External battery power sequence

[Sdawes]

Hey folks , I am looking at getting and external battery pack to supplement my camera battery as I want to have a go at some lapses , I am intrigued as to how the two batteries work together ie if I start the shoot with a fully charged camera battery plus my external power supply will the camera battery drain first and then the external one takes over or does the external one keep topping up the camersa battery until exhausted leaving the camera battery to run until it too may run out ?

 

[Tim Mayo]

The external battery will drain first before the internal battery. Just make sure that its Power Delivery (PD) certified otherwise it might only provide enough power to charge the battery when the camera is powered off and not power it when turned on. I have the Anker Power Bank, PowerCore+ 26800 PD 45W and also the PowerCore III Elite 19200 60W and they both happily power the A1 turned on.

 

[spudhead]

Could be more than one option out there Steve but for sure one of the Sony battery packs has 4 batteries on board with switching options and a cable from the 4 battery block with a dummy battery box that plugs into the bottom of the camera, so you are not using the in camera battery hence no power loss on switch over

 

[Sdawes]

I was thinking of getting the smallrig unit which would sit on top of my cage and plugs into the usb c port on the side of the camera , a mate of mine says it is a great unit but he is a Nikon shooter and wasnt sure of the answer to my question as relevant to Sony . I want one to power the camera for some time lapse , star trails and camera trapping

 

[spudhead]

Could be more than one option out there Steve but for sure one of the Sony battery packs has 4 batteries on board with switching options and a cable from the 4 battery block with a dummy battery box that plugs into the bottom of the camera, so you are not using the in camera battery hence no power loss on switch over

Should have said I have used one of these in the past

 

[Sdawes]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09N91T4PY?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details that is the one my mate has and swears by it , obviously I woulld have to buy the battery to go with it but it looks a really neat solution on his camera and no need for dummy battery, but having never had the need for one in the past this is new territory for me and dont want to end up buying something that wont serve my needs

 

[Tim Mayo]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09N91T4PY?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details that is the one my mate has and swears by it , obviously I woulld have to buy the battery to go with it but it looks a really neat solution on his camera and no need for dummy battery, but having never had the need for one in the past this is new territory for me and dont want to end up buying something that wont serve my needs

Looks like a nice solution but I couldn't say if it will work correctly or not. There is no mention of it being Power Delivery certified. If you can try your friends before buying that would be your best option. Otherwise this is what I'm using: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08P4J2Z7R/

 

[Sdawes]

Looks like a nice solution but I couldn't say if it will work correctly or not. There is no mention of it being Power Delivery certified. If you can try your friends before buying that would be your best option. Otherwise this is what I'm using: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08P4J2Z7R/

Does yours plug into the USBc slot on the camera or do you use a dummy battery and tray

 

[Tim Mayo]

Does yours plug into the USBc slot on the camera or do you use a dummy battery and tray

Into the USB-C port Steve. So not ideal if it's raining. I've left mine out recently trying to get a shot of a tawny owl that's been perching on our terrace. I got unlucky with the rain one night although fortunately I'd put a bag over the camera and power bank just in case. It still works. No tawny yet though!

 

[Sdawes]

Into the USB-C port Steve. So not ideal if it's raining. I've left mine out recently trying to get a shot of a tawny owl that's been perching on our terrace. I got unlucky with the rain one night although fortunately I'd put a bag over the camera and power bank just in case. It still works. No tawny yet though!

And do you leave your camera battery in situ in the camera as a " back up "

 

[Tim Mayo]

And do you leave your camera battery in situ in the camera as a " back up "

Yes. It won't work without a battery in the camera.

 

[Sdawes]

Yes. It won't work without a battery in the camera.

Thanks mate appreciate your help

 

[spudhead]

And do you leave your camera battery in situ in the camera as a " back up "

question should be directed at your mate he has used it , so can help you, the rig on the link is not expensive, so give it a whirl, the battery just looks like a video camera battery. for sure much cheaper than the sony option

 

[Sdawes]

question should be directed at your mate he has used it , so can help you, the rig on the link is not expensive, so give it a whirl, the battery just looks like a video camera battery. for sure much cheaper than the sony option

Trouble is he doesnt know the answer to my question as I have already asked him , I might give it a go as its really neat as I ca sit it on top of my cage

 

[Tim Mayo]

Trouble is he doesnt know the answer to my question as I have already asked him , I might give it a go as its really neat as I ca sit it on top of my cage

The A1 manual recommends USB-C with Power Delivery and a device capable of 9V/3A. That's 27 watts. The SmallRig device says it's only capable of 18W input/output from its USB-C port, so that might not be enough power for the A1.

 

[Sdawes]

The A1 manual recommends USB-C with Power Delivery and a device capable of 9V/3A. That's 27 watts. The SmallRig device says it's only capable of 18W input/output from its USB-C port, so that might not be enough power for the A1.

Thats really helpful Tim. not sure I want to take the chance on that basis.

 

[Sdawes]

Does yours plug into the USBc slot on the camera or do you use a dummy battery and tray

How many hours usage do you reckon it gives you on the A1 ?

 

[Tim Mayo]

How many hours usage do you reckon it gives you on the A1 ?

I didn’t monitor it closely but I had it running for about 8 hours through the night shooting every 15 seconds and there was still around 40% left in the power bank. That’s with the display off. Of course it’s been quite warm lately, that will probably plummet when the colder weather arrives.

 

[Sdawes]

I didn’t monitor it closely but I had it running for about 8 hours through the night shooting every 15 seconds and there was still around 40% left in the power bank. That’s with the display off. Of course it’s been quite warm lately, that will probably plummet when the colder weather arrives.

Thats impressive though Tim , would cover my star trails and timelapses even if it did 4-5 hrs before dying in cold weather and then I would have the camera battery as fallback if I needed more time

 

[TerryL]

Hey folks , I am looking at getting and external battery pack to supplement my camera battery as I want to have a go at some lapses , I am intrigued as to how the two batteries work together ie if I start the shoot with a fully charged camera battery plus my external power supply will the camera battery drain first and then the external one takes over or does the external one keep topping up the camersa battery until exhausted leaving the camera battery to run until it too may run out ?

That’s exactly how the battery packs for my Sony flashes. I can also leave the batteries out of the flash, and run off the battery pack only.