Tagged with step - Personal View Talks

Step-up USB adapters for Panasonic, Canon, Sony & others

DrDave — Tue, 30 Jan 2018 23:19:58 +0000

These have been around for awhile, but the price has come way down. Basically, it's a USB DC-DC converter that lifts the standard USB 5 volts to, for example, 8.4 volts for Panasonic.

I purchased this one.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073XYYYWR

There's another model that has two USB inputs, so you could use two power banks or use one and draw more amps.

I was skeptical, and the packaging made me even more so, cardboard & crinkly shrinkly, but I plugged it into my cheapest 5200mah power bank and measured the voltage. 8.8 volts, which is just about right (I've gone as high as 9.2, but prefer not to). Notably, the needle on my trusty voltmeter did not wiggle. Also noteworthy, it didn't seem to need the recommended 3 amp draw. It comes with a 3 amp wall wart if you just want to plug the camera into the mains for power.

It comes with a bog standard dummy battery. The step up converter is tiny, not much thicker than the cable. Plugged in the camera (Panasonic G7) and waited. The 5200mah power bank ran the camera for 156 minutes, or two and one half hours. Not bad--you are going to lose some power in the conversion so don't skimp on the power bank. I'll do some tests later with my RAV 20,000mah bank.

Camera ran cooler than expected.

So there you have it, easy, lightweight power from USB. I had been using 9 volt packs with stacks of Panasonic 18650 cells (runs forever....). But this is really easy.

You can buy adapters for most cameras, and considering the fact that it comes with a dummy battery, the price is cheap. Will it burn out? Interesting question.

[Added formatting and photo, VK]

Hardware search: rotating step ring for mattebox use with rotating lens fronts

QuickHitRecord — Sat, 03 Aug 2013 11:30:19 +0000

My mattebox is mounted to a rod system with a sliding base from LockCircle, so lenses that extend when focusing or zooming are not a problem (the mattebox slides on the rods). But lenses with rotating fronts still pose a problem and I'm trying to find a some kind of anti-friction or bearing-based intermediary ring to put between the matte box and the lens's filter thread.

Before anyone suggests it, I know that I could remove the glass from a circular polarizer and use that, but I don't think that it would be smooth enough. I'd like to see if there is anything that is specifically designed for this.

Panasonic GH2 Hacks good for a Noob

GAH80 — Sat, 10 May 2014 16:41:21 +0000

Hi There,

I know the GH2 hack topic has been discussed extensively on this forum and thanks to @driftwood for the great work, but as a noob I was hoping someone can help break down some of the benefits of the following Hacks that seem to be very popular. I want to get the best quality video and stills possible without compromising stability.

From my research these seem to be some of the most popular hacks out there: TerraQuake, Mysteron, Sedna, Quantum...

My main reason for purchasing the camera is to shoot a music video in the park. Lots of greens and earthy colors during the daytime. Yet I want to create my own versatile Cam for great video and stills while being stable.

Not sure if any of the patches I mention can produce stunning images and video in this setting. Would that same patch be good for shooting low light indoor settings? Also, maybe a silly question but do these hacks work with video and stills?

Quantum 9b looks like it does great with lowlight:

However I've seen some videos slight glitches in the footage with more movement involved:

Please keep in mind I will be using a 64 GB SDHC Class 10 UHS-1 Flash Memory Card 95MB/s.

I found this link very useful, for noobs attempting to hack their GH2: http://www.sam-mallery.com/2011/11/an-ez-guide-to-hacking-the-panasonic-gh2/

I'm looking for experienced filmographers who can direct me accordingly - pros and cons.

Any help would be extremely appreciated and help relief a lot of anxiety accompanying this process ; )

Thank you all!!