Sony Alpha Infinite Battery hack (USB-PD Powerbank mount)

This mount is designed to work with the Anker Powercore Metro 10000 as it is lightweight and small, and is what I happen to have. 

This mount has so far only been tested with the Sony A7siii, however the dimensions of other A7 cameras should be similar, like the A7V, A7IV, A7RV, A7RIV etc. Feel free to comment if it is/isn't compatible with your camera!

With Gen III Sony Cameras having USB-PD charging, you can use this powerbank mount to stay at 100% battery constantly, and with the 2 SD card holders + simultaneous dual SD card recording/overheat protection on the A7siii, you can functionally record infinitely without stopping at all. Because of this, I have never needed to use the battery charger or bring extra batteries on my shoots. 

V1.5 Update note:

V1.5 Has been released and now allows for using a  ¼" flanged nut to secure accessories onto the mount, now being able to handle a strongly increased load compared to the 3D printed threads. This is the highly recommended version to print so you can safely use it with load-bearing accessories like large tripods. 

Simply glue/epoxy the mating surface into the slot. The glue is non-load bearing and simply keeps it there when the powerbank is not inside the mount.  

Features:

Securely mounts the 10000mAh Anker Powercore metro below your camera while still allowing airflow to both the camera and your powerbank.

Has 2 slots to securely store 2 spare SD cards OR 1 SD card + the Hot Shoe cover, for those who want a place to put it.

The ¼" hole in the bottom is directly below that of the original camera, allowing you to continue mounting your other accessories, like this tripod from DJI:

It's designed to be infinitely stackable, so while you can have multiple of these connected to a single camera (with the multi-connect pin), but why would you do that? Perhaps someone should design accessories to go with this, maybe even a vertical grip?😉

Views:

Front:

Left:

Right:

Back:

Top:

Bottom:

Printing and assembly:

I highly recommend printing with PETG/ASA/a strong filament for this, as you probably don't want to risk your thousand-dollar camera breaking due to a fracture in PLA. Layer height can be as big as your printer allows, details are not very important here. Print at 15% gyroid infill.

Supports are required, ideally organic ones. Paint-on supports are painted inside the attached .3mf file, but you have to open it in Prusaslicer and import it as a project before slicing for your respective printer.

The dimensions of the camera screw are somewhat specific, as if it's too long it'll prevent your powerbank from going into the holder. This is what worked for me:

While the mount's ¼ “ hole is okay in self-threading to mount additional accessories, if you plan to use it a lot, consider using a threaded insert of total length 5mm and ID ¼" - Aliexpress link

Usage directions:

1. Using a flathead screwdriver, screw in the camera screw onto the camera through the mount. You can use your fingers if they're small enough to fit, but I find that it doesn't get sufficiently tight enough if done so

 2. If you have the string attached to the powerbank, follow these steps, else skip to step 4. Thread the string through the 2nd leftmost hole between the mount and camera

 3. Loop the string around the hook

4. Attach the powerbank, button side facing down, as follows:

 5. Lastly, connect the USB-C cable. A shorter one may be used, but I don't have one on hand. 

For Sony Alpha cameras that aren't the A7siii:

This has only been tested on the A7siii as it's currently the only Alpha camera I have, but I think the dimensions of other A7 cameras are similar. You may need to use pliers/an X-acto knife to clip off the ‘nipples’ which are used to align the camera without the mount if they don't happen to work for you.

The mount will still be functional without these nipples, but it would need a bit more tightening of the screw for it to not slide around during usage. 

You could counter this by perhaps sticking rubber/foam friction pads onto the surface where the nipples are on.

Alternatively, you can use a document scanner to orthogonally scan the bottom of your camera, import the image as a canvas into the .f3d file, then edit the sketch to align the holes up with your camera. An example of the scan is attached. 

One more thing - Alpha cameras before Gen III likely don't support USB-PD charging, so while you can use this to charge with micro-usb port onboard to slow down the battery drain, it won't charge as fast, and you unfortunately won't have infinite recording time. 

Misc:

The tightness of the SD card/Hot shoe cover slots highly varies between filaments, layer heights and nozzle diameters, and your printer type. I have designed the model to be an average between PLA and ASA at a 0.6mm nozzle, but it may be too loose or too tight for you. 

If it is too loose, stick electrical tape into the slot as shown:

(Probably use a more matching colour as well, and cut it to fit)

If it is too tight, use a small file to shave off a few fractions of millimetres off the inside of the slots.

If neither work, you can edit the parameters in the .f3d file below to change the tolerances of the SD card slots.

Note: The photos in this model contain multiple prototypes that were made during development. The photos containing the grey print are of the final design. 

Thanks for reaching the end, and wishing you good photos/videos with your newly upgraded Alpha camera!