Making Camera Power Supply from ATX PS

[Lou]

AFAICS, there is no guarantee that the camera's power ground is at the
same potential as its USB ground. What if there is a series polarity
protection diode? Or what if the camera has its own internal SMPS?


- Franc Zabkar

I've been following this thread off and on. I may have lost some of the
translation due to that. But, I'll offer up one of my own fixes. I bought an
adaptor for my camera, it cost $29 at Staples. It came with mutiple fittings
to adapt to the particular camera. It also has a voltage setting. Similar to
a Wal-Mart special. While that is ok for using the computer here at the desk
for downloading or taking many pictures with AC near by, it didn't solve the
issue of it sucking batteries up like no tomorrow. I bought two 6 volt (I
think 2100mAH) RC batteries from Radio Shack. I wired them in Parallel for
the current. I wired them in such a way I can plug them into the battery OR
into the charger. I had to slighly modify the charger. I did it in such a
way as to be able to place it back to norrmal if need be and no disassembly
required. The batteries are not that heavy, can be carried in a Fanny Pack
or even a deep pocket of trousers or jacket. I'm sure that if you made such
an arrangement, you could then use it at your desk or away. The batteries
seem to last a good while, but that is with "little" flash use. Most of my
pictures since that project - have been outdoors in decent light. The "only"
problem I had, which I have since fixed, is the plug I used on the battery
pack to go into the camera wasn't an exact fit. The shell was, but not
internal pin. At first it seemed to be ok. It had to be held in place to
make contact. Maybe when I first placed the plug in the camera I was holding
it in place to make it work - and didn't realize it. Once I realized I had
that problem, I couldn't find an exact fitting plug at that time. I have
since bought one from a place which offered such size plugs. System works
like a charm. The charger still works ok with it too. Takes a tad longer but
it works. All in all, for as much time so far as I have gotten out of this
set up on a single battery charge, I'm happy. Last year when on a business
trip, I blew over $20 in batteries. This time, NADA. Except for having to
deal with the plug issue for the moment, I was free to take pictures to my
hearts content. I did use the flash about a dozen times, but not enough to
see how long the batteries would last with constant usage. of it, as opposed
to not using it. It works "REAL" well. I believe the batteries cost me $14
or so - on sale. One came with the charger, the other I bought separate. One
of these days, I'll do that test with the flash.

Lou