Ultimate Power Pack for the Olympus E-10

Updated February 10, 2001

No doubt about it, the E-10 is power hungry. A good set of 1600 mAh NiMH batteries will give you about 100 shots if you don't use the LCD very much. If you're shooting on location, and especially if you're in a fast paced situation, you'll need a good power strategy.

Olympus sells a very expensive Power Grip Kit with LiPo battery. You get a higher power battery and a second shutter release in the vertical orientation.

Another option is to buy a few spare B-HLD-1 battery holders.

They cost about $25 and come with a white plastic case that will probably last a few weeks before the plastic breaks and the top falls off. Having a few of these is actually pretty nice. It only takes a few seconds to make a battery change. Even if you only have one spare, you can still carry some extra batteries and reload a battery holder when you get a break.

But what if you want a LOT of power and don't want to spend a LOT of money? Well, if you like to tinker and have a little electrical and mechanical aptitude, you can build your very own 8000 mAh NiMH battery pack. That's enough power to shoot hundreds of pictures and never turn off the LCD.

Now, before I go any further, if your VCR display is flashing 12:00 and you don't even own a soldering iron or a multi-meter, this is not for you. What I'm sharing is my own solution, which is not endorsed in any way by Olympus. If you choose to duplicate my efforts or use the ideas to create your own solution, you do so at your own risk.

Now that I have that out of the way, I can tell you that almost every thing you need can be obtained from Thomas Distributing and Radio Shack.

	These are D size NiMH batteries, available from Thomas Distributing - item MH-D800, $15.90 each. I used 5 of then to develop about 6.65 volts under load. They are rated at 8000 mAh.

	I started with three, two compartment D battery holders. Also from Thomas Distributing - item MS-12BH121-2DT at $2.30 each.

	When everything is assembled and ready to use, you'll need a charger. I chose this smart charger that can handle any number of batteries from 2 - 10. It's small, but don't let the size fool you, it works. Thomas Distributing again, item MH-C210, $34.90. That's the last of the expensive stuff.

	Since I had five batteries, I cut one of the holders in half, being careful to keep the side with wire on the positive connector.

The schematic for the battery pack is about as complicated as a flashlight. There just isn't much to it. The most important thing is to observe the polarity of the plugs.

The plug that comes with the MAMA C-210 charger has color coded wires - red for positive, black for negative. The plug itself only fits into the charger one way.

The Radio Shack Adaptaplug "C" connector can fit one of several cables. The flat cables have a white stripe on the wire that goes to the side of the connector marked "tip", this should be connected to the positive terminal of the battery pack. When you plug the "C" connector into the cable, align the side marked "+" with the word "TIP" on the cable.

If you use a Radio Shack coiled cord, or other coiled cord (as I did) just be sure to double check your work with a volt meter. The tip of the power plug must be connected to the positive end of the battery pack. If the you wire the plug backwards, you will damage your camera. So check and recheck your work.

If the schematic above is not clear, or this just doesn't quite make sense, ask a friend who is really into this sort of thing help you out.

If this isn't making sense and you don't have a friend who is into electronics, then please don't attempt this project. There are some very good, lower capacity commercially available products that will work very well for most applications.

	You can get the most compact package by stacking the holders this way. I went with 14 gauge wire to connect the holders.

	The white connector is included with the charger. You just have to cut off the alligator clips. I wanted a self-retracting power cord that could stand a lot of abuse. For me the solution was a heavy grade 6 foot, 4 conductor mic cable. The super fine strands will take a lot of flexing. I used two conductors for the positive and two for the ground.

My friend Gordon Leckenby, an artist and photographer in Washington state constructed his own version of the Ultimate Battery Pack using battery holders and a coiled power cord from Radio Shack - they have several to choose from. Gordon used the Universal DC Power Cord, pn 270-1528D. Another option is pn 273-1739. Both of these cords fit the mating connector and save soldering on one end. This might be a good time to mention that both Gordon and I have technical backgrounds which makes things like this painfully simple. I stress again, if your skills are in different areas and you've never really soldered anything before, have a techie friend help you out.

	I was able to find a small Nylon camera case with shoulder strap for about $7 at the camera department of the local discount department store. The cable that connects to the E-10 is built in two pieces, both from Radio Shack. I used an Adaptaplug cable, #273-1740 and a "C" plug adapter, # 273-1706. The snap ring came from Lowes.

	This case measures about 5 X 3.5 X 3.5 inches. The battery pack JUST fits inside. I cut out the inside wall between the two compartments, routing the power cable out the front. The charging cable can be accessed from the top.

	Here is the power pack attached to the E-10 and Stroboframe. Remember the snapring?

	The last thing I want is to pull out the connector or break the thin cable that attaches to the camera. So I attached a split ring to the Stroboframe and a snap ring to the cable as a strain relief. I can attach the camera end of the cable to the bracket and never worry about damaging the connector.

I ran my first life test with this battery pack using the E-10's built in interval timer. This gives the battery quite a work out every shot. The exposure cycle takes between 16 and 18 seconds as the camera comes out of sleep mode, focuses, records the exposure and turns on the LCD for about 7 seconds to report the number of shots captured. The interval time is defined as the time BETWEEN exposure cycles - so if you set the camera for 1 minute, you essentially take an exposure every 76 to 78 seconds.

The battery pack started at 6.65 (camera-on) volts. I removed the internal battery pack, set the camera for a manual exposure of 1/60 sec and had the flash turned off (closed). I backed off the recorded resolution so I would have plenty of space on the CF card and started the test at 11:00 p.m. Almost 9 hours and 420 shots later the external battery pack was down to 5.5 volts and the camera turned itself off.

In the second test, I set the camera for auto focus, manual exposure, no flash and just sat back with the cable release while watching the History Channel. After 619 frames the CF card was full and the battery was at 6.0 volts. I'm thinking that if I keep this up, I'll wear out the camera trying to find out how long the battery will last! Lets just say that this battery pack will carry you through a LOT of shots.

I believe that it is generally accepted that NiMH battery packs should be charged and fully discharges 3 to 5 times before they hold and delivery their full capacity. The first test was run after only one discharge cycle. The second test after the second cycle.

As for charging. The battery pack can be slow charged over night or quick charges in less than 4 hours The little charger gets quite warm, but the batteries stay surprisingly cool.