DIY Photography

Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

Extend your camera’s battery life 9 times for only $40

Dec 14, 2016 by Dunja Djudjic 7 Comments

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

A while ago, we shared a practical solution for extending a Sony camera battery life with a power bank. If this is something you care about, the guys from The Film Look bring you an even cheaper way of doing it with big NPF Sony batteries. If you shoot film with a DSLR or a mirrorless camera, you should definitely have a look.

Robert and Richard use a Sony NP-FW50 battery as an example. It is a 1020mA battery that can give you about 40 minutes of shooting. When you have a whole day of filming ahead of you, this is not very convenient. One solution is to bring extra batteries, and a single one can cost from $15 to $50, depending on the camera and the battery type. Again, if you have a whole day of shooting ahead of you, this may not be the best solution, since it’s quite pricey.

But a more affordable and more practical solution is using a stronger battery as an external source of power for your camera. For this purpose, the guys use Sony NP-F750 battery, which they generally use to power their LEDs and camera monitors.

First, they bought a dummy battery for a Sony Alpha A7s, which costs about $40. It enables you to plug in external power source into your camera by using the dummy battery on one end, and a female power jack on the other.

Second, they used a battery plate adapter for the Sony NP-F750. They connected all the parts together, put the original battery in the camera and the NP-F750 in the battery plate – and that’s it.

What you need to do next is figure out how to mount this construction to the rig. Since Robert and Richard use Sony A7s cage, they adapted it for the purpose with a 50 mm rod, a cheese plate and some Velcro.

They have also tried this solution with larger NP-F970 batteries. It works too, but it happens that the camera stays idle from time to time. So, if you choose to try it yourself, make sure to use smaller F750 batteries. This solution should enable you about 6 hours of filming, which is more than great compared to 40 minutes with an original battery alone. So, it will give you not only a lot more filming time, but also the time to concentrate on the filming itself and not think about the batteries and how long it will last.

Have you used this hack before? What’s your favorite battery saving solution? Share your thoughts and experience in the comments.

[Upgrade Your Camera Battery | The Film Look via No Film School]

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

This handy guide offers five tips to extend the life of your Godox and other Lithium-Ion batteries Photographers turn their homes into cameras to portray life during coronavirus times An External Canon Battery That Lasts 9 Times Longer Default ThumbnailHow to Make a DSLR Battery Run 4 Times Longer

Filed Under: Tutorials Tagged With: Battery, camera battery, extend battery life, External Battery, Video

About Dunja Djudjic

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

« Don’t Choose A Unique Style: Finding Your Voice in a Noisy Room
How to use an inexpensive old analogue light meter for modern digital photography »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup
DIYPhotography

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts

  • Sony almost joined team Micro Four Thirds in 2008
  • Photographer’s Block? Here’s how to get out of a creative rut
  • Zhiyun MOLUS G60 & X100 LED lights are tiny-tiny powerful LEDs
  • Three new full-frame and APS-C Sigma lenses coming soon
  • Sony launches DSC-HX99 retinal projection kit for the visually impaired

Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy