ANTON/BAUER DIGITAL DIONIC BATTERY

by Buck McNeely

    Every cameraman I've met has at least a dozen sad stories about batteries expiring in the field, usually in the middle of an important shot. That's one of Murphy's Laws and as we all know, ol' Murph owns this business.

It balances on the back of the camera nicely and is small enough to fit in a vest pocket.
    The Dionic measures 5.25x3.5x2.1 inches, or about the size of an Anton/Bauer HyTRON 50 battery.
    The most unique feature of this model however is the Real Time display.

    Late each day I asked my photographer Jim Szepanski, "How many batteries have you burned today?"
   His reply was, "I'm still on the first one."
   We rarely shot more then one and never more than two batteries each day. We became confident enough to go on forays into the bush carrying only two batteries.
   Though we usually needed just the one, a seasoned producer always has a backup.
   The Dionic is also very resistant to cold. With other batteries, I'm accustomed to losing 20-40 percent of my battery power in very cold conditions.
   Not the Dionic. We sat in blinds for hours in sub-freezing temperatures and observed the gauge. We kept our Ikegami camera powered up for two hours once without rolling and noticed little movement on the Real Time gauge except for the camera's minute power demand.
   The Interactive 2000 Powercharger functions as an AC camera power supply as well as a versatile battery charger. A valuable feature internally allows you to plug into any AC source worldwide. The 2000 automatically adapts the incoming current to charge batteries or power a camera. It even has a serial output port for a PC or printer interface.
   The slim, lightweight design of the Interactive 2000 Powercharger improves portability and has four charging positions on its deck.
   The multifunction LCD on the charger's face allows you to check each battery's charge status, available capacity, number of charge/discharge cycles and even the date of manufacture and serial number. This charger also features an interactive charging technology that has automatic balance and rejuvenation modes, life- saver maintenance mode, cold battery safety and power-loss memory modes.
   These features mean that the charger maintains your battery inventory automatically for you. It also should eliminate another scourge of older technology; the battery "memory" of nickel-cadmium technology: I found that I could plug in the Dionic and walk away with confidence.
   With lithium-ion batteries and intelligent chargers, I could shoot longer with lighter batteries. The Anton/Bauer Dionic charges incredibly fast as well.  

SUMMARY
   Over the last 18 years of guerrilla productions around the world, I've attempted almost every conceivable power option at least twice.  EFP/ENG producers should take heart with the latest battery technology.
    The Anton/Bauer Digital Dionic is an excellent field battery that will let me take cameras further into the bush and get the shots that were always just out of reach. See 'ya 'round, Murphy! .

  Buck McNeely is the founder of Outdoorsman International and Producer/Host of the syndicated outdoor-adventure TV series, "The Outdoorsman with Buck McNeely. He can be reached at buck@outdoorsmanint.com.

The author used the Dionic batteries to shoot "The Outdoorsman."

My own production history is checkered with tales of cold-sapped batteries failing at critical moments. The biggest bull elk I've ever seen got away without a frame of video because he heard the audible clicks of a battery swap as we hunkered behind a spruce tree about 75 yards away.
   I've had to charge batteries on generators in remote locations where the nearest plug is a two-hour floatplane ride away. We've used car batteries, too. Whatever it takes, right?

FEATURES
  The newest addition to the Anton/Bauer line is the Digital Dionic. Its lithium-ion cell chemistry provides the user more run time packed into a lighter and smaller battery case.
  At 1.7 pounds, its lightweight design makes the Dionic very user-friendly

FAST FACTS
Application Field power

Key Features
Lightweight; no memory effect; works with viewfinder displays

Price $595

CONTACT
Anton/Bauer, 203-929-1100 or visit www.antonbauer.com

Real Time is Anton/Bauer's technology that displays both the remaining runtime (hours/minutes) and the "fuel gauge" (percent empty to full) simultaneously. At a glance, the display tells you how full the battery is and how much runtime remains. Real Time automatically monitors the battery's performance under all load conditions and accurately displays the reserve power even in harsh environments.
  A typical 25 W camcorder will run three to four hours on a single Dionic battery. The Dionic is equipped with the standard Anton/Bauer Gold Mount and can be charged side-by-side with the company's other models on its Interactive 2000 Powerchargers and Titan Series chargers.
    An older Interactive 2000 model requires a simple chip replacement to upgrade it to handle the Dionic battery. We did this on one charger in about 10 minutes.

IN USE
   On location in the Rocky Mountains of New Mexico last October, we spent several days in "run-and-gun" video mode. We hiked and drove the ridges and forests filming elk, bear and hound dogs. The spectacular panorama of nature inspired us to set up the sticks at just about every other stand of golden-Ieafed aspen trees in full autumn foliage. We always need to get just one more shot.