POWER ON-SET GEAR.
baseplate between camera and tripod. It’s an option that keeps batteries out the way of rear-mounted displays and controls, yet still handles 8A loads, with the same convenient runtime displays as Anton/Bauer’s largest units. The Go 90 range also addresses the needs of people who could do with a full-size Titon or Dionic, but for whom the balance of size and capacity bends firmly towards compactness. RIGHT ON CUE IDX has a comprehensive range of power, all the way from the pocket- sized BP-U series, right up to the Cue-D300 with 286Wh at hand. In the mid range, the company describes its Imicro-98 battery as the smallest available anywhere at
97Wh. At that capacity, the battery is easy to fly, although the more capable Imicro-150 still manages to be impressively sized. A twin mounting plate, the A-Vmicro2, will discharge the two connected batteries sequentially to allow for hot-swapping, with USB-C power built-in. Despite their diminutive dimensions, the Imicro batteries pack in two D-Tap connectors and a light – as well as SMBus communications. More recently, IDX updated its Duo range, that currently comprises three versions. The 97Wh Duo-C98P stakes a claim at being (deep breath) ‘the world’s most compact high-capacity IATA-friendly (<100Wh) li-ion professional battery with multiple power outputs’. Ideal for gimbal
and aerial set-ups, it features two D-Taps and a single USB-C. The 14A 145Wh Duo-C150P can also fly, but the 193Wh Duo-C198P must stay on terra firma. PAG’s approach to smart communication – its PAGlink system – is unusual, since it lets its batteries talk among themselves.
VIRTUALLY UNBREAKABLE Bebob’s range of B-Mount Cine units manage to shrug off a fall of 1.5m
TRIPLETS The IDX Duo triumvirate (right) is a bold series of batteries with a long list of qualities
The environmental question
As anyone who has made a battery out of a lemon and two coins knows, those coins must be made of different metals. That’s why battery chemistries are called things like ‘nickel-cadmium’ (now long abandoned, since cadmium is so toxic). Most li-ion batteries use cells based on lithium and cobalt. Both are hard to get; lithium extraction uses a lot of water, often where it’s in short supply. Li-ion batteries can be recycled to recover copper, nickel and cobalt, although only advanced techniques recover the lithium. As manufacturers become more aware of the need to build cells that are easy to recycle, things should improve, although reliance on lithium and cobalt is harder to avoid.
HIGH CEILING Helix Max from Core SWX is a tough line-up that can cope with demanding professional shoots
65. JUNE 2022
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