also i use the Red remote/belt battery holder w a small
Red battery and just plug into camera to do battery swap.
http://www.red.com/store/products/battery-belt-clip-dsmc

Curtis

+1 for the Belt Clip. Saved me plenty of times and also comes in handy when you need to get some weight off the camera.

 

[Brendan H. Banks]

I love using a sharkfin. Hot swap, extra power for AKS, and created a more centrally balanced camera when shooting on cine glass. I do however find myself not loving it on slimmer setups, and for that I use my dtap power cable to go into the dtap of a new brick, plug into cam, remove old brick, seat new brick in camera, and unplug. It works just the same though some don't like the extra cable. I'm 99% sharkfin so that workaround is just fine for me...plus it's a great backup should something go wrong with the battery plate.

 

[Jarek Zabczynski]

remember that batteries need to be switched out around 13.2/3 volts.

I normally swap around 12.5

I have always gone to roughly 11.8 before I ever saw a shutdown.

 

[Tom Van]

I had one of the sharkfins with my original red one and hated it. Have used it recently on a Scarlet-W and still hated it. I personally have the Movcam hot swap and like it fairly well. The bad part about it is that it reports the wrong voltage to the camera if you battery doesn't support % output (the camera sees the v-mount and the hotswap battery power together). However, it does have a voltage readout on the side, so you can see the voltage of the v-mount and you cal also remember that batteries need to be switched out around 13.2/3 volts. If you want to go for 1/3d the price, I would certainly look at the blueshape hot swap.

Curious how the batteries in the plate charge. Do you need a separate charger or can it be charged via in-line V-mount?

 

[Jarek Zabczynski]

Core SWX has some nice hotswap options coming, but no word on release date.

 

[Tom Van]

Core SWX has some nice hotswap options coming, but no word on release date.

I saw that option at Cinegears this year. Does the same as the Movcam but it seemed a bit bulkier. Either way, I'm leaning towards this kind of solution... aka a rear battery module.

 

[Homer Dulu]

I second the Core SWX Sharkfin. Worked well for me.

 

[Nathan Richards]

We have our Duo V-Mount Battery Plate:

Specs:
Each plate measures at 1" deep and 5.5" high
Entire unit measures at 5.5" by 5.5"
Entire unit weighs less than a pound
Features a 2-pin power port

Priced at $160USD, available on our website: https://cinegears.com/product/duo-v-mount-batteries-mounted-plate/

 

[Tom Dowler]

Or the lo-fi version:

take a d-tap to Lemo power cable. Connect it to the d-tap on your new, fresh battery, then take the old battery off the plate, put the new battery on the plate, remove the cable.

Just make sure the d-tap on the battery is in such a position that it's not going to get fouled on anything else (HDMI, SDI cables from base expander) getting onto the plate.

 

[David Purkiss]

We've used these Bebob ones and they've been great.

http://bebob.de/en/ml-120v-v.html

 

[steve green]

I've been using this for a couple of years now. Works great and very affordable.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...O5DH7UlYNramWoJFncYKjba6uoaAlddEALw_wcB&smp=y

 

[Jørgen Storhaug]

We've used these Bebob ones and they've been great.

http://bebob.de/en/ml-120v-v.html

Do you get battery percentage passthrough with this, or how does it work for you?

 

[Chris Ray]

Here's a link to the CoreSWX option. I checked it out at Cinegear and looks awesome. The unit is always charging with a battery mounted, so you don't have to worry about removing it.

http://www.coreswx.com/product/evo-dsmc2-v/