• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Universal External Camera/Camcorder Powerpack (1 Viewer)

Crake Dude

Crake Dude

Well-known member
I have been looking for the ideal(and cheap!) commercially available external battery pack that would operate with most digicams...and I think I've found it, at last.

Now that supplies of the Maplins powerpack(L56AN, and similar to the Digipower DPS-9000 from the US) are practically dried-up, I bought a lithium-ion powerpack advertised on that four-letter-word, ebay, called a 'Universal Camcorder & Digital Camera External Battery' for £25. It claimed to be switchable for cameras DC in, 3.0volts, 5v, 6v and 7.2v.

I've now had it since November, charged it only once, and used it successfully on Nikon Coolpixes 950, 990, 995, 4500, Canon A95, Contax SL300RT, Fuji F30...and it's brilliant, in my opinion. I think the cold weather has probably discharged it more than the cameras have. I do keep it 'warm' in my inside-coat pocket as often as possible away from the battery's main enemy, the cold.

I could go into great detail about the powerpack, but this link gives the relevant info.(it's the top two depicted):

www.global-batteries.com/index.php/cPath/10

It is available in the UK at various places ranging in price from £25 to £50, and I think its product code is EDC001K or EDC002K, but, as I was so impressed with it, and as the usual panic set in that as soon as you find something it magically becomes obsolete,I bought another one. This one only cost me just £17 from the 'all Battery Shop' (on ebay, again). If you type in search 'universal camcorder external battery' should find it. Also listed under 14.40MaH External Battery in same shop for about £18...is same item.

The connector leads are a bit short, but I take the tripod-bush attachment off, put the battery in the splendid enclosed leatherette case, and clip it to the tripod handle. I particularly like the tiny switch to change the voltage, as it it recessed, so it would be difficult to accidentally catch it and blow your cameras electrics mid-use.

A word of warning, though. None of the included connectors are suitable for cameras which use a docking cradle for charging their own batteries eg.Contax U4r. I unfortunately recommended this powerpack to a digiscoping friend as it wrongly listed(at the time), the U4r as OK for use with device as the connector was included...and the connector was NOT included. Sorry( to Paul H.).

(I hope this also answers the previous thread from Ian and his 4500, but as the powerpack is so universal, thought it might catch the attention of other digicam users...apologies Ian)

Regards

Steve
 
Crake Dude said:
A word of warning, though. None of the included connectors are suitable for cameras which use a docking cradle for charging their own batteries eg.Contax U4r. I unfortunately recommended this powerpack to a digiscoping friend as it wrongly listed(at the time), the U4r as OK for use with device as the connector was included...and the connector was NOT included. Sorry( to Paul H.).

Regards

Steve
Click to expand...

Thanks for doing the legwork and testing the cameras on this Steve, i am sure many others on the forum will benefit from this info,

Regards

Paul
 
Thank you, Paul. Apologies again for the lack of connector with this device for your U4R(s).

I believe there are a few external powerpacks now advertised on the Net which have mobile-phone-type connectors which may work with the Contax U4r, but they are in the US, which could be costly if they were not quite suitable, shipping-wise, etc.

Steve
 
Crake Dude said:
Thank you, Paul. Apologies again for the lack of connector with this device for your U4R(s).

I believe there are a few external powerpacks now advertised on the Net which have mobile-phone-type connectors which may work with the Contax U4r, but they are in the US, which could be costly if they were not quite suitable, shipping-wise, etc.

Steve
Click to expand...

Hi Steve

Any links for these? i am in the US in April so i maybe able to get one?

Cheers

Paul
 
Crake Dude said:
I have been looking for the ideal(and cheap!) commercially available external battery pack that would operate with most digicams...and I think I've found it, at last.

Now that supplies of the Maplins powerpack(L56AN, and similar to the Digipower DPS-9000 from the US) are practically dried-up, I bought a lithium-ion powerpack advertised on that four-letter-word, ebay, called a 'Universal Camcorder & Digital Camera External Battery' for £25. It claimed to be switchable for cameras DC in, 3.0volts, 5v, 6v and 7.2v.

I've now had it since November, charged it only once, and used it successfully on Nikon Coolpixes 950, 990, 995, 4500, Canon A95, Contax SL300RT, Fuji F30...and it's brilliant, in my opinion. I think the cold weather has probably discharged it more than the cameras have. I do keep it 'warm' in my inside-coat pocket as often as possible away from the battery's main enemy, the cold.

I could go into great detail about the powerpack, but this link gives the relevant info.(it's the top two depicted):

www.global-batteries.com/index.php/cPath/10

It is available in the UK at various places ranging in price from £25 to £50, and I think its product code is EDC001K or EDC002K, but, as I was so impressed with it, and as the usual panic set in that as soon as you find something it magically becomes obsolete,I bought another one. This one only cost me just £17 from the 'all Battery Shop' (on ebay, again). If you type in search 'universal camcorder external battery' should find it. Also listed under 14.40MaH External Battery in same shop for about £18...is same item.

The connector leads are a bit short, but I take the tripod-bush attachment off, put the battery in the splendid enclosed leatherette case, and clip it to the tripod handle. I particularly like the tiny switch to change the voltage, as it it recessed, so it would be difficult to accidentally catch it and blow your cameras electrics mid-use.

A word of warning, though. None of the included connectors are suitable for cameras which use a docking cradle for charging their own batteries eg.Contax U4r. I unfortunately recommended this powerpack to a digiscoping friend as it wrongly listed(at the time), the U4r as OK for use with device as the connector was included...and the connector was NOT included. Sorry( to Paul H.).

(I hope this also answers the previous thread from Ian and his 4500, but as the powerpack is so universal, thought it might catch the attention of other digicam users...apologies Ian)

Regards

Steve
Click to expand...

Hi Steve,
Thanks for a great thread, I think I'll be getting one of these for my F30, the price is cheaper than a spare Fuji battery!!

regards

John
 
Hello John

Yes, I suggest you go for it. Just had a gleg at ebay uk and that 'shop' has one as item 280079038969 for £12.97+£4 p&p, and really the same item further down the page listed in a sub-window as 14.40W/Hrs External..... for 80pence more.

The original Fuji NP-95 battery for the F30 is a crazy price, and even generic ones are about £20 from UK sources...daft really.

With the aforementioned external battery, I usually leave the camera's batteries in-camera,because if you just use the external battery attached and forget to re-insert the ordinary batteries after detaching the ext. batt. then all your settings will revert back to default. Anyway, if I am waiting a long time between shots, I switch the camera off, and the attached ext. batt. actually starts charging your your internal camera batteries...great, eh!

I ought to be President of the State the Bleeding Obvious Club of Great Britain....

Just a flick back to Maplins now defunct(in short supply, atleast) External Battery L56AN. As you know, to use it with a Canon A95 or Contax SL300RT you needed to buy the extra 5volt step-down attachment. Maplins had 'ditched' this attachment, so I was up that proverbial creek. To order its equivalent - the DP-5V for the Digipower DPS-9000 - from the US was out, due to export no-go from the source. However, with great difficulty, I found a supplier in Germany who sold me the step-down DP-5V for 12.50 Euros(about £8.50). If there is a request for the source info. for it, then I will gladly post it here.

Regards

Steve
 
With cameras that use 4 AA batteries there is no need to cut down to five volts. I have been using a 6 volt 4amp sealed lead acid battery on my A610 and A640 for quite some time with know ill effects. Ernie
 
Hello Ernie

Thanks for that, and I'm glad to hear your 6volt lead-acid battery works OK.

I'm no electronics expert, so I have to stick to 'what-it-says-on-the-can' for fear of knackering my cameras. I contemplated getting a lead acid power-pack but was worried about not being able to recharge if I didn't use for some time, and it went completely flat. I have an old Macintosh Portable computer from 1989(probably THE original laptop) and it has a lead-acid battery, and because I didn't use it once for about 2 years, the battery and back-up alkaline cell had gone totally flat, and I was informed that the lead-acid would now be duff. I think someone in the US could recondition it, but too costly. I just use an AC laptop adapter now for it.

As regards the 5volt step-down adapter, I meant it had to be used only with Maplins(or Digipower DPS-9000) powerpack as it's rated at 7.2volts, and so could not operate the Canon A95, Contax SL300RT and Fuji F30.

I think the Canons A95 and A610 are 4.3volt, and as they each take 4 propr. AAs at 1.5volts or 4xNmh at 1.2volts, which adds up to 6v and 4.8v respectively, I expect your 6v lead-acid battery is OK. I think the Maplins at 7.2v is a bit too much, hence the step-down accessory(DP-5V).

Being an electronics thicko, I have to rely on what electrical devices purport to actually do, so if the Universal External Battery(UEB) described in my original thread has a switch for different voltage cameras, I choose the exact or nearest one above to the DC-in of the camera. Having said that, my coolpix 4500 is rated at 8.4v and the highest switch-point on the UEB is 7.2v but it works fine with the 4500...total mystery to me. I expect some electronics whizzkid out there will put me right....I hope!!

Regards

Steve

PS: May the best team win...
 
Hi Steve,
Most digital camera specs are conservative. You can get the charging units for these batteries at reasonable prices. With laptops you must swotch them on once in a while to recharge them.
Sorry to disappoint you, but I am an English supporter, though I have lived in Australia for 42 years and am a citizen, I am still a pom and Essex boy at heart. Ernie
 
Crake Dude said:
I have been looking for the ideal(and cheap!) commercially available external battery pack that would operate with most digicams...and I think I've found it, at last.

Now that supplies of the Maplins powerpack(L56AN, and similar to the Digipower DPS-9000 from the US) are practically dried-up, I bought a lithium-ion powerpack advertised on that four-letter-word, ebay, called a 'Universal Camcorder & Digital Camera External Battery' for £25. It claimed to be switchable for cameras DC in, 3.0volts, 5v, 6v and 7.2v.

I've now had it since November, charged it only once, and used it successfully on Nikon Coolpixes 950, 990, 995, 4500, Canon A95, Contax SL300RT, Fuji F30...and it's brilliant, in my opinion. I think the cold weather has probably discharged it more than the cameras have. I do keep it 'warm' in my inside-coat pocket as often as possible away from the battery's main enemy, the cold.

I could go into great detail about the powerpack, but this link gives the relevant info.(it's the top two depicted):

www.global-batteries.com/index.php/cPath/10

It is available in the UK at various places ranging in price from £25 to £50, and I think its product code is EDC001K or EDC002K, but, as I was so impressed with it, and as the usual panic set in that as soon as you find something it magically becomes obsolete,I bought another one. This one only cost me just £17 from the 'all Battery Shop' (on ebay, again). If you type in search 'universal camcorder external battery' should find it. Also listed under 14.40MaH External Battery in same shop for about £18...is same item.

The connector leads are a bit short, but I take the tripod-bush attachment off, put the battery in the splendid enclosed leatherette case, and clip it to the tripod handle. I particularly like the tiny switch to change the voltage, as it it recessed, so it would be difficult to accidentally catch it and blow your cameras electrics mid-use.

A word of warning, though. None of the included connectors are suitable for cameras which use a docking cradle for charging their own batteries eg.Contax U4r. I unfortunately recommended this powerpack to a digiscoping friend as it wrongly listed(at the time), the U4r as OK for use with device as the connector was included...and the connector was NOT included. Sorry( to Paul H.).

(I hope this also answers the previous thread from Ian and his 4500, but as the powerpack is so universal, thought it might catch the attention of other digicam users...apologies Ian)

Regards

Steve
Click to expand...

I now have the All Battery Shop version and it's just as you recommended, I am extremely grateful for your suggestion.

Many Thanks,
Ian McG
 
Well done, Ian, and I hope it serves you well....but watch that cold weather. I have just charged my unit for its second time.

(Just to add for anyone else interested, the list of compatible cameras for the battery pack on the ABS website is not really complete and up to date, so don't be put off if your camera isn't listed. I think it's fairly universal, as its name implies, except for cams which are charged via a docking-cradle, as I mentioned before)

Good luck

Steve
 
It has been brought to my notice by a Forum member that the source I recommended for this battery pack has stopped advertising them. Perhaps this is only temporary, but I will try and contact them tomorrow to see the stock situation.

Sorry about that, but did not realise.

The same battery pack is available elswhere in UK but for about £40(and is available for around $50 if you live in US), if you put its code EDC001K in Google search. I know the place I originally suggested strangely 'pumped' up the price from £12.97 to £16.99 soon after I entered the thread.

Steve
 
External Battery is still available

This item is still available on eBay from the Battery Shop from £14.99 t0 £16.99 + £4 p&p in UK. Sometimes listed as 14.40W/Hours Universal Camcorder&Camera External Battery(same thing, but I noticed they missed the 'a' off Camera so might have confused any searches). One showing as Item number: 280091466850 as I write.

I have no connection to this firm, so no benefit to me....hopefully, just to you.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 17 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Similar threads

S
Yet another bridge camera thread...
Replies
4
Views
354
seawatcher
S
N
Abe's of Maine review
Replies
0
Views
5K
neocacher
N
Barred Wobbler
Canon DVD Camera Driver
Replies
6
Views
3K
Malcolm Stewart
M
G
VideoScoping - camcorder or camera?
Replies
6
Views
14K
gregbaker
G
G
2016 SHOT Show report from Camera Land
Replies
0
Views
3K
gr8fuldoug
G

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top