Firewire 400 or 800 battery pack for a Hasselblad back on a Cambo Wide DS

[Enda Cavanagh]

Hi all
I want to buy a Firewire 400 battery pack other than the Big wave power Firewire 400 battery packs to power my Hasselblad H3D back on the Cambo Wide DS. I bought 5 of these from this site https://store.hotwire-digital.com/products.php?product=HD%252b-FireWire-power
The back starts turning itself off and on after anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour of non continuous shooting (as in architecture and landscape). The Hasselblad requires 12-18W of power when the Li-Ion grip is not used; the HD+ supplies 9W of power – so the digital back is draining the HD+ at a 200% rate when used on the view cameras. Some users are not capturing as often and therefore not using the 12W regularly, so the HD+ lasts longer for them.
When the BigWave falls below the ability to provide the higher power, it shuts off to avoid circuit damage. At $125 for 30 minutes of shooting it works out very expensive, plus you have to charge all the batteries which is a right pain.
Does anyone know of another option to power the Hasselblad back on a view camera other than

• tethering the back to a laptop
• using that awfully unreliable and over priced imagebank
• the Big wave power

tethering to a laptop or using that awful and over priced

Any help would be very much appreciated.

[yaya]

Or long term perhaps looking at another back more suitable for the Cambo...

[Enda Cavanagh]

Or long term perhaps looking at another back more suitable for the Cambo...

Thanks but buying a brand new camera system to resolve my particular issue is not what I'm looking for. I know that Hasselblad are looking at have a battery similar to the phase one but that's no use to me
I know the advantages of a laptop but again as I said in my post if anyone has a real solution other than the ones I mentioned I'd appreciate it.

[yaya]

Thanks but buying a brand new camera system to resolve my particular issue is not what I'm looking for. I know that Hasselblad are looking at have a battery similar to the phase one but that's no use to me
I know the advantages of a laptop but again as I said in my post if anyone has a real solution other than the ones I mentioned I'd appreciate it.

We actually make a DC-FW adapter (800 or 400) that works with any 12V external battery such as Quantum. Never tried it with a Hassy back though...

[Enda Cavanagh]

That's really interesting Yahir. Could you email me more info about it? I actually just found this post from you on another site. Would have any idea how many shots you get when using the Leaf back with the quantum battery connected with the adaptor? This could be exactly what I am looking for.

http://forum.phaseone.com/Leaf/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=55

[yaya]

That's really interesting Yahir. Could you email me more info about it? I actually just found this post from you on another site. Would have any idea how many shots you get when using the Leaf back with the quantum battery connected with the adaptor? This could be exactly what I am looking for.

http://forum.phaseone.com/Leaf/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=55

A single Samsung SBL-160 (2,350 mAh), on average, lasts about 2-2.5 hrs. You can shoot 3 frames or 1,000 frame in that time

A large Quantum Turbo will last day or two

There are some custom solutions as well: http://www.flickr.com/photos/boinger/5463758826/

[john milich]

interesting, since i have a quantum turbo and the H39 back that i am using on my cambo...sounds like a FW 800 adapter would do the job!

[Enda Cavanagh]

Hi John
Ya it seems like it's the way to go alright. I was actually talking to someone selling quantum batteries yesterday at a  trade fair and the quantum turbo 3 looks like the best option. They sell a cable that can vary the voltage to suit. The battery would last forever. He said it would power 5 hours of video on a 5D mark II. I'll go ahead and get it this week.

[JonMo]

You may also consider the Alien Bees Vagabond.
I use it to power large strobes, it's inexpensive and has both 110v and 12v DC outputs.
They are small enough to strap to my light stands.
Bigger size than the Quantum, but sure smaller than some of the inverters I used in the past.

http://www.alienbees.com/vmini.html

Might be worth a look.

[Enda Cavanagh]

Thanks Jonbo but I reckon I'll go with the Quantum 3 turbo. It's light enough and should last forever at 12Volts. I'll need it for some shoots coming up, both of which will take about 4 or 5 days. It'll save me having to recharge every 5 seconds.

[Enda Cavanagh]

And thanks to yaya and Leaf I now have a simple adaptor ordered which will make my life so much simpler. Problem resolved

[Nick-T]

i think Yair secretly wants to work for Hasselblad

[yaya]

And thanks to yaya and Leaf I now have a simple adaptor ordered which will make my life so much simpler. Problem resolved

One small step in the right direction

[Enda Cavanagh]

i think Yair secretly wants to work for Hasselblad

No I sense he's trying to get me to buy a Leaf camera  

[Enda Cavanagh]

Hi Yair
Just to let you know after a lot of phone calls with the Quantum dealer, Quantum and Hasselblad it looks like the battery should work fine with the Cambo/H3D 39 combination. Hasselblad won't stand over anything because it hasen't been tested but feel it's a sound solution.

I'll post again after the multi day shoots coming up to see how it goes. But fingers crossed it will be the solution I was looking for. Many thanks for your help Yahir 

[john milich]

the solution i am looking for is a single cable that goes from my Quantum Turbo SC directly to the FW800 port on the H39 back.'


the Quantum has a DIN 7pin receptacle, so the cable would be Din 7pin male on one end, FW800 on the other, probably 6-10 ft long and only needs to carry through the + and - voltage (two wires)

jm

[design_freak]

the solution i am looking for is a single cable that goes from my Quantum Turbo SC directly to the FW800 port on the H39 back.'


the Quantum has a DIN 7pin receptacle, so the cable would be Din 7pin male on one end, FW800 on the other, probably 6-10 ft long and only needs to carry through the + and - voltage (two wires)

jm

Need: Soldering iron, plug, Firewire 800 cable and a bit of time. Electronic Knowledge is greatly appreciated.

[john milich]

called quantum and was told they would not help.  their comment was the high voltages could be dangerous, so they would not offer wiring diagrams or advice.
did get the right angle FW adapter from capture integration, but is has a phono type female socket and fw800
my quantum is the Turbo SC

time to get out the voltmeter

[Enda Cavanagh]

Hi all
Sorry for not responding until now. I was involved on multiple projects outside Ireland so I'm just catching up now. The quantum turbo 3 battery was a huge success for charging the H3D 39 on the Cambo Wide DS. The battery would last several days after pretty extensive use including a lot of long exposures after dusk. The leaf DC to firewire adaptor worked fine, It was a little bit to big to fit into the opening to the recessed Firewire 800 connection on the H3D 39 but I simply shaved some of the plastic on the adaptor slightly and that solved the problem.

John. Quantum have a cable that goes from the turbo 3 to a Leaf back via the dc to Firewire 800 adaptor I mentioned (and with a little modification to a Hassleblad back). It has a 7 pin receptacle on the quantum end. I checked with Hassleblad and they were happy that the voltage and wattage of the battery would not damage the back. I don't know if that is the case with the Turbo SC

 

[john milich]

talked to Quantum.

the only powerpacks that will work are the Turbo B or Turbo2x2, for which, Quantum has a pack-to-Leaf cable.  then you need the Leaf to FW adapter

my TurboSC is sol

jm