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Canon 10D external battery pack

Dear Chieh,

I know you hack cameras and have even written a book about hacking cameras.

On the other hand, I have no technical or tinkering abilities. So, I was wondering if you ever do the hacks and sell them. I�m looking for an external battery power source for my Canon 10D. I�m assuming such a battery pack would use alkaline batteries (size AA?).

Rod Walsh
Tue, 27 Nov 2007 21:42:27 +0000

Yes, that's possible. But here are some questions so that I can understand what you are trying to do. Understanding your needs will allow me to suggest the best possible solution. And any other information you provide will be helpful.

1. Does it have to be Alkaline batteries? Or can it be rechargeable NiCd or rechargeable NiMh?
2. Do you have to use AA batteries? Or other portable battery types work, such as battery packs for radio control toys, etc.
3. Why don't you want to simply buy more BP511's?

Chieh Cheng
Tue, 27 Nov 2007 22:01:28 +0000

Answer to Question 1:
I have a bunch of Energizer rechargeable AA NiMH, so something like that might be ok. My main reason for suggesting non-rechargeable Alkaline is the ready availability of them and no need to carry a charger that might not be compatible with local electric current. My dream is to one day take a trip to Africa and I didn�t want to worry about battery packs that needed to be charged.

Answer to Question 2:
I�m not really familiar with battery packs for radio controlled toys. But I think the answer to your first question also applies here.

Answer to Questionn 3:
Again, it�s the recharging issue. If I get to go on that dream trip in my lifetime I�d rather have readily available batteries.

Summing up, my first choice would be readily available non-rechargeable batteries, AA or AAA or C or D or ... doesn�t really make that much difference to me. It would be nice if the battery pack also worked on other Canon cameras � I have the 10D, but when I come into a few bucks I�d like to move up to the 40D or 5D.

Thank you.

Rod Walsh
Wed, 28 Nov 2007 01:44:41 +0000

Hi Rod,

I experimented some more with the Canon dummy battery pack. It seems that you can run the Canon EOS DSLR cameras off 5 alkaline batteries or 6 NiMh batteries. You can follow along with my experimentation in this article:

Experimental Canon BP511 Dummy Battery Interface

Not sure how long the batteries will last at this point. I'll have to do some more testing.

Chieh Cheng
Wed, 28 Nov 2007 11:27:10 +0000

Hello: i have 300D/Rebel but canon did injustice with users making BG e1 not having AA battery tray instead of two pockets for BP511. i usually do camping in jungle for long days therefore, BP511 charger are out of question and AA is easily available in remote areas. Has any of my friend has experiment by removing pockets for two BP511 from BG e1 and made insert for AA tray/clip to use for long session. Even third party BGs are not having AA tray/clip.Thanks in advance for Comments/experience.

m shabbir gill
Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:19:04 +0000

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Title: Canon BP511 Disassembly
Weblog: Camera Hacker
Excerpt: What about making a dummy battery? My original battery is no good - I need to either purchase an AC adapter for continous power or keep switching batteries for my night shots. I take star trails that can last 10 hours long (multiple 5 minute shots). Any ideas?
Tracked: Tue, 27 Nov 2007 22:11:15 +0000

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