Weapon + ET AB Battery Module + Carbon Anton Bauer Batteries

[steve green]

worst design award winner Cameras are getting smaller and AB batteries getting bigger? this series might replace VCLX batteries.Same size with block battery,nice one AB.

I have to agree with Kemalettin.....these batteries from Anton Bauer are completely ill conceived. They look to be the same size as the Weapon body itself. Why would you make a battery housing larger then it needs to be? Make the 90's in a small form factor, 190's larger form factor for the added power.

 

[Raphael Varandas]

Nice Mark!! Congrats for your hard work. I am just waiting ...

 

[Kenny Mosher]

Any word on the 190s?

 

[Bob Gundu]

Any word on the 190s?

Sound like they have dropped the 190's. Technical difficulties getting it to fit in the same form factor.

 

[Phil Holland]

Yep, what Bob said. The 190Wh just didn't "fit" the form factor.

The Anton Bauer Cine batteries are actually smaller than I previously thought. I picked up a few 150Wh in V-Lock.

Here it is on RED Weapon with the Element Technical V-Lock Module:




Early impressions are very good. I just got them Saturday and will be shooting with them all week. I'll have a good idea how they hold up after a few days of filming. Their size is certainly more in line with smaller cameras.

 

[Alex Bros]

I've got 4 of the 150's in Gold Mount and they are pretty awesome. I got them specifically to help balance out the camera as the CF Weapon is almost too light and the rig would become front heavy with any kind of substantial lens on it (basically anything bigger and heavier than Canon EF prime + follow focus, mattebox).

They are pretty big (almost the size of the Brain) but like I said, really helps balance things out.
They charge pretty quick, I think I'm getting about 3-4 hours and they run the camera for about 2.5 hours (while they're still in good shape) so that's a very good ratio.

The Gold Mount Version also appears to sit a bit lower on the camera (comparing to Phil's photo), the top of the battery rests just a smidgen below the top of the ET battery module.

 

[Bob Gundu]

I've got 4 of the 150's in Gold Mount and they are pretty awesome. I got them specifically to help balance out the camera as the CF Weapon is almost too light and the rig would become front heavy with any kind of substantial lens on it (basically anything bigger and heavier than Canon EF prime + follow focus, mattebox).

They are pretty big (almost the size of the Brain) but like I said, really helps balance things out.
They charge pretty quick, I think I'm getting about 3-4 hours and they run the camera for about 2.5 hours (while they're still in good shape) so that's a very good ratio.

The Gold Mount Version also appears to sit a bit lower on the camera (comparing to Phil's photo), the top of the battery rests just a smidgen below the top of the ET battery module.

Yeah the Gold mount sits lower.

 

[Jon Carr]

Does these Anton Bauer batteries need a AB charger or will any charger work fine with them?

 

[Jeff McCoy]

I went with the Wooden Camera quickback, which is very thin and light, in goldmount. Here's a snap with my HCX (the base expander is in there too!)

 

[Marcus Friedlander]

The new AB batteries seem about twice as long as the HCX's. I'm always worried about adding extra flex into the system. Will the extra length offset the weight savings when it comes to stressing the back of the camera?

 

[roryhinds]

I went with the Wooden Camera quickback, which is very thin and light, in goldmount. Here's a snap with my HCX (the base expander is in there too!)

Jeff is this WC solution cable-less or do you still need cable to the Base Expander?

 

[Jeff McCoy]

Jeff is this WC solution cable-less or do you still need cable to the Base Expander?

I'm using a cable to the base expander (which is tightly wrapped on the right side) until WC releases that cable-free upgrade. I believe that will add another $400 or so but it will be worth it to lose the cable and to have a backup cabled solution for Ronin/MoVI or just making it smaller.

 

[roryhinds]

Cool, yeah I hope they release the cable-less version soon.

 

[Jon Carr]

I'm using a cable to the base expander (which is tightly wrapped on the right side) until WC releases that cable-free upgrade. I believe that will add another $400 or so but it will be worth it to lose the cable and to have a backup cabled solution for Ronin/MoVI or just making it smaller.

Jeff how safe are you feeling mounting the top handle to the Lemo adaptor A? I tried that last week but I felt too much flexing from the m4 screws. Are you mounting the top handle on the other nato rail for heavier setups?

 

[Kenny Mosher]

Thanks for the update on the 190s Phil and Bob!

 

[Jeff McCoy]

Jeff how safe are you feeling mounting the top handle to the Lemo adaptor A? I tried that last week but I felt too much flexing from the m4 screws. Are you mounting the top handle on the other nato rail for heavier setups?

Hey Jon,
I would only use the top handle on the lemo adapter this way for these kinds of very lightweight setups. It feels solid enough, but I wouldn't add much more to this build as-is. When I build it up with a baseplate, support rods, zoom, mattebox, etc I'll definitely drop the swat rail down to the brain and move the lemo adaptor to the left side.
To be honest, I ended up with this configuration because I had recently imported a preset from my Epic, which deactivated the overlay on the right side LCD connection. I had to move the adaptor over to the top in order to get menus back on my touch LCD. Then I enabled the overlay on both ports, so I can freely move the lemo adaptor back and forth. The next time I move the adaptor to the left of the camera it will probably live there for good.