For those of you with 1D MKII / 1Ds MKII / and all other that use the NP-E3 batteries, I have an interesting solution for you.
I have a race coming up where I will be photographing at below freezing temperatures, and I did not want to deal with the battery life drop off of the NP-E3 NIMHs. I was trying to shove a lithium battery in the NP-E3 housing, but the shape of the housing made it difficult to put the battery and a regulator in. Instead I have done the following
I tried splicing a cable in to fit between the 9-12v output, only to find that the output is 10.5 volts (below what the 1d requires to start up). The 16-19v output is at 19v.
It is a regulator designed to drop the 19v output to 12v... and after splicing, it works like a charm.
The battery is ~18000 mah @5v, which I equate to ~7500 mah @12v - any losses due to the converter. I fully expect it to last better than 4 NP-E3s in cold weather!!!! (and it could do much much better)
I still have to get extensions setup, but I am excited to go out shooting with it.
Let me know if you cannot see the images. If I get a chance I will post my own later.
trung hoang wrote:
Nice can u take the picture of the camera with this battery
Imagine a 1d mkII with a chord going down to your shoulder bag. I usually just throw the battery in my shoulder bag or pocket.
It all works, I only have one problem in reporting back.... I have no idea how long it lasts. Even with my longest session I can barely put a ding in this battery pack.
Did something similar quite a while ago..
12.8V 6800mAh LiFePO4 (green) and 12V 2000mAh low self-discharge NiMH (blue)
Coiled cable is a Quantum flash cable, and connectors are Anderson PowerPoles, one LiFePO4 pack including all the parts is under $45. My LiFePO4 pack did save my day during a winter wedding. This works great for my 1D I as well, NiMHs are never good enough for 1D I. On a side note, I am in the process of creating LiFePO4 NP-E3s (12.8V 1200mAh)-going to weld 8 LiFePO4 AA together.
I made up an external battery pack for my 1D3 when I went to Antarctica in Feb 2008. I used the Canon supplied dummy battery and rewired the plug.
I posted the details in DPReview at the time.
This is what I posted then. I'm going to Antarctica in February and decided that as batteries don't perform very well in sub-zero conditions, I'd make an external battery pack that I could wear around my waist & so keep the battery well within it's normal operating temperature range. The 1D3 uses a Li-ion battery which is much better than the previous NiMH batteries used in previous 1 series cameras. The NiMH cells rapidly cease to work below 0 deg C (32F). I found that I could get a commercial package of Li-ion cells made up with electronics to protect each cell. This I decided would be much preferable to a solution using NiMH cells. Also the package was 5200 mAh some 2.4 times the Canon battery capacity. So it should be good for about 7000 frames per charge & charging facilities are a bit scarce in Antarctica.
The Canon battery for the MkIII cameras are rated at 11.1 volts which is 3 Li-Ion cells. The package I've used is 4 cells (14.8v) and so with the regulator can give full voltage (in fact 11.3v) until the pack is virtually exhausted.
I seem to remember seeing an aftermarket Lithium battery and seperate charger that was being offered for the old 1 series but can't seem to find the link. Anyone ever try them?
400d wrote:
Did something similar quite a while ago..
12.8V 6800mAh LiFePO4 (green) and 12V 2000mAh low self-discharge NiMH (blue)
Coiled cable is a Quantum flash cable, and connectors are Anderson PowerPoles, one LiFePO4 pack including all the parts is under $45. My LiFePO4 pack did save my day during a winter wedding. This works great for my 1D I as well, NiMHs are never good enough for 1D I. On a side note, I am in the process of creating LiFePO4 NP-E3s (12.8V 1200mAh)-going to weld 8 LiFePO4 AA together.
Batteryspace.com or All-battery.com.. http://tinyurl.com/y9rkgps
Button top could be a problem though. I wish there's an alternative source for these cells, not that they don't have good service (both are basically run by the same group of people), just their price is a little high for my taste, they are making sooo much from these hard-to-buy lithium cells.
That is not epoxy, too messy, it's black hot glue, which I bought 30 7/16-10" sticks for $16.97 on ebay years ago, one of the best stuff for DIYers! This is the best price I can find for now, 10 for $14.2: http://tinyurl.com/yjl79do
For my second adapter, I actually used a bamboo chopstick instead of that little plastic rod.
dad3and3 wrote:
I seem to remember seeing an aftermarket Lithium battery and seperate charger that was being offered for the old 1 series but can't seem to find the link. Anyone ever try them? http://tinyurl.com/yclxa4e http://tinyurl.com/y9g7h48 http://tinyurl.com/ycta2lj <- It seems they are using 4S2P Li-Ion 3.7V 500mAh AA->16.8V 1000mAh (Max. voltage of Li-Ion is 4.2V), I don't see any protection PCB in the design however. Price is $62 USD each, I guess shipping will add another $10 to that, only IF they manage to ship it via regular airmail. From the description, it claims the cells used are polymer instead of traditional cylindrical cells which are less likely to explode..as far as I know, Li-PO and Li-Ion are just as dangerous when shorted. It also mentions one shooter was able to get 2115 shots while another was 1520. Personally, I would stick with LiFePO4 @ 12.8V instead.
400d wrote:
Batteryspace.com or All-battery.com.. http://tinyurl.com/y9rkgps
Button top could be a problem though. I wish there's an alternative source for these cells, not that they don't have good service (both are basically run by the same group of people), just their price is a little high for my taste, they are making sooo much from these hard-to-buy lithium cells.
That is not epoxy, too messy, it's black hot glue, which I bought 30 7/16-10" sticks for $16.97 on ebay years ago, one of the best stuff for DIYers! This is the best price I can find for now, 10 for $14.2: http://tinyurl.com/yjl79do
For my second adapter, I actually used a bamboo chopstick instead of that little plastic rod.
http://tinyurl.com/yclxa4e http://tinyurl.com/y9g7h48 http://tinyurl.com/ycta2lj <- It seems they are using 4S2P Li-Ion 3.7V 500mAh AA->16.8V 1000mAh (Max. voltage of Li-Ion is 4.2V), I don't see any protection PCB in the design however. Price is $62 USD each, I guess shipping will add another $10 to that, only IF they manage to ship it via regular airmail. From the description, it claims the cells used are polymer instead of traditional cylindrical cells which are less likely to explode..as far as I know, Li-PO and Li-Ion are just as dangerous when shorted. It also mentions one shooter was able to get 2115 shots while another was 1520. Personally, I would stick with LiFePO4 @ 12.8V instead. ...Show more →
I was going to rig in a LI-PO pack, but wanted to go LiFePO4 for safety. Thanks for the link.
Those LI-PO batteries look a touch scary. That many cells and no balancing..... Where did you see the pcb. All I can see is the picture of old trash NIMH cells.
SloPhoto wrote:
I was going to rig in a LI-PO pack, but wanted to go LiFePO4 for safety. Thanks for the link.
Those LI-PO batteries look a touch scary. That many cells and no balancing..... Where did you see the pcb. All I can see is the picture of old trash NIMH cells.
but still interesting.
Honestly I wouldn't strap a 14.8V Li-Ion pack to my waist like Ross did above..
On second thought, the pic of batteries shown on the Chinese product page may not be Li-Ion batteries after all, since they all have different colors which means they are probably ripped from old NiMH NP-E3 like you said. Furthermore, I now think what the description says is that the Li-Ion NP-E3 uses rectangular Li-Ion polymer cells (rather than Li-Ion AA like I said in my previous post), I do hope they did use PCB in their custom made NP-E3.
400d wrote:
Batteryspace.com or All-battery.com.. http://tinyurl.com/y9rkgps
Button top could be a problem though. I wish there's an alternative source for these cells, not that they don't have good service (both are basically run by the same group of people), just their price is a little high for my taste, they are making sooo much from these hard-to-buy lithium cells.
That is not epoxy, too messy, it's black hot glue, which I bought 30 7/16-10" sticks for $16.97 on ebay years ago, one of the best stuff for DIYers! This is the best price I can find for now, 10 for $14.2: http://tinyurl.com/yjl79do
For my second adapter, I actually used a bamboo chopstick instead of that little plastic rod.
http://tinyurl.com/yclxa4e http://tinyurl.com/y9g7h48 http://tinyurl.com/ycta2lj <- It seems they are using 4S2P Li-Ion 3.7V 500mAh AA->16.8V 1000mAh (Max. voltage of Li-Ion is 4.2V), I don't see any protection PCB in the design however. Price is $62 USD each, I guess shipping will add another $10 to that, only IF they manage to ship it via regular airmail. From the description, it claims the cells used are polymer instead of traditional cylindrical cells which are less likely to explode..as far as I know, Li-PO and Li-Ion are just as dangerous when shorted. It also mentions one shooter was able to get 2115 shots while another was 1520. Personally, I would stick with LiFePO4 @ 12.8V instead. ...Show more →
Thanks, I wish they were more readily available as the weight savings alone would be great. I just haven't found anyone that has actually used them so for now I guess I will stick with what I have.
