12v for a BMPCC

[MombasaFlash]

Has anyone ever customised a Z-15 BMPCC to supply 12v to the camera, instead of stopping everything every 15 minutes to remove the camera from the gimbal and replace its battery?

 

[Tahoe Ed]

I get more than 15 minutes. I have three batteries and rotate them through as they are depleted.

 

[MombasaFlash]

Well I also have three batteries and I was being slightly sarcastic saying "fifteen minutes", but even if you get thirty or forty minutes it is still tiresome to have to remove the camera to replace the battery several times a day. So a nice handy 12v supply from the mount into the charge socket would eliminate that particular fiddle-faddle. I would like to know if there is a 12v supply with sufficient current somewhere on the Z15-BMPCC - preferably on the HDMI board to avoid flying tangled cables - that could be siphoned off to feed the camera.

 

[Alpine Aerials]

Sounds like a nice idea but I think there is no 12V available in the cabling of the Zenmuse BMPCC. You could wire externally and get 12V from the copter. Should not be too hard.
In winter we are getting one single flight out of a BMPCC battery. When it´s cold the camera dies at around 50%...

However I have a lot of batteries and the battery is switched in 1-2 minutes.

Greetings.

 

[MombasaFlash]

... one single flight out of a BMPCC battery...

???! Ye Gods. Well, that is why I was asking. I have had the BMPCC sitting in its delivery box for about two years. Finally got it out and tried it and I have to say that I am really impressed with the image quality. I thought the GH3 was pretty damn good until I saw the BMPCC resolution.

So there is a Zen on the way but the first thing I will be investigating is external power. Constantly changing a stupid camera battery is no way to work. How dumb of DJI not to think the same thing when they built the Zen for it.

 

[econfly]

The BMPCC battery situation is a joke. It's an amazing camera with an absolutely terrible battery life. I've considered wiring in a BEC to power it, but then I would lose the 360 freedom on the Zen. Haven't poked around on the Zen to see if there is a 12v rail, but given how sensitive these Zens are I'm not sure I want to mess with it.

 

[MombasaFlash]

... I've considered wiring in a BEC to power it, but then I would lose the 360 freedom on the Zen...

Voila. The eternal 360° Pan axis problem.

The likely problem will be that any voltage close enough might not have the amperage and so, as you suggest, will upset normal operation of the Zen. There has to be a solution though. There is a solution for everything.