How To Conserve Battery When Filming
Most DSLRs nowadays are capable of record Total HD video, also due to smart hackers like the Magic Lantern job, their capacities are often equivalent to expensive committed theater cameras.
That’s the reason Canon DSLRs specifically are frequently utilized in separate productions, but also by hobbyist videographers. However, on the downside, video recording may easily drain your battery’s juice. Fortunately, there’s a simple hack that will provide a critical boost for a camera’s battery lifetime.
Unhappy with the quantity of movie shooting time that he got from his Canon EOS Rebel T4i DSLR (a camera which has been stopped, replaced with the T5i), YouTuber Chris Winter invented a means to hook a 10,000 mAh outside battery pack to his camera, with little more than a velcro tape plus a distinctive sexy shoe lifting plate, and a DC coupler, i.e., a “dummy battery” which joins the battery pack into the camera. By employing these easily available and inexpensive things, he was able to improve his own camera’s battery life for nine hours of movie shooting!
However, with everything amazing, there are a couple of downsides to this. For starters, you will have to do a little tinkering yourself. To be able to acquire the battery package hot-shoe mountable, you are going to need to somehow make it connected into some sexy shoe mounting plate that has the ideal dimensions, which Chris was able to perform together using velcro tape. If the outside battery is set up and hammering your camera, then you will, unfortunately, don’t have any hot shoe made for mounting, state, an external mic, or movie lighting (in other words, if you don’t attach extra cold shoes to a battery package — using velcro tape, naturally).
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And ultimately, the cable which goes from the battery pack into the “dummy battery” DC coupler that sits on your camera’s battery compartment may develop into a small nuisance when working the camera, even believing it will be hanging loose within the precise area where all of the switches and dials can be found on the camera rear. But again, once you’re out shooting on a movie, you might not wish to change batteries every single hour so we certainly see how this may enhance your movie shooting experience.
If you are not a Canon DSLR user, worry not: DC couplers of this type that Chris employed for his hack will also be readily available for other music video camera manufacturers, including Nikon, Pentax, Olympus, and Sony. You will only need to do a little hunting through all of the numerous models before you locate the right one on the camera.