billhart

This post is addressed to KPV (who touted the Canon Elura 50) and anybody else with suggestions on providing a hardwired power source for the camera, since running on the batteries ain't where its at. I just bought the Elura and like its compactness and flexibility; i also sprung for a little Sony "lipstick" cam which plugs into the analog in and is mounted on my rollbar with an IO Port remote mount. (This way, no camera jiggling or shock mount issues). So far, so good. The lipstick camera runs off 12V DC, so its easy enough to hardwire. But the Elura is an odd voltage (7.4 if memory serves) and Canon Customer service was downright hostile when i asked about a 12V DC adapter; they actually discourage use of the camera off a car electrical system and only offer a battery charger which runs from the power point.
Anyway, short of installing a DC/AC converter in the car, and then using the AC adapter that came with the camera, anyone done a direct DC/DC adapter in this situation, either with this camera or any other appliance that works at an odd voltage? Thanks.

ypshan

Go to Radio Shack. They should be able to help you.

KPV

Bill,
The stock battery is not good for much recording time. The bonus though, as you know is the size. For a DV camera it is quite amazingly small. You have three options:

1. Buy the extended battery (about twice the size of the standard battery) and swap them out as needed.
2. Buy a multi-voltage converter from Radio Shack. It is a black box that is switchable between various voltages. You plug it into a lighter or hardwire it and choose the voltage you require. It comes with a variety of plugs as well. I used this with a DVD player in my previous car and found it had some problems with reliability. Not my first choice.
3. Use a power inverter to convert 12V to regular household current. They make some that are quite small. THis would absolutely be my choice. FredTTX50 has a really slick installation of one of these. If you go to this page http://homepage.mac.com/fredcourtot/PhotoAlbum6.html and look at the picture in the first column and sixth row, you will see what he did. I will be doing a similar thing soon.

The third solution is my recommendation. It isn't as bad as you think.

billhart

I am wary of the multi-Dc volt converters, and though i did buy the bigger battery as well, i seem to have really bad luck getting any protracted use out of these things; it seems like i give them (typically in cell phones) a "false" memory resulting in incomplete charges. Any suggestions on a brand or source for the inverter, the smaller the better (assuming a high level of quality)? Thanks, both of you.