Tag Archives: Core

Review, Venice

Core Power Control Module for Sony Venice

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I have recently been running a series of masterclasses and workshops for the Sony Venice 2 across the Middle East and Africa.

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From a Venice Masterclass I ran in Nigeria.

 

An issue that I keep encountering in that region is the prolific use of 12 – 14v accessories that are powered via D-Tap cables, for example follow focus units or small monitors. The Venice camera only has a single 12v lemo DC output and the amount of power available from this is limited.
In addition connecting D-Taps to batteries is very risky. Each time you have to change the battery you have to reconnect the D-Tap and this is when you are at the highest risk of the D-Tap ground pin not connecting correctly and then your SDI cables or other accessory cables become the ground causing damage to the camera or accessories. I really wanted to avoid this, a camera going down is never a good thing.

So – I needed to find a solution to these problems and the solution I found was the Core Power Control Module.

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Core Power Control Module for the Sony Venice, side view showing the OLED info display.


The module attaches to the V-Mount on the back of the camera and is available with either a  V-Mount or a Gold mount battery plate, so either type of battery can be used. Power is fed to the camera via a short 4 pin XLR cable, this ensures a solid and stable power connection.

The unit can also be powered from a standard 4 pin XLR power supply and that power source can be at any voltage from 11 volts to 34 volts, so you can use a 14.4v power supply or a standard film style block battery. It then takes the input power and regulates it and conditions it to provide smooth clean power to the camera via the cameras 4 pin XLR input. There is also an additional 2 pin Fischer 19.5v to 34 volt failover input to ensure continuous power when this is absolutely essential. 

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Top view of the Core Venice power management control module showing the D-Tap, RS3 and Lemo power outputs. There are 2 versions – one with V-Mount the other with Gold mount.

 

On the top of the unit there are two D-Tap sockets and these output 11 to 17v from the attached battery (one on the gold mount version)  as well as 2 industry standard RS3 Fischer connectors that give a 24 volt 3 amp output and a pair of 2 pin Lemo connectors that give a 12 volt output.  So, all in all you have plenty of power outputs.

On the side of the unit there is an OLED display that gives the voltage of the connected battery and an LED that is normally green but turns red  if the battery voltage starts to drop too low. The unit is super simple to use, jut connect it and go.

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The Core power management module in use between a V-Mount battery and the camera. It’s very compact.


For me the Core Power Control Module has been a real life saver. It’s given me the extra power connections that I need when working with both lower cost accessories that need 11-17v  as well as additional RS3 connections for cinema camera accessories such as Prestons or Cinetapes. The addition protection from damage to the camera that comes from having any D-Taps permanently connected to the adapter rather than a battery is reassuring. It is a compact and lightweight unit so travelling with it is easy. I highly recommend anyone using a Venice should consider it as an option for expanding the cameras accessory power options. 

For more information see: https://coreswx.com/shop/hlx-ven-gp/

PXW-FX9, shoots, Travel, Videos

FX9 footage from Norway 2020

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Here’s a compilation of footage from this years winter trip to Norway. This was all shot with the PXW-FX9. Mostly with sony lenses and autofocus. The AF was great for following the dog sledding. The camera performed really well and did a great job of capturing what was a very faint Aurora display in between cloud banks.

The daytime footage was shot using S-Log3 in CineEI. I didn’t expose any brighter than base, so used 800EI or 4000EI. I used the viewfinder display gamma assist rather than any LUT’s as I know I can use gamma assist no matter what frame rate I shoot.

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The PXW-FX9 worked perfectly even when the temperature was below -30c.

The Aurora was very faint, barely visible to the naked eye, so I had to shoot using a 32 frame slow shutter (the equivalent of about 1.3 seconds at 24fps). I then used interval record with a 2 second interval to create the timelapse Aurora sequences.  As there were no dynamic range concerns I chose to shoot using the default S-Cinetone settings in custom mode so I could see exactly what I was getting. I was amazed at how many stars the camera picked up with such a short exposure, a sure sign of how sensitive the camera is. For the Aurora I used a Sigma 20mm f1.4 lens with Metabones speed booster and 4K s35 scan. I felt that the extra stop of light gained from the use of the speedbooster was better than the slightly lower noise that would have been present if I had used the 6K FF scan. I did also try S&Q at 1 frame per second with the shutter off to see how this compared to the slow shutter. The S&Q was much noisier, the cameras built in NR seems to work particularly well with the slow shutter function, so if you need a long exposure on the FX9 I recommend slow shutter and interval record over S&Q at 1 frame per second.

DSC_0887-768x1024 FX9 footage from Norway 2020For the  sunset shots I made use of the variable ND filter, set to auto to control the exposure. I used the cameras “backlight” auto exposure setting to obtain a bright exposure despite the strong sunlight. These shots were shot using S-Log3 in CineEI and it’s nice that the auto exposure functions work very well in this mode. The main lens used was a Sony 24-240mm f3.5-f6.3 zoom. Not the very greatest of lenses, but for such a zoom range the image quality is pretty decent. I used this lens because the temperature was often below -15c dipping to -34c at times. In addition there was a lot of blowing snow. I don’t like doing a lot of lens swapping in these conditions and the 24-240mm allowed me to take just one lens on most of the trips out and about on the snow scooters or dog sleds.

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Getting ready to go and shoot with the FX9 plus Core V-Mount adapter and Core Neo 98Wh battery.

Another big help was the Core SWX V-Mount adapter. I used both the Core Neo 98Wh V-Mount batteries and some of my Pag Paglink 150Wh V-Mounts. They all worked very well in the harsh conditions and a great feature of the Core Neo’s is the run time indicator that gives an accurate time remaining readout based on the batteries capacity and the cameras power draw. This is very handy when using a V-Mount adapter as all the adapters currently on the market convert the battery voltage up to 19.5 volts to feed the FX9. As a result you don’t get any form of capacity or run time indication in the viewfinder. The Core V-Mount adapter also incorporates an LED indicator that turns red as the battery voltage gets low and then flashes red when it’s about to run out – a very nice touch. I did use a loose fitting insulated cover that I made myself. It’s not heated but does have a fleece lining so helps keep the heat generated by the camera when it’s operating in the camera. Where this really helps is to keep the lens warmer than the ambient air and this helps stop the lens from frosting over when shooting the aurora at night (see the picture at the top of the article where you can see just how frosty things can get at night).

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Miller CX16 tripod head and solo legs works extremely well even in very cold conditions.

As usual on these trips we had one guest break a tripod. A lot of materials that are normally solid and robust become very brittle at temperatures below -15c. I was using a Miller CX18 tripod head with Miller Solo legs and once again this proved to be a great combination. The fluid damping of the head remain almost completely constant all the way down to -34c. A lot of other heads become unusable at these sorts of temperatures.

For file backup and file management I use the Nexto DI NPS-10. This is a relatively new device from Nexto DI. Designed to offer a robust backup solution at a much lower price than similar previous Nexto DI products it too worked very well even in these harsh conditions. I have a 1TB SSD in mine and I can backup a 128GB XQD card in around 5 minutes. I can’t recommend the Nexto DI products enough for those that need to have a simple, reliable backup on location.

The workshop shots are part of a sequence of shots for another video I am working on. For these I used Sony 85mm f1.8 FE and 24mm f2 FE lenses. The sequence is mostly available light but I did have a Light & Motion Stella 5K on hand to add a little extra light here and there.

Post production was done using DaVinci Resolve and ACES.

PXW-FX9, Review

Core FX9 V-Mount Adapter and Core Hypercore Neo Mini Batteries.

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DSC_0691-2-1024x768 Core FX9 V-Mount Adapter and Core Hypercore Neo Mini Batteries.
Core FX9 V-Mount adapter with a Hypercore Neo Mini battery on my PXW-FX9

One of the things about the FX9 that makes no sense is it’s external DC input. When you are using just the camera body the FX9 requires a rather odd-ball 19.5 volts to power it via it’s DC in connector. Most cameras have a 12v to 16v input range so they can be used with the multitude of V-Mount or Gold Mount batteries that are common place in the world of professional video. But not the FX9.  The FX9 is also fairly power hungry so the standard BP-U batteries can be a little limiting, especially if you also need to power any accessories as the camera doesn’t have a power output. A V-Mount battery will run the camera for a long time and they generally have D-Tap power outlets, but they are the wrong voltage for the FX9s external input. So if you want to use a V-Mount battery, as I do, then you need not only a mounting plate but also a voltage converter.

The adapter I have chosen to use is manufactured by Core. Why this one? One thing that was important for me is not only to be able to power the camera from a V-Mount battery, but also to be able to power it from a standard external 12 volt power supply such as found in most studios, or something like a car battery. The Core CXV-FX9 adapter includes a voltage regulator that takes the 12 to 16 volt range of a typical Lithium battery and converts it to the 19.5v needed by the FX9. It also has an industry standard 4 pin XLR connector that you can use to power the camera from a 12v external power supply.

DSC_0681-1024x768 Core FX9 V-Mount Adapter and Core Hypercore Neo Mini Batteries.
The Core FX9 V-Mount adapter has an industry standard 4 pin XLR input for standard 12v power supplies.

Hot Swap:

If you have a power supply connected to the 4 pin XLR you can hot swap the V-Mount batteries. If you have a battery on the adapter you can hot swap to and from the external power. During hot swapping the adapter not only continues to feed the camera with power but also the 2 D-Tap ports on the adapter remain powered.

Low Battery Warning:

One issue that all these adapters have is that they have to convert the battery voltage up to 19.5 volts and this is what is fed to the cameras DC in connector. This means that the camera has no direct connection to the battery, so it has no way to know the charge state of the battery. All you will see in the viewfinder as an indication of the output of the voltage converter. This will remain at a constant 19.5v all the way until the battery is flat and cuts off, at which point the camera will just die. That’s not good, if you are halfway through recording something it could corrupt your media. You won’t have any warning in the camera of the battery going flat.

To try to address this at least in part the Core adapter has an LED light on the operators side that is green when the battery is well charged, but turns to red when there is only around 10% of the batteries capacity left. This does at least give some warning of a battery about to die.

DSC_0689-1024x768 Core FX9 V-Mount Adapter and Core Hypercore Neo Mini Batteries.
The Core FX9 adapter has an LED battery status indicator that turns red and flashes when the battery voltage gets low.

As well as the adapter, I’m trying out a couple of Core’s Hypercore Neo Mini batteries. These are nice, compact 98Wh batteries. They are UN Tested and certified so meet all the requirements for air travel. These batteries have a clever LCD display that displays the available run time of the battery. This is much more advanced than a simple charge indicator (it has one of those too). The battery actually detects the load being drawn from it. It also knows the exact state of charge of the battery.

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Core SWX Hyoercore Neo Mini 98Wh battery with incredibly accurate run time display giving the time in minutes until the battery will be flat based on the cameras power draw.

Using these it is able to calculate with great accuracy how long it will be before it will be flat. I have found this to be remarkably accurate, typically to within just a few minutes. I’ve been using this display to let me know when I need to start thinking about changing the battery. It’s accuracy gives me the confidence to continue shooting until I’m down to the last few minutes of run time. Typically I’m getting around 2.5 hours without the Atomso Ninja recorder and just under 2 hours with the Ninja from one of these excellent little batteries.

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Core V-Mount plate for the FX9 showing the lugs that lock into slots in the camera battery compartment to eliminate any flex or wobble.

DSC_0686-scaled-e1578517993169-1024x935 Core FX9 V-Mount Adapter and Core Hypercore Neo Mini Batteries.
There are two D-Tap power outlets at the top of the Core FX9 V-Mount plates as well as 3 1/4″ mounting holes for accessories.

Attaching the adapter:

Attaching the adapter to the camera is easy. It uses the same mounting points as Sony’s XDCA extension unit. So there are lugs that slide into slots inside the FX9’s battery compartment as well as two small bolts that attach it to the top of the camera. This makes it incredibly secure with no wobble or other movement. I would have no concerns about supporting the entire camera rig from the battery adapter or adding perhaps a V-Mount wireless video link and then large or heavy batteries behind that. It’s very secure and it looks like it’s meant to be there. Another nice touch is that as well as the 2 D-Tap power ports on the top of the adapter there are also 3 additional 1/4″ mounting points for accessories such as monitors or wireless receivers etc.

I do have one small criticism. The position of the D-Tap ports is quite close to the edge of the adapter. If you are using a tall battery and you have a very fat D-Tap plug they can interfere with each other.

Despite this the Core V-Mount battery adapter gets a big thumbs up from me. The voltage indication is most useful as is the ability to use a normal 4 pin 12v XLR feed.

DSC_0684-2-1024x768 Core FX9 V-Mount Adapter and Core Hypercore Neo Mini Batteries.
The Core FX9 V-Mount battery adapter gets a big thumbs up from me.