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External Power for ELPH 300HS

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Offline drillthrall

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Re: External Power for ELPH 300HS
« Reply #20 on: 20 / January / 2014, 21:16:54 »
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Just wanted to show that despite its low cost the ELPH 300HS is capable of some nice motion detect pics just as long as you keep the ISO at 400 or below as it gets too noisy for my likes above 400.  I've gone to capping the ISO at 400 using CHDK as it can't be done in the camera as is.  I use flash with most of my MDFB pics as it does a better job at freezing things like fast wing movements.
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Offline waterwingz

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Re: External Power for ELPH 300HS
« Reply #21 on: 20 / January / 2014, 21:34:51 »
Quote from: drillthrall on 20 / January / 2014, 21:16:54
Just wanted to show that despite its low cost the ELPH 300HS is capable of some nice motion detect pics just as long as you keep the ISO at 400 or below as it gets too noisy for my likes above 400. 
Impressive!
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Offline drillthrall

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Re: External Power for ELPH 300HS
« Reply #22 on: 20 / January / 2014, 21:38:29 »
Thanks.  Hard to beat a used ELPH 300 for $60.
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Offline ahull

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Re: External Power for ELPH 300HS
« Reply #23 on: 21 / January / 2014, 02:59:48 »
Quote from: drillthrall on 20 / January / 2014, 21:38:29
Thanks.  Hard to beat a used ELPH 300 for $60.

Things have come a long way in a short time, the 300HS knocks spots of the early £20,000 digital SLRs when it comes to sensors. Compare and contrast with this.
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Offline El Pistoffo

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Re: External Power for ELPH 300HS
« Reply #24 on: 01 / June / 2014, 12:32:37 »
On the subject of external PS, I had the idea of using two or more 18650's in a parallel battery holder connected to a dummy battery in the camera.  Is that a viable solution?

« Last Edit: 01 / June / 2014, 13:04:51 by El Pistoffo »
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Offline ahull

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Re: External Power for ELPH 300HS
« Reply #25 on: 01 / June / 2014, 13:22:57 »
Two 18650s in parallel sounds perfect.

Typical NB-4L is 3.7v - approx 680mAh - a couple of 18650s in parallel will give you the correct voltage and quite a bit more capacity.

However take some of the interwebz figures with a pinch of salt, the larger well known brand 18650s are around 3400mAh, most of the no-names are much less, probably nearer 2000mAh even if they have 5000mAh neatly printed on the side.

Still 4000mAh for two, is quite an improvement on 680mAh I would think it will give you 5 to 6 times the running time of the stock battery. 

The usual caution about charging them applies of course..
« Last Edit: 01 / June / 2014, 13:30:31 by ahull »
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Offline El Pistoffo

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Re: External Power for ELPH 300HS
« Reply #26 on: 01 / June / 2014, 15:19:35 »
I'm glad to hear it's a sound idea.  I have a few quality Tenergy 18650 batteries I use for dive lights.  They work as  advertised 2600mAh.  I'm starting to do some night sky TL and these would go a long way.  This would be my travel battery pack in both 2 cell and 4 cell configurations.

For local use I plan on using a small sealed 12v lead-acid battery together with a Buck voltage regulator for very extended run times.
« Last Edit: 01 / June / 2014, 15:36:26 by El Pistoffo »
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Offline El Pistoffo

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Re: External Power for ELPH 300HS
« Reply #27 on: 19 / September / 2014, 19:56:24 »
I wired up my parallel, dual 18650 external power source for my ELPH 300 and gave it a try but it has been unpredictable.  My batteries are good, 3.7v protected cells, I often use them in my diving lights and they work flawless. 

When I use it with the camera, connected to the dummy battery, it will always take a pic or two then more times than not, the camera will go silent.  The camera appears like it's in a dead battery (lens out but no camera operation) state but pressing the play button will initiate a restart, no other buttons illicit any response.  It seems to happen most often when I have the camera sound mute enabled and the backlight turned off via script.  If the camera is able to go a few minutes running without this freeze up then it's clear sailing.

Last successful use was about 4 hours of yass script interval shots and the battery meter still displayed 80%.

I have another build to finish that will use a small sealed cell 12v battery through a  Buck voltage regulator but  it not air travel friendly.

Any ideas?

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Offline waterwingz

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Re: External Power for ELPH 300HS
« Reply #28 on: 19 / September / 2014, 20:12:15 »
Quote from: El Pistoffo on 19 / September / 2014, 19:56:24
Any ideas?
Obvious question :  do the scripts run flawlessly time after time with the regular internal battery?

If so, then the most likely issue might be noise pickup on the wires between the battery and the camera.  Just guessing here but what if you tried really short and/or shielded leads.

Also, is there any chance of a "higher" resistance joint in any of the connections you have made?  That would cause the voltage the camera sees to drop during periods of high current demand (shooting, lens movement, flash charging, SD card writing).

edit :(I assume the voltage information reference by ahull in an earlier post is actually valid for your camera?)your cameras uses a NB-4L and your battery pack should have the correct voltage
« Last Edit: 19 / September / 2014, 20:29:01 by waterwingz »
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Offline El Pistoffo

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Re: External Power for ELPH 300HS
« Reply #29 on: 19 / September / 2014, 20:30:25 »
Quote from: waterwingz on 19 / September / 2014, 20:12:15
Quote from: El Pistoffo on 19 / September / 2014, 19:56:24
Any ideas?
Obvious question :  do the scripts run flawlessly time after time with the regular internal battery?

If so, then the most likely issue might be noise pickup on the wires between the battery and the camera.  Just guessing here but what if you tried really short and/or shielded leads.

(I assume the voltage information reference by ahull in an earlier post is actually valid for your camera?)

It works fine with the internal battery or the AC power supply.  Your point of noise may be possibility. The cable is about 2 ft long but I am using the same cable for both the external battery supply and the ac adapter.  I'm using a good quality connector and the splices are all soldered.

I'll have to look into that earlier post by ahull

The AC adapter has an output of 4.3v but as mentioned 3.7 is the standard battery rating.
« Last Edit: 19 / September / 2014, 20:39:09 by El Pistoffo »
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