Topic: Camcorder Batt. Life Question

[Kevin]

I have a Sony DCR-HC30 and wanted to know the approximate battery life of the batteries (Keep in mind I will be running line out of DAT into the miniDV)

1)stock:  Model No. NP-FP50 7.2v

2)Digital Concepts For Sony NP-FP70/NP-FP71 Lithium Ion Battery Pack (7.2V 1800 Mah)

3)Digital Concepts For Sony NP-FP90 Lithium Ion Battery Pack For Sony DVD/HC Camcorders

Thanks in advance
Kevin Morton

[firmdragon]

using the LCD or not?

[Kevin]

I guess both.
I have recorded shows (video) before but its been a while and cant remember if I had the camera plugged in.  I bought a second battery last night.  But if you have an estimate im all ears

[vadimo]

hi Kevin,

this might help, i was using my Hitachi DZ-MV730E camcorder with capacity: 680mAh, 7.2V - recording a show and using all cameras functions including LCD screen, after 45 minutes battery went dead, so yours is capacity: 1800mAh - I imagine u can do minimum 2 solid hours.

Hope that helps!

[BlackLab]

there is a great EBay seller of Li batteries - mine last 3 hrs. with LCD on (2100 miAmp)

email me of PM if you need contact info and I wil try to retrieve my EBay buying history

[vadimo]

yeah i just bought 2100Mah off ebay as well

last for me 4 hours.

[firmdragon]

I guess both.
I have recorded shows (video) before but its been a while and cant remember if I had the camera plugged in.  I bought a second battery last night.  But if you have an estimate im all ears

if i had to make a guess, i'd say

1)stock:  Model No. NP-FP50 7.2v

somewhere around 30min-60min

2)Digital Concepts For Sony NP-FP70/NP-FP71 Lithium Ion Battery Pack (7.2V 1800 Mah)

2-3.5 hours.

but this is based on my 2 cams.  neither of which is the same model as yours.

a note about ebay oem li batteries.  they work and are great and all.  but you'll probably find that it has a much shorter battery lifetime than the real sonys.  the one i have used to give me about 3-4 hours.  used it for about 2-3 years.  now it gives me 1h20min.  the real sony one i bought in 2003 is still as good as the day i bought it.

[BayTaynt3d]

LCD vs. no LCD will make a BIG difference. But every camera model has it's own run rate, so you'll definitely get a better feel with experience. It's hard to say what battery life you'll get unless someone has the same model camera and the same battery.

Also, have you tried to run line-out from the DAT to the camera before? Not sure about that specific camera, but most consumer cams expect mic-in levels not line in. One simple (albiet less-than-ideal) workaround is to get a cheesy mini attenuater from Rat Shack -- they are sold as a "headphone volume control" usually, they have a female mini on one side and a male mini on the other, with a volume dial in the middle. Not ideal for quality to stick it inbetween, but if the DAT is sending line-level signal and the camera is expecting mic-level, it'll work, and it only costs $10 or so. There are other better options such as XLR-to-Mini adapter boxes that screw into the bottom of consumer cams (most have an AUX mini in with a line/mic switch too), but they're more expensive. Also, another thing to watch out for in your videocam is if you have control over the audio, make sure to turn AUTO GAIN CONTROL OFF!!! And if you can manually adjust the levels of the cam, turn them all the way down to near nil, and then only attenuate the incoming signal as much as you need to get decent levels -- this minimizes the camera's POS preamps in the gain staging.

EDIT: Doh! Another approach is to go out the DAT's heaphone jack and adjust the headphone volume accordingly...