BMMCC with a v mount converter?

[Ryanite]

Despite how cost effective it may or may not be, is it possible to create something like this NP-F bridge but in Vmount for the Micro?

It would need weight support via a cage. The smallrig BMMCC cage has 2 rows of 1/4-20's on the rear beside the LP-E6 battery port. They could easily be used to brace the converter. Also 1 or 2 DC out's would be needed, placing the DC out in the converter instead of the battery would insure you never need to unplug or cable manage anything. The entire point of this for me would be to 1, put a giant battery on the micro and 2, avoid cables.

I'd assume in terms of safety for the user and camera the converter would need to change the 14v of many v mount batteries to 7.4v of a common LP-E6 and in my understanding is why the NP-F's are an easy choice since they are the same voltage from the get go.

While it may not make sense dollar wise, I like a clean setup and to be as effective as possible. With mini vmount batteries coming out to comply with TSA regulation there may just be a battery which is a nice balance between size and capacity for running the micro and a monitor. The open rear of the micro plus the brace of a cage gives basically a perfect setup to adapt any battery.

[GeranSimpson]

I'd be interested. I currently run a vmount on rods with a distribution box powering everything with adapted sony batteries as backup. Would be a much smaller rig with a brick adapted to the camera.

[LJR]

This is what I want to. I'm currently using the Juicebox battery, and while it works, the battery is slightly off center in my configuration and the y-cable I had to create to power the micro and the monitor is kind of annoying. It would be great to eliminate cables and center the battery on the back.

[Ryanite]

I have many ideas but essentially no background in engineering or electrical work to some how make this a finished product that I'd trust to not destroy my equipment.

I'd assume even though the camera can take 12-20 volts via the expansion port that the rear lp-e6 would be a different story? This build would become much easier if the lpe6 slot was also capable of receiving 12-20v but I'm not sure how one would find this out.

Another idea I had was a sled similar to the np-f bridge. It would run the bmmcc via np-f970 but unlike the np-f bridge where the battery is vertical and sticks out the rear it instead sits flush sideways against the rear of the camera in an underslung sled. Plus in order to not have to only purchase swit batteries it'd be important for the sled to have a DC out on top so that you could run both the monitor and camera on any Sony l series assuming it has the amp draw to run both. The swit batteries are 4amp max output and will run both. Now the problem with the current np-f system is that the BMMCC shuts down long before a monitor would. I feel like a 14v vmount would not run into this issue. But please if you have electrical and battery experience please tell me if any of this is even possible.

So yeah I have the ideas just no follow through. I can't afford to destroy my gear in testing.

[Howie Roll]

It would need to be the larger 14.4v batteries. I have the Swit with the dc tap and it won’t power a monitor and the micro for more than about 15-20 minutes. The monitor will go longer but as soon as the voltage drops below 7v the micro dies.

[Denny Smith]

And mounting a large heavy 14.5 Gold Mount AB Battery (smaller and lighter than the V Locks) would add a lot of weight to the back of a Micro camera and kind of defeats the idea of a small compact camera. The NP sled for the Micro seems like a better solution.
If you want the larger batter capacity, I would mount the 14.5 batter to rails on the back of the camera to add counterbalance weight, which is what I did. The. Just use the DTap to power the camera and monitor. IA plate,like the Wooden Camera power plate would give you various power taps.
Cheers

[LJR]

Could you post a picture of your setup Denny? I'd love to see what you did

[Ryanite]

Thanks for the feedback, you guys make very valid points. V mount is a touch too bulky even on the smaller end for such a small camera.

Going off that the np-f is not enough to run both the camera and monitor as Howie mentioned. So I've turned my sights to the Sony bp u60. It's 14.4v and practically the same size as the np-f. The important part would be down converting it to 7.2v and then making sure that it doesn't drop as the battery does, or it drops slowly.

[Stelvis]

the battery port at the back is rated at a nominal 7.2v only (this means it can handle up to about 8.4v in practise) - higher than that and you need to use the expansion port

[Ryanite]

the battery port at the back is rated at a nominal 7.2v only (this means it can handle up to about 8.4v in practise) - higher than that and you need to use the expansion port

Yeah I'd assumed something like this would be the case. I do know that you can drop down the voltage of batteries which is what would have to be done but with that introduces a problem of space depending on how big the board is that can do it, I know some of them also need small heat sinks depending on how large the change is in voltage.

[Stelvis]

dropping the voltage also tends to be a bit inefficient (ie generating heat as opposed to powering your camera)

for that reason more than anything else I still think the NPF batteries are the best match for the camera
you probably want two though - one for the camera and a separate one for any monitoring solution - so 2 * NPF is a better solution than V-lock IMO

[Ryanite]

When going from lp-e6 to Sony npf does the camera still read a battery %. If not is there any way to make this so?

[Stelvis]

not sure but I would imagine so if its just reading voltage...

[Stelvis]

and (in theory at least) a single NPF970 should be able to power the camera for at least 4 hours...

[GeranSimpson]

Having two NPF970 hanging on my monitor has bent the little shoe mount. Still functional, I just don't like all that weight and the way it's distributed.