Panasonic SDR-H200 Camcorder Battery DU12

Just like Panasonic VDR-D310 Camcorder, The SDR-H200 battery also has an excellent battery life CGA-DU12 battery. One additional pack should keep the SDR-H200 going strong for hours at Disneyland.We tested the life of the SDR-H200's CGA-DU12 battery by recording continuously in full Manual mode, with the LCD flipped out and OIS disabled, until the battery cashed in its chips. The SDR-H200 battery lasted a total of nearly 60 minutes. This is a truly honorable performance, and one of the highest endurances within this price range we've tested to date.

Battery Name : SDR-H200 batteries     Battery Type : Li-ion     Capacity :720 mAh
Voltage : 7.2 V     Dimensions : 41.42x36.05x17.00mm     Color : Dark grey

Panasonic places the USB and DC in terminals within the battery chamber instead of filling up the ample AV port area. Footage cannot be exported through the USB by battery power. Placing the USB jack within the battery cavity is a safeguard to make sure you don't try it. If you want to export footage in the field, be sure to bring all three power supply components the AC cable, AC adapter, and DC cable. The battery cavity-mounted ports.

The battery extrusion should not be an issue, and the ability to upgrade to a larger pack is possible. Located toward the battery end of the SDR-H200, At the very end of the SDR-H200 battery top, just above the battery

It is important to warn you about the battery design. Panasonic is fond of placing their DC terminals inside the battery chamber, forcing you to remove the battery in order to use external power.

Mounting the USB and power terminals within the battery chamber is a poor choice. If you want to charge your battery while exporting footage to a laptop in the field, it's not going to happen. The SDR-H200 tips the scale at 95 grams with the battery pack.

Different Panasonic CGA-DU21 batteries?

A customer tell me that he bought a Panasonic CGA-DU21 battery and noticed that CGA-DU21 battery pack is different in size and weight. The one that was supplied with the PV-GS500 battery weights around 65g and the new Panasonic CGA-DU21 around 125g. The new one also looks bigger, of course it fits and works, but it hangs out more, so it is deeper. Is this normal, like did they change production or something? Or might this be a fake one which is going to explode soon.

The answer is:
There are probably hundreds if not thousands of vendors selling batteries made from various manufacturers and the quality of the battery from these vendors is generally unknown. It is a big industry. Panasonic camcorders are not sensitive to battery packs like Sony camcorders. Lithium Ion batteries start to degrade from the time they are manufactured. Manufacturers seem to remain silent about this issue. Reading through a variety of references it seems Lithium-ion batteries generally have a life span of 12 to 36 months. Your experiences may vary; mine have been over 24 months. Are you sure you want a larger battery? Sometimes they weigh a lot more, sometimes they interfere with looking through the viewfinder. I personally prefer two smaller batteries than one larger battery. It is difficult to tell when a battery is going to fail so I like to have a back-up.

There is the rare possibility that any battery can explode. Some battery designs are more prone to this than others. Being a name brand battery isn't always a good indicator that a battery isn't one of those that might possibly explode. Sometimes even name brand stuff does this.

Li-ion batteries do not explode, at least I have never been able to find a reliable report of the battery exploding however they have been reported to get very hot, hot enough to reach 6,000 degrees which could in some cases being more dangerous than exploding.

Panasonic VDR-D310 Camcorder Battery CGA-DU12

We tested the life of the VDR-D310 battery's CGA-DU12 rechargeable battery pack by setting the camcorder to manual mode, turning on OIS, and recording continuously with the LCD flipped open. When the testing disc reached maximum capacity, the external power supply was immediately plugged in and the disc was reformatted. The CGA-DU12 battery was then reinserted this process was executed until the battery was sucked dry. The VDR-D310 battery lasted nearly 70 minutes.

Battery Name : VDR-D310 Batteries     Battery Type : Li-ion     Capacity :740 mAh
Voltage : 7.2 V     Dimensions : 41.42x36.05x17.00mm     Color : Dark grey     Weight:65g

It's important to warn you about the battery design. Panasonic is fond of placing their DC terminals inside the battery chamber, forcing you to remove the battery in order to use external power.

VDR-D310 Batteries, which is designed to compatible with the following Camcorder Battery: PANASONIC CGA-DU06, CGA-DU07, CGR-DU06, CGR-DU07, VW-VBD070

One thing to take into consideration regarding Panasonic battery configuration is that the DC terminal lies within the battery chamber. This means you can't charge the battery while it is connected to the camcorder. You must remove the battery and place it in the supplied AC adapter, but make sure the DC cable is not connected because the battery will not charge.