the DSMC promise

[paul schefz]

just updated my epic yesterday...ordered the new XL battery mount....waiting for my dragon upgrade and the motion mount looks awesome....RCX is flying on my retina....things are great and for the first time i feel like the DSMC promise is really all coming together....
but right after the firmware update....i am still playing with the new menu and such....i put the camera down, 3 min later the redvolt died....no real surprise but it really made me wonder how something that can do SO MUCH....in such a small package....is so well thought out....is still hindered by a 10 sec startup and the fact that i can't leave a battery in the camera because even when it is off, it eats batteries....so really the 10sec startup is a 20 sec (at best) startup....find the battery, put it in the handle, start it up...think about how much you would like to have a DSLR at that point....which isn't fair because missing a shot is usually a matter of 1 sec so in reality a 2 sec or 30 sec startup makes no difference....
the thing is still don't understand....why does the camera draw so much power when it is off....is it that hard to just "cut" the power from the battery when i turn the camera off? that is what i do when i take the battery out!
i hope this does not come off as a rant....

 

[Terry VerHaar]

Paul - I agree. It certainly is a bit of a frustration.

 

[Hans Magnus Kvåle]

+1 to this issue, and I am also wondering the same thing about my REDMOTE which is dead out of power after a day with no use. The REDMOTE don't even have that status indicator light when it's off...

 

[paul schefz]

i guess it will be easier to pop in an XL compared to putting a redvolt into the side handle....but i still don't understand what the problem is...software? hardware? if so maybe the new XL mount can "shut off" power?

 

[Tim Morten]

+1 to this issue, and I am also wondering the same thing about my REDMOTE which is dead out of power after a day with no use. The REDMOTE don't even have that status indicator light when it's off...

I'm envious that your Redmote works well enough that you actually use it. Mine can't hold synch well enough to even consider using it outside my test bench.

 

[BrendanLeahy]

+1 as well. This is exactly what has me holding off for the XL mount - even the XL batteries require a trickle-charge, and I can't comprehend why the REDvolts aren't manufactured to last longer than they do time-wise. It seems like every other battery in the industry holds its own, but REDvolts are lacking.

 

[Björn Benckert]

I just ordered the XL mount. and 2 more XL's. I guess it's a technical design floss that drains them when camera is not even on. I do not know much about these kind of batteries but I guess red would have to call back the cameras or at least sidehandels to solve the issue. But then again if you know about it it's not such big fuss I think. Offcourse I would like the volts to last for a full day but I guess the small package comes with a few compromises. In retrospect I think it would have been better if they relied on some cheap well tested batteries. (Sony batteries comes to mind) but thats not the RED way of doing things I guess. The small volts are not strong enough to power much more than the camera so there is also issues when adding FF or extra monitor etc. But I hope the XL module will sort that.

I now made sure to have them all, sidehandle, quadmodule, XL module and the +1 module together with 16 volts and 4 XL's.... 3 travel chargers and a Quad charger. I hope that will sort all our power needs but in comparison to just getting some low priced Vlocks and and an adaptor for that this DMSC power solution is quite costy I must say. Still it does come with far greater modularity and I will try to stay with the RED solution as long as possible as I think that is beneficial for the future since Jarred and the guys will for sure develop things further and improve these things.

Regarding redmote, our works like a charm it keeps linked for long time / distance and keeps power very well. It was updated when our epic M was sent in to be updated with a new Wifi and this domeport. Really nice to have the redmote when doing UW housing shooting, changing framerates etc without having to open the house in a rubber dingy in stormy seas is worth quite a lot.

 

[paul schefz]

Björn....of course i would like the redvolts to last longer as well and i also ordered the XL adapter mount and i also have a V-lock solution....i understand that the camera iitself is power-hungry....i still don't understand why the drain when the camera is off.....i would gladly send the camera or side handle in to get this fixed....but i guess it is not a software or hardware issue that can be resolved, otherwise the new XL mount should not have the same problem....but i am sure it still does...unless anyone has heard anything otherwise from red about this?

 

[Marcos Montenegro]

Overall power management in the RED DSMC design is something that's been disappointing. I'm not sure how much better it will get with firmware tweaks; seems like a hardware design impediment. I get about 23 minutes out of my Redvolts, which is enough to perhaps frame a scene or capture some quick handhelds, but I mostly work with a third party v-mount solution because it gives me 2-3 hrs per battery, depending on which one I use.

 

[Will Keir]

I think we can all agree Redvolts are not enough. That's why we went with ABs. 45-60 minutes is enough. I'd like two hours in a small battery but we'll have to wait a bit for that tech to catch up.

What about the Redvolt XL? Have you tried them?

Overall power management in the RED DSMC design is something that's been disappointing. I'm not sure how much better it will get with firmware tweaks; seems like a hardware design impediment. I get about 23 minutes out of my Redvolts, which is enough to perhaps frame a scene or capture some quick handhelds, but I mostly work with a third party v-mount solution because it gives me 2-3 hrs per battery, depending on which one I use.