Sony PMW-EX1 12v batteries

When I got my Sony EX1 camcorder, there was no availlable batteries. They just went on the market few weeks later. As usual, Sony’s battery pack are really expensive. They are working perfectly, but….

My first thought was to wait for some other brand… but as far as I know, we are near the end of february and there are still none…

As the shooting of the first short (Bird Of Prey) was comming, I had to find a solution.

I ended by :

- opening the Sony EX1 charger and replace the cable for the camera by a XLR4 plug
- put a XLR4 male plug on the EX1 power cable
- buy  two 12 Volt 7AH lead/acid batteries
- build a cable with female XLR4 on one side and a car plug in the other.

Here are the pictures :

For information, opening the EX1 charger is really easy and related on another blog. As I remember, just remove the 2 screw (which are under the sticker), then use a thin tool to open.
I first wanted to put a XLR4 socket, but wasn’t ready to « break » the case (lake a hole in it). I just put a cable going to a plug.

The standard XLR4 plugs are :
plug 1 : ground
plug 4 : hot (+12v)
Other plugs not used

The EX1 seems to be able to handle from 11v to almost 17v. No problem to use a car battery with the car running. Then you will have almost 13,6 or 13,8v.  Just be carefull to stop the camera before starting the engine. This will reduce the voltage for a few moment and will power down, then up the camera. Even if it’s not critical, you better avoid this kind of things.

I hope this will help others to do the same.

Whatever you do, remember to unplug the charger before opening it. Only do this if you have the skills and the hardware needed. I or my blog are not responsible for whatever you. This is just informational.