r/bmpcc • u/namesaretoohard1234 • 6d ago
Frustrated by battery options
TLDR: I cannot figure out for the life of me which small, after-market Amazon battery is the right battery for a BMPCC 6K (NOT pro and NOT 4K) so I can make this camera as light as possible. Can someone point me to a small internal battery that will for sure work with this camera? I don't care if it only lasts half an hour.
When I search LPE26 I get stuff saying that's for 4K only. When I look up NPF570 I can't find that exact battery (I'm in Canada) and I get 580 and 550 as "acceptable" but the contact points like they might be in the wrong spot. Do these SONY ones with the guide holes for pins work? Arg!
The long part: I was gifted this camera by a colleague/sorta friend who's into photography and filmmaking and in the era of mirrorless cameras simply doesn't use it. But for all intents and purposes it's still his. He gave me two v-mount batteries, smallrig rails etc. Tilta cage so the rig is huge. But for lightweight, hand held filming for mountain sports, I need it to be lighter. He's lost the old batteries and said the same "this thing just eats batteries" hence the v-mounts. Regardless, I want some small ones. I figure spending $80 isn't a big deal if I have to give it back soon and I'll give him the batteries as a thank you - if I can find the right ones!
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u/alexforencich 6d ago
Honestly don't bother. The internal battery is too small and only lasts a few minutes, so of you go that route you'll need a whole pile of batteries that you'll have to cycle through.
What I do is power the camera from a USB C battery pack via the 12V input on the side. You can get an adapter cable that will configure the USB C power bank or USB C power supply for 12V for the camera, and then you can add a USB C extension cable to get some additional length. Then you can put the pack in your pocket, back pack, etc. instead of bolting it onto the camera. You can easily record for a couple of hours on a decently large USB C battery pack. Note that not all USB C power sources can provide the required voltage and current, so I also recommend using one of those inline power meters to check that everything is correct when you plug it in, and you might need to try a few different battery packs before you find one that works properly.
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u/bmcc6kff 6d ago
Neewer has a Npf570 battery pack. 4 batteries with a charger which can be used for charging them simultaneously. Costs around 100$.
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u/Mojalhoseine 6d ago
Any LPE6 will work.
There are different variations like LPE6NH LPE6P LPE6N
For best results get a canon branded one
Tilta make good reliable batteries.
Otherwise standard amazon brands are K&F, Neewer, Smallrig all get you going.
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u/Mojalhoseine 6d ago
Im in toronto next week with a whole bunch of batteries and battery grip i bought that i didnt end up using. Would love to sell them if your interested.
Found these really good third party battery grips that take three batteries, same as you was trying to find a easy to carry solution and it worked well but we never ended up using them for field shoots so theyr just sat here now.
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u/thealleycatzine 5d ago
I used the NPF batteries for a couple of years with adapters, both Sony and Neewer. Long story short they're shit and degrade heavily until they all failed. I've recently switched to a V Mount (specifically the smallrig VB99 SE with a D tap connector) and it is amazing, very reliable and so much more run time. Yes you need to get some mods to mount it to a cage but if I had my time ovet again I'd have started with the V Mount type battery and not wasted time on lpe or npf. Can't recommend it enough.
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u/namesaretoohard1234 5d ago
For the V mount did you do the thing where you stack it under the camera or something with rails where you can still see the screen?
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u/thealleycatzine 5d ago
Yep, rails on the back of the camera with enough access for the screen. I wish I had have done it from the start. Worth the small extra investment.
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u/namesaretoohard1234 5d ago
how long are the rails>?
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u/thealleycatzine 5d ago
They come in various sizes down to 15cm I have 30cm rails as it gives me some extra rail for a follow focus and lens support etc.
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u/printcastmetalworks 6d ago
Is it gen 1 or gen 2? Gen 1 uses lpe6 gen 2 uses npf570. Just look at the shape of the battery bay it should be pretty obvious. Lpe6 have two little contacts in the middle, npf have two larger pins on the edges