Adapting Quantum 1 battery to power Fuji S2

[Greg_Halinda]

I'm fabricating a power cord to run my Fuji S2 Pro with my Quantum 1 battery pack (older model with chrome mini-toggle power switch and bumpy LEDs). I know Quantum sells a cord for the same purpose, but I'd rather save the bucks and use one of the spare S2 battery trays I've bought to make it all fit nicely. I am going to integrate an inline fuse holder in the circuit to protect the camera with a 2A fuse (that's what the Fuji AC adaptor made for the camera is rated at). Does anyone have a better recommendation for fuse or other protection in this configuration?

I am driven to use the Quantum because I only get about 100 exposures from a freshly charged set of 2500 mAh Energizer NiMH batteries, and even less if I let the charged set sit for several days before using them. This creates a burdensome charging routine the night before a shoot, where I charge 3 or 4 sets, and keeping track of when each set was last charged, etc. is a pain. For short notice shoots after a week of inactivity, it's a potential shoot-ender if I haven't had time to recharge all my sets of AAs.

Sigh, oh, and I'm sure the AA battery performance will decline further when I'm shooting in below freezing temperatures, which I do routinely for my commercial work. As for the CR123s, I refuse to burn my hard-earned cash on 123s, and don't use them.

[HGregoryPorter]

FYI: I bought CR123's for about $1.00 each in packs of 20 at http://www.botach.com . I also think I saw a rechargeable on http://www.thomas-distributing.com .

[Allan_Zand]

I built my own cord using an RCA type audio cable( the ones that you would use with your stereo system, DV cam. etc.), just cut one of the plugs off at one end of the cable and replace it with a mini plug like the one used on the camera's AC adapter( available from Radio Shack in packages of 2 for about US$3)Just make sure you get the polarity correct( I think positive goes to the center pole and negative to the outside of the plug, check the diagram on the back of the AC adapter). I plug this directly into the AC input jack on the side of my S3 ( I'm assuming S2 uses a similar plug), it's been working fine for me for while now- I do not have an inline fuse installed but one could probably use a low wattage thermal fuse, the type that is used in hair dryers, portable heaters etc. also available from Radio Shack). I also have the Quantum cord and I see no difference in performance. If anyone's going to try this, try it at your own risk, I don't want to be responsible for frying your camera.

[CarlHayes]

As an electrical engineer, I'm curious what you believe you're protecting the camera from. A fuse is a good idea, but it won't be protecting the camera. The only thing that would blow the fuse would be a catastrophic malfunction in the camera, so if the fuse blows you can bet the camera is a goner anyway (unless the fuse itself just fails without cause, which probably will happen more frequently than camera failure anyway). The reason for including a fuse is therefore NOT to protect the CAMERA, but to protect everything else (batteries, wiring, and user) by preventing a failure in the camera from starting a fire. Without a fuse, a failure in the camera can cause it to accept so much current from the battery that the camera gets hot enough, or causes the battery or the wiring to get hot enough, to start a fire or otherwise create a hazard. With a fuse, that's prevented. Either way, though, the camera is a dead duck. Use a fuse, but understand why you're using it. If the normal supply is designed to supply 2A continuously, probably a 5A fuse would be about right. You don't want the fuse to be almost blowing under normal operating conditions, because then you'd see frequent fuse failures.

[tmtimages]

I have used the Quantum 1 Battery to power both my S2 & S3 when doing extended shoots (Youth Sports Leagues, etc.), usually 400 - 600 shots in a single session. I always used the Quantum cable for one reason. If something happens to the camera and I use a homemade connecting cable, where is my warranty? The few dollars to use an approved cable is worth the cost. I can say that in the 10 - 12 years that I have been using the Quantum 1 with Nikon cameras and now Fuji S2 & S3 I have never had a problem (knock on wood). Go for the few bucks and have some peace of mind.