Hands-On Video Review – Anton/Bauer Cine Batteries

by Nino LeitnerApril 17^th, 2016

The Anton/Bauer Cine line of batteries feature a shape that is more in tune with the form factor of modern cinema cameras. They also offer a series of features that make shooting a lot easier. 

Batteries are an important topic, albeit not a very sexy one. With modern digital cinema cameras coming in different shapes and sizes, the amount of different batteries we are using is quite staggering. External viewfinders, monitors, gimbals and other accessories can easily end up using 5 different types of batteries on one camera rig, if you don’t pay attention to your power solutions.

V-lock and Gold Mount batteries have long been the standard in the broadcast world of bigger cameras, and they are experiencing a kind of renaissance since they can make our battery chaos a little more organized. One brick mount battery easily has enough power to not only power the camera, but all our accessories using, for example, a D-Tap port.

However, most battery solutions on the market are a bit “uncreative” to say the least. They haven’t changed so much over the past decades other increasing in capacity, or implementation of sizes to comply with airline travel regulations.

When I first heard of the new Anton/Bauer Cine line of batteries, I was intrigued. Shaped like a little cube, here was something that finally didn’t look like a brick, and which would fit most modern cinema cameras better.

The accurate percentage reading of their capacity is much more precise than the little lights on the side of a battery or the voltage displayed in your camera. In my test, the percentage number went down evenly as the batteries drained, meaning the read-out is accurate if the power consumption of your rig is constant.

Personally, I think their coolest feature is the remaining time count that displays as soon as you power up a camera. The battery display will tell you down to the minute how long they are going to last under the current power draw. And if you add more devices via D-Tap, the display will adjust accordingly in real time. A definite no-brainer as you will always know how long you have until you run out of juice.

The Anton/Bauer Cine line is available in 90 and 150 W/h models which share the exact same size, although of course the more powerful one is a little heavier. I think their shape will allow them to be used on gimbal-mounted cameras, where their brick-shaped counterparts are often too tall to allow for a full range of motion.

CONCLUSION

I really liked the Anton/Bauer Cine line of batteries, even more so than their broadcast line. They look slick and have features that make shooting life easier, which can’t be said of many other battery solution in the market.