Recommendations for portable power banks for Lumix fz-330 (1 Viewer)

[Thegeezer9999]

Hi

I was not sure where to post this so hope this is right place !

I am just starting out on the whole camera, binoculars going out birdwatching and photographing. I have read the reviews, and all suggest carrying a power bank to make sure your camera batteries don't fail you at a vital time. My question is simple, does anyone have any recommendations for the best power bank that is obviously not too heavy, but will do the job of making sure the two batteries I have will always be charged ? I have been looking at the Anker range, but there is such a vast number of choices !! My charger for the batteries is a usb-c to usb-a type connector.

I was looking at this, 345g which seems reasonably light, and also has good reviews. Anyone have experience of using this ?

Anker PowerCore III Sense - 20K | Paradigit

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Thank you to all who respond.

 

[Georgebirds]

I think maybe you haven't had lots of replies on this because these power bank things aren't so universally needed/used as the reviews implied?
Cos I can honestly say I've never seen anybody using one, and everyone I know or have seen or spoken to (including pro and semi-pro and serious-hobbyist photographers at a great many horse events) just carries a spare charged battery or two, so they're there ready in a bag or pocket.
It doesn't even need to be a proper branded replacement battery from Panasonic - I got a pack of two for the FZ330 for around £9 on Ebay.
And I very rarely even need to use them, as long as I'm turning the camera off while just walking around or not seeing anything, which tends to be the case while birding - it's such a quick camera that there's no real difference in the 'wake up' speed between turning it right off, or leaving it hanging on standby, so the actual minutes of on time aren't anywhere near the amount of time I'm out there with the camera. I find one fully-charged battery easily lasts me a whole day, unless it's a very long event (photographing horses on a cross country course from 9am, I'll maybe switch to my spare battery around 4.30pm)

So with you having two batteries already, that's probably enough, and if you're still worried about running out, go for the easy option and buy some of the dirt-cheap off-brand batteries from Ebay (or your choice of online purchase-place if you're not an Ebay person) and have a few extra hours in your pocket without the expense of the pricey power bank!

 

[Thegeezer9999]

I think maybe you haven't had lots of replies on this because these power bank things aren't so universally needed/used as the reviews implied?
Cos I can honestly say I've never seen anybody using one, and everyone I know or have seen or spoken to (including pro and semi-pro and serious-hobbyist photographers at a great many horse events) just carries a spare charged battery or two, so they're there ready in a bag or pocket.
It doesn't even need to be a proper branded replacement battery from Panasonic - I got a pack of two for the FZ330 for around £9 on Ebay.
And I very rarely even need to use them, as long as I'm turning the camera off while just walking around or not seeing anything, which tends to be the case while birding - it's such a quick camera that there's no real difference in the 'wake up' speed between turning it right off, or leaving it hanging on standby, so the actual minutes of on time aren't anywhere near the amount of time I'm out there with the camera. I find one fully-charged battery easily lasts me a whole day, unless it's a very long event (photographing horses on a cross country course from 9am, I'll maybe switch to my spare battery around 4.30pm)

So with you having two batteries already, that's probably enough, and if you're still worried about running out, go for the easy option and buy some of the dirt-cheap off-brand batteries from Ebay (or your choice of online purchase-place if you're not an Ebay person) and have a few extra hours in your pocket without the expense of the pricey power bank!

Thank you for this. I actually found buried a small pack and tested it and it worked ! I have a spare non-Panasonic battery so maybe will try just carrying a spare and see how I get on.
Do you by chance have the ebay link ?

Thanks again

 

[Montereyman]

My primary cameras have a USB C power port and so can make use of the powerbanks. In general I prefer to buy an additional camera battery as it takes far less time to swap out the battery.

 

[Thegeezer9999]

My primary cameras have a USB C power port and so can make use of the powerbanks. In general I prefer to buy an additional camera battery as it takes far less time to swap out the battery.

Thank you for the advice - I am sold on the idea of additional batteries now !!

 

[Georgebirds]

I had a look back in my Ebay history and found the batteries I bought - unfortunately the seller doesn't have any left and also it was over a year ago, so for one reason or the other, or both, the link's gone invalid and I can't pass it on.
The cheapest listing I can see on there now is £25.45 for two, and they're a different brand and different seller, so I wouldn't like to vouch for their quality or the shop's reliability.

 

[Thegeezer9999]

I had a look back in my Ebay history and found the batteries I bought - unfortunately the seller doesn't have any left and also it was over a year ago, so for one reason or the other, or both, the link's gone invalid and I can't pass it on.
The cheapest listing I can see on there now is £25.45 for two, and they're a different brand and different seller, so I wouldn't like to vouch for their quality or the shop's reliability.

Thank you for taking the trouble to look this up. I have heard that bc something can also be used !

 

[Mike Crawley]

I have previously bought non-Panasonic batteries but neither lasted as well as the branded ones.
I don’t do a great deal of photography but routinely have two charged batteries with me. It occurred to me, whilst reading this thread, that one of my spare battery chargers has a usb cable. It would be extremely simple to choose to recharge a battery via the charger/usb cable using a power bank (I generally have one with me for phone charging "in the field" for me or my pals).
Attached a photograph of my scruffy kit (excuse the kitchen table) and I can report that the power bank (5000mAh and weighs 130g) does charge the camera battery.
Next time the battery is fully discharged I will test this again.

 

[Montereyman]

I urge caution with batteries purchased with Amazon and ebay as many "counterfeit" ones are being sold and may lack the overload protection to prevent their catching fire when being charged.

I go with BH Photo as when they have returns with a third party battery they will discontinue it and replace it with another brand. Not perfect but safer overall.

 

[Thegeezer9999]

Thanks for all the replies, the battery pack I have is very compact so would not take any room or add much weight, so I think I will take two batteries, one charging on the battery pack (via USB).

Regarding buying non-Panasonic, yer man Graham who does the youtube vids for this camera swears by a certain non-Panasonic type (BCL or something like that).