When you've got a long day of shooting ahead of you, one of the major obstacles you have to navigate is battery power. How are you going to give yourself enough battery life to last you your whole shoot? Of course, one solution is to buy a bunch of the batteries your DLSR comes with, but since they usually don't last more than an hour you're looking at having to spend not only a bunch of money, but also time switching them out. But the guys over at The Film Look have a pretty simple and affordable solution to upgrading your camera's battery life. They show you how in the video below:
Different cameras use different kinds of batteries, so for this article, let's just focus on the example from the video, the Sony NP-FW50, which is a 1020mAh battery that'll get you about 40 minutes to an hour of video shooting time and tend to cost anywhere from $15 to $50 depending on different extra features.
It's common practice for filmmakers to buy up a bunch of these so they can switch them out between shots, however, not having to constantly worry about that or the rising cost is a definite boon to your shoot, your wallet, and your psyche.
One way around having to do this is to buy a dummy battery for your DSLR—the one used in the video is for a Sony A7s and costs about $40. This allows you to mount a larger, more powerful battery that'll last hours longer, like the Sony NP-F750 (about $25). The only issue after this is finding a way to mount the whole thing to your rig, in which case you could use a cage and cheese plate. This is where most of your financial investment will go, since cages can get pretty expensive. The one used in the video is a $400 Tilta ES-T17, but there are some that are half that cost.
Even so, you're looking at many more hours of shooting time, less battery wrangling and charging, and a mind that can focus entirely on getting the perfect shot rather than get the shot before your camera dies.
How do you extend your battery life? Do you use a setup like the one in the video? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: The Film Look
