I shot my 1st wedding in 1985 and this guy has the real life experience from someone actually working professionally not just a KZfaqr figuring out how to do something without ever actually doing it in real life. Thanks!

I’m an RC guy and I use RC batteries sometimes. One tip is to attach a low voltage alarm to the balance connector. If a lipo goes below a certain voltage threshold. Like 3.0v per cell. They can swell up, get hot and explode. 3.3-3.4 is usually a save level. They also have to be stored correctly. At 3.85v per cell. But they work great and will generally power a light way longer than you need one for.

I've learned so much from this channel that I've never even heard mentioned on any other photography channels. So many channels are focused on setting up the shot and on post-production, and they skip over all of this other practical and very useful information. Thank you for covering this stuff and sharing so much helpful knowledge. I'm so happy that I found this channel, there's no other one like it, and most of these other guys barely have 1/4 of the experience that you do. Thanks again Markus!

EVERYTHING about this video(including the awesome shirt!), blew.my.mind! Bravo my friend...Bravo!

If you plan to use the RC type battery you can get the matching XTxx connector so you won't need the alligator clips. I think that would be a better solution to avoid accidentally hooking it up backwards. The LiPo packs also need a dedicated charger which will charge/discharge and put a storage charge on the battery when not in use for a while. As Robert said, it's not a bad idea to add a LiPo alarm the the balance port. It shortens the life of a LiPo to over discharge it and the LiPo alarm monitors each cell in the battery. You can also go with the LiFePO4 type battery. You can find a 12 Ah for under $70 pretty easy. You have to come up with your own wiring and mounting but cost wise they are probably the cheapest option and they are deep cycle batteries and should last many thousand charge cycles.

BEST EPISODE YET!!!! I can't understand all the 14.8v adaptors until now!!! You gave me confidence to try this. I was searching for battery powered lights and you just made me realized I already own them with a few DIY modifications like these. THANK YOU MARKUS!!!

Very informative! Great content all around. Your natural delivery and no hype approach to the material at hand puts you up there with the best of the KZfaq presenters. Thank you!

Thanks Markus for all you do 😊

Thanks for the light stand!!! Got it in the mail earlier today. Really appreciate all that you do.

Thanks so much for walking through all these batteries and the variety of options.

I finally figured out some of these things myself recently. Thank you for always bringing education and simple explanations to this field!!

You are truly a gift to the community

Thanks for the great battery info Marcus!

Hi folks, just to pick up on an answer below the Radio Control (RC) batteries usually use a XT60 connector. All sorts available pre-wired from the usual on-line suppliers. You can also buy very good RC battery chargers at very reasonable prices compared to pro video gear. These chargers will do an excellent job of cell balancing your RC battery pack and maintain its life for as long as possible. Do take care wirings wiring things up, there's not much voltage involved so you can't electrocute yourself but a lot of current can flow which can give you a nasty burn or start a fire. Lithium based batteries are very difficult to extinguish if the do burst into flame so take the usual precautions as you would with any other rechargeable power pack.

always impressed by your insight

Thanks! I don't find this topic boring at all!

I shouldn't be surprised but I'm always fascinated by your ingenuity

It's so wild the amount of batteries we have powering 'everything'. Thanks for the information Mr. Markus, and especially the demonstration with using a multi-meter.

Awesome battery-type survey! Gonna start epoxying v-mount V's to everything...

I like your channel and your knowledge set, had no idea about the powering of batteries with anything, very help and thank you.

Learned tons of useful important info from this 🔌💡

Thank you, very Timely and helpful, I'm currently using NP and plates to power both my camera rigs and my all my lights. I have about 20+ NP and have been looking to move over to V-mount. Love the shirt by the way!

Thanks, very useful tutorial! Some great “MacGyvering” too!

Great tip for the cord!

this is one of the best videos about POWER lights! Thanks alot!

Damn Markus great job as always!

Impressively one of the most simple yet valuable videos on KZfaq?

This is a very very important video, sometimes we forget the importance of having several good sources of batteries when we were away from home. Thanks for the info, again you gave me new ideas. thanks for the price comparison it's crucial and no one does it on youtube at this level. again thank you thank you. Wohooo🤘🏻

Very insightful video. Thanks, man.

OMG I have always wondered about this!! THANK YOU!!!

Markus talks about the most interesting things and they're very informative.. thank you good sir!

Everything looks easy with this guy..

Helpful video! I’ve been wanting to get into external energy sources. Thanks Markus!

I see RC peeps already mentioned good LiPo safety tip. It's well worth looking into!! 100wh is a per battery airplane limit. Congrats to the winners!

Wow, a Radio Shack analog multi-meter. How retro. I bet you have owned this for 30-40 years and it still works. I have its big brother. Again over 40 years old. Cool. Keep up the great videos!

Amazing, thanks for your work

Thank you for this very informative tutorial.

Great content as usual! Especially for videographers like me who don’t have an endless supply of money 😊

Thanks so much for this video!🙏🏽🙏🏽 super helpful. All the best.

I love this channel. Markus you always cut through the BS and marketing. Pragmatic information. Much appreciated.

Great vid as always, very helpful! Keep on keepn on!

Man your real set experance realy shines threw onn videos like this. There is so much overpriced "prosumer" junk out there that is more expensive and worse than what the pros actually use. I relate to this strongly being an recording and mixing engineer looking at a lot of the hifi audio market.

Nice review. Very useful. Thx.

This guy manages to make batteries interesting

Great video! Thank you.

Thank you. Very informative 🎉

This video just saved my life

also your shirt is gorgeous.... I love the yellow and turquoise paisley!

Hi folks, sub 100 watt-hour lithium-ion batteries have become popular as they can be taken onto planes in carry on luggage. Note they are not allowed as baggage hold items. The terminals need to be protected and there are limits about how many per passenger. Check before arriving at the airport! There are very heavy fines for disregarding these limits. These regulations are for safety reasons.

I use to date this guy!!!!! He was fun!!!

Love the antique volt meter, could be from the 1960s, but still works. Better then most the modern ones that need a battery.

Are you reading my mind?? I was just looking for v-mount batteries :DD thank you I will watch this video till the end!

Thanks very much for the opportunity to win a battery! I've been wanting to rig up a monitor for field use/tethering and with half the expense out of the way, this would give me the push.

great video !

Super fun video! Thx

Great Video

I have such a love/hate relationship with batteries. I hate wires, but I hate carrying so many batteries too.

I have the SmallRig 50 for my A7IV hand held rig. I was willing to pay more for the connection options. 8v dc goes into the camera via dummy battery and the 12v for a monitor. The dc connectors are different sizes, avoiding mistakenly plugging the 12v into the camera and frying it. The screen is nice and big making easy to tell at a glance exactly how much power remains. While I don't use the usb ports the usb c is capable delivery more power . Most older v mount batteries only have USB A 2.0 ports that will not power many newer devices with higher power requirements.

Great Video "the 99 or 100Wh magic number" is due to max wh in signle battery you can take onboard on a plane on 99,9% of airlines. This is why i needed to buy smaller battery for my Godox AD1200 :D. I'm glad that manufacturers started to think about that now this is why i bought four VB99 instead of two VB155

That's really cool Markus, I think a knowledge of electronics is probably needed, which I don't have

Thanks, helpful!

Cool, That for all the help !

WOW! I don't think I realized that Fotodiox offers batteries. I've only ever used thier adapters for my old Minolta manual lenses and my FD mount Canon lenses.

Thanks mate... 👍😁👣

Thank you, Markus. Also, love the shirt!!! Where did you get it? Big fan of the Paisley myself, although I might need a different color as that green color doesn't go so well with my olive-colored skin.

I was considering the small rig versus neewer... Decisions decisions. I have my first video client for a wedding this month and I need to power my Canon R5C non-stop all day

1999 purchased my first Sony Li ion camera battery cost $250 was worth every penny

Would love to see you make a video about reducing echo or noise reflection in an untreated room. I have seen where people have used pencil mics like the oktova hypercardioid mic instead of the standard shotgun mic for better results when your trying to keep the mic out of frame. Just thought I’d throw it out there since you recently made the lav mic videos. 🤙

Buen video y buena camisa

All dc voltage adapters have a diagram on the label that shows if it is centre or outside positive.

Super bro

I was just thinking that it would be cool if Markus, being a practical guy shownig us cheap and fast setups, did a video on some big budget piece of kit like Alexa or big expensive cine lenses! Of course, from time to time!😄😂

People forget that LED lights and flashes can usually be powered by batteries. The question of course is how much battery power do you need (obviously larger lights may need more power than smaller lights but even a 400 watt Godox can run off one battery for about 500 flashes, which is very good, and the battery it comes with isn't very big or heavy). But above all, these battery packs open a whole world of artificial lighting options, whereas 10-20 years ago, you either had to haul around big batteries (this was pre-Li-ION and NiMH) or you were stuck with using AC power. But the lights of today can almost always be powered by battery power, which is excellent for people who need portable light (on-location portrait photographers, wedding photographers, videographers/vloggers, etc). If you don't have a meter, you can look up the polarity of the plug as well and on some power supplies, it's printed on the bottom on the label. The voltage is the most important thing, the amperage (as with regular battery packs) will tell you how long it can run for (although some lights may require a minimum amount of wattage to run, so volts x amps = watts). Also the 100 Whr thing likely is so that people can travel with the battery packs. As you likely cannot fly with a 220 Whr battery but 100 Whr and less, you certainly can. You may get asked by TSA or they may inspect the battery to ensure it's 100 Whr or less ,but just buy two of them versus one large battery (It's 100 Whr per battery per the TSA).

The reason most batteries are 100 watt hours or less is that is the maximum you can take on an airplane. Also remember that all batteries must be in your carry on luggage, not in your checked baggage.

Great video. Do you have any solutions for higher voltage lights like the Amaran 100/200 series? The Aputure solution is a 179 dollar adaptor that requires two batteries. I'd rather buy a different light for that much money. I tried using their AC adaptor and my little 40v and 80v to AC inverters that go with my lawn tool batteries but their AC adaptor started buzzing like crazy because it's a switched inverter instead of a sinusoidal one. I've thought about making some kind of solution adapting those Greenworks batteries with some voltage correcting device but haven't gotten the courage to get that experimental yet.

You also have to be sure your adapter can provide enough current for the device. For example, if your device requires 200 milliamps, you need a transformer at least that large (500 milliamps, 1 amp, etc.). You can go bigger, but not smaller. Otherwise your transformer will get hot and burn out. Voltage and polarity are important, but wattage (current) is important also. With batteries as well. The more battery current available, the longer your unit will run.

hi, the new smallrig or Neewer 99wh how much time works with the lights led of 120w or 220w (also just at about 50% of power) for example? thank you.

Hi Markus. Can I use a regular charger such as the REYTRIC Dual D-Tap (P Tap) Travel Charger to charge a CAME -TV V-Mount battery? Really need to know as I'm about to invest in a couple. Thank you.

It's really strange that the smallrig battery is so expensive here in the US. I bought a VB99 in China where it's manufactured and it only costs $100.

I'm more impressed with your mirror-scaled Radio Shack multimeter. How old is that thing?

Quick question are you going to WPPI, I’m just going, not taking any of the classes. I’m also going to B&C to get sensor cleaning, on my a7Riii.

My IDX Endura Duo 150 has a 16.8v output. I'm going to use it with my Canon C70. Do you think it will be ok to power my c70 straight from the IDX or should I use a small rig mount?

The Smallrig you can charge with a USB-C 65w charger

Hey Marcus, How about taking the NP-F plug of some cheap or old charger to plug the batteries on easier? By the way, thanks for your help in choosing a camera, I'm really happy with the SONY z90 and I'm gonna shoot my first student film on it in two weeks. Do you have some advice for me in props? I want to shower my talent in glass chards. do you know some cheap rubbery material that I can use instead of shugar glass? If you want to read the script, I can send it to you, but careful, it's in German :D (4 Pages, 6 minute Film)

Those clips are called alligator clips. I know you probably know that but while filming you just forgot. Great video by the way.😊

Very nice shirt Markus. Do you know if we can use the WellMaking 14,8V batteries directly on the Aputure Amaran 60D or X ?

one question , if my monitor and camera have different voltage is it bad to connect them directly to the battery with D-TAP spittle , or shall I be aware of something? or shall I get a v mount plate with the different voltage inputs?

Polarity isn't a real issue anymore and problems are really rare. Remember in the 80/90s, there was always chaos with this connections. 🙂 I love your shirt. 😍 Where can I get this?

Great, informative video! Do you know of a way to power something like the Godox SL60W on the go? Is there a certain kind of power bank or vmount that would work? Thanks, Markus!

Great video! ...I have a question, can I power a 12v led light with a 14 v battery (d-tap) or will it damage the light. I have a vid pro 330X light ...Thank you?

I have had very good luck with Kastart battery packs. Between camera and NP-F batteries, I must own 30 or more. I dissassembled one and found that it uses Lishen LR1865SK cells. Not Japanese cells but from what I can tell a reputable Chinese brand.

Good stuff - but in addition to the voltage the amperage needs to be high enough as well.. For instance, to power a 100 watt light with a resistance of 2.25 (which is probably low) you would need 15v and at least 6.7 amps.. The voltage can be considered the pressure where the amperage can be considered the flow rate.. So if you have a gallon jug of water with a hose going straight down, that is 2 inches then that water (energy) will go through the hose very quickly. The voltage is whatever pressure that gravity "puts" on that water. But if the hose is only .25 inches it will take a long time to get the energy where it needs to go. So amperage is like the size of the hose. The batteries don't always give you the amperage rating but there is google! So, for example double a batteries are 1.5 v and generally can supply peaks of up to 2 amps. But you can't just string 10 double a batteries together (to get to that 15 volts) and power the light (even for a short period of time) because while the voltage will add up in series, but the current (amperage) does not. So essentially the 10 AA batteries may not deliver enough energy fast enough to light the bulb. (The bulb is essentially the resistance..) Hope this helps - bottom line, like Markus said - you can use a lot of batteries for a lot of things - just make sure that the voltage is within the devices rating - and that you have enough current. Bottom line, if I understand it right, too much voltage can damage the item, but not too much amperage. Also, if you try to use something without enough amperage then that will not hurt the device either. Oh, and mah doesn't tell you the amperage output of a battery - it tells you the capacity.. It can put out x amps per hour with a pressure of whatever voltage it has.

8v? I said the same thing. Go figure. I used to use a lot of emergency light batteries, those were all deep cycle, and 12v, so it hit most of the gear I used to use. And being super cheap, I loved those things. Exposed top terminals though, so had to be careful transporting them.

Shocking!

@MarkusPix Have you found any battery shells, letting the user swap 18650's? Guess if there was a good one out there the battery companies would be out of business.

Another option is a 14volt cordless drill battery

can make a review about the video light you where holding at time 12:36. i am thinking of buying that light but can't reviews anywhere.

Be careful with those crocodile clamps. The thin wires are only rated to 1A and get warm if you put more thru. 80W @14V are 5.5A

New devices start to use USB for power, like Colbor, so here comes a question - how do these batteries compare to powerbanks? I did use a powerbank to power CL60 without a problem and the most challenging part was... hanging it close enough, as powerbanks are usually designed without any mounts. Thankfully I've picked a rather narrow one (Veger 100W), so a smartphone clamp was able to grab it reliably.

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