Arri SRll battery belt

[Isaac Brooks]

Hello,

 

I am using an Arri SRll I borrowed from a friend, but I don't have a power supply for it. Can anyone recommend a battery belt, along with the electronic specifications needed for the SRll, that would be reliable, and not work in the electronics? I know I should be looking for 12V sources, but are there any other requirements that I should keep in mind in order to not strain the camera, it's motor and electronics?

 

Thanks,

 

Isaac Brooks

[Adrian Sierkowski]

As far as I know 12V is all you need. I've powered my SR3 off of a 30V battery belt before for a sun-gun in a pinch.

[Dom Jaeger]

12V or 13.2V should be fine. The upper limit is 18V, so even a fully charged 14.4V battery would probably be OK, but given the age of the camera, it's maybe best to avoid pushing it. With film the camera should draw about 1.2 amps, so a relatively small battery capacity of 1.8 Amp-hours (Ah) will give you about 1.5 hours of normal run-time, enough for eight 400' mags.

 

The original on-board batteries were only 1.2 Ah, these days I recell film school batteries with 1.8 Ah cells. You can make your own choice depending on cost, weight and run-time. If you want more run time you either need more batteries or higher capacity cells. Cheapest option for you is probably off the shelf 12V power packs which you can carry in a back-pack. You just need a power supply cable with a female 4 pin XLR plug at the end.

 

The 4 pin XLR power socket at the back of the camera is wired pin 1: neg, pin 4: +12V. There may be an on-board battery adapter fitted to the XLR socket, it's easily removed by undoing the locking screw.

[Isaac Brooks]

Thanks guys. So Dom, 12V should do it as far as belts are concerned, the amp hours will indicate the longevity of power? I'm looking at simple Bescor belts that are 12V and are at about 14.5 amp hours...

 

Isaac

[Dom Jaeger]

So Dom, 12V should do it as far as belts are concerned, the amp hours will indicate the longevity of power.

 

Exactly.

 

I'm looking at simple Bescor belts that are 12V and are at about 14.5 amp hours...

 

14.4 Ah would last you a very long time, enough for dozens and dozens of mags. Those belts use lead acid cells and weigh around 5kg (11 lbs), which would get you fit but might not be necessary. You don't really need more than what you can shoot in a day. The belt can be recharged overnight. An 8.6 Ah belt weighs 3.6kg (8 lbs) and will give you 7 hours of run time (nearly 40 mags worth), which would usually be more than enough. Depends what your schedule is of course. Also if you're running accessories like a split or mini-monitor out of the camera you'll draw more current and reduce the run time, in which case a higher capacity might be handy.

 

Just something to think about. Gotta look after your knees! B)