What Is a D-Tap Battery?

Posted by: on Sep 08, 2021

What Is a D-Tap Battery?

Imagine being on-location for a photoshoot and your setup includes a variety of gear that involves power. With nowhere to plug in, photographers find themselves searching for ways to find enough power to get them through an entire shoot without issue. The answer to this comes in the form of a D-Tap Battery. The ONsite D-Tap Battery with V-Mount, featuring premium LG lithium-ion battery cells, is designed for use by photographers and videographers in studio and on location. The ONsite Battery is a high capacity, reliable and portable power source that will keep your D-Tap compatible devices powered up. 

D-Tap Battery Overview 

  • D-Tap Batteries are rechargeable lithium-ion batteries
  • The term D-Tap refers to female power port found on the battery
  • V-Mount or Gold Mount refers to the way the battery mounts to a camera, light, etc.
  • Common in video production and available at video rental houses

Why use D-Tap batteries? 

D-Tap Batteries have a much higher capacity than standard camera batteries. In addition to the additional power capacity, D-Tap batteries carry a huge advantage in flexibility. What does that mean, you might ask? D-Tap batteries support various connections and can power an entire photoshoot with a single battery. A professional camera setup can include a monitor, lights, and any number of other pieces of equipment that all require power. Using power outputs, you can run all of this gear from the same battery, avoiding the headache of having to keep track of different power sources. 

What’s the difference between V-Mount and Gold Mount Batteries?  

The ONsite D-Tap Battery with V-Mount docks, as the name suggests, with a V-Mount system (see image below). Gold Mount is a mounting method originally developed by Anton Bauer that refers to Gold Posts that dock with a camera or light. While there are two different battery types, both batteries use a female D-Tap plug to access the power. Our ONsite Aero V-Mount is power compatible with both V-Mount and Gold Mount batteries as they both have D-Tap plugs; However, the ONsite Aero V-Mount will only seamlessly mount with V-Mount batteries. 

How does the ONsite D-Tap Battery with V-Mount integrate with ONsite the Power line?  

Our ONsite D-Tap Battery features a V-Mount for easy integration with the ONsite Aero V-Mount and Tether Table Aero. The ONsite D-Tap Battery with V-Mount is a high capacity, reliable and portable power source that features premium LG lithium-ion battery cells. In addition, Tether Tools’ ONsite D-Tap to AC Power Supply pairs with the ONsite D-Tap Battery to provide four fast-charging USB ports and two AC outlets to charge devices such as laptops, camera batteries, LED monitors and lights, tablets, phones and more – wherever power is needed. If you are in need of a USB-C port. Our ONsite D-Tap to USB-C PD Adapter provides one USB type C port and one USB type A port with 108W of power to quick charge devices like Apple MacBooks, laptops, tablets, phones and select cameras. 

Get The Gear

Can I rent D-Tap batteries and are they TSA friendly?

Photography and video rental houses in your area may rent D-Tap batteries. In addition, you can take up to two ONsite D-Tap Battery with V-Mount with you on a plane, in carry-on baggage, and with airline approval. Cannot be in checked-in luggage. Tip: Transport your ONsite D-Tap Battery in its original packaging, this will not only cover the terminals but provided details on watt-hours for the airlines or TSA.