Like Boy Scouts, photographers must prepare for the unexpected. During a recent shoot, I discovered that I was rapidly running out of fresh batteries.

I am never without sufficient NP-FW50 batteries because I always carry plenty of them. However, a perfect storm of events interrupted my usual routine of rejuvenating my batteries after I returned from a shoot.

It wasn’t a complete disaster; I had sufficient photos from early in the day so I was covered. Still, I wanted extra photos to enhance my report of the event.

No access to AC power

The event was outdoors, and I had no access to AC power for my charger. My truck was on hand, but I had no adapter that would allow me to charge NP-FW50 batteries with my vehicle.

I started to conserve my shots, trying to eke out the power in my last remaining cell. That really isn’t my style, however. Long ago, I learned to shoot anything that seemed remotely interesting and then discard any unwanted images afterward. Sometimes these random shots turn out to be my best images from an event.

That’s when inspiration struck. I had a portable power bank jump starter in my truck. It was designed to jump-start vehicles, but it featured a pair of USB ports.

Using an A6000 as a boondock Sony NP-FW50 charger

I have never used a USB cord to charge a battery in the camera. Instead, I have always used a stand-alone charger so I could continue shooting while I was charging my spare batteries.

Without a charger that could be used with a USB cord, I had no way to charge my depleted batteries. Yet I did have my Sony A6000, which I carried as a backup to my Sony A7s. Both cameras use the same NP-FW50 battery cell. Would it be possible to use the A6000 as an improvised battery charger?

Digging through the selection of cords I always carry, it didn’t take long to find a 12-inch long USB-A to USB Micro cable.

Can you charge a Sony NP-FW50 battery cell with a power bank?

I plugged the USB-A end into the Power Bank, then the Micro USB connector into the A6000. My hope of resurrecting my Sony NP-FW50 batteries shifted to disappointment when nothing happened. Frustrated, I was about to abandon this idea, but then I noticed the two USB outlets on the power bank were marked with different colors. I shifted the USB-A power cord to the second outlet marked in black. Immediately the A6000 charge lamp lit up. Apparently, the black outlet provided sufficient power to recharge an NP-FW50 battery, while the other outlet did not.

Of course, you shouldn’t go around plugging strange cables into expensive cameras. But I had no choice. Sony intended users to charge the battery in-camera with a power cord. While I cannot say for sure, I assume Sony builds their cameras with circuitry which would limit incoming voltage and amperage to a safe level.

I also felt confident that the outlets on the power bank were designed to be safe for equipment like cell phones, iPads, and video lights. It seemed tame enough to rely on the power bank to charge a battery in-camera.

Yes, a Sony A6000 can act as a battery charger

With the battery charging in the A6000, I roamed around using up the last of the juice in the battery in the A7s. When it expired, I returned to my impromptu charging station and discovered the battery in the A6000 had charged to 78 percent. I transferred the battery to my A7s and had sufficient power to cover the rest of the event.

Neither my A6000 nor my NP-FW50 batteries suffered any harm in this stunt. Still, you need to use caution if you attempt to duplicate this idea. The original charging block supplied with the Sony A6000 outputs 5v at 0.5 amps. Again, I assume the Sony engineers designed the camera not to exceed a safe voltage/amperage limit.

While I managed to get through this event, I wanted to prevent a reoccurrence in the future. I needed a charging solution that could be powered by my truck’s cigarette lighter. While looking for a car charger on Amazon, I realized there were a host of chargers that connected to AC power with a USB cable.

Planning for future Sony NP-FW50 battery emergencies

Most newer vehicles have built-in USB outlets. Nearly every older vehicle features a 12-volt cigarette outlet. Adapters which allow you to convert a cigarette lighter port to a USB outlet are readily available.

I already owned a small charger that could be powered by a micro-USB or USB-C cable. As a test, I plugged it into a USB adapter on my truck and found it charged perfectly. I intend to purchase an inexpensive charger powered by a USB cord. This charger will live in my truck, so if I experience a dying battery situation in the future, I will have the means to charge my cells while in the field.

Of course, my makeshift solution used a big 2000 amp car battery jump starter. What about the more common cell phone power banks? Could one of these have enough energy to cope with a camera or battery charger?

My Anker 1300 milliamp external battery lives in my camera bag so I can keep my cell phone topped off in the field. I plugged my USB battery charger into it and it began charging the batteries. It probably won’t be as fast and won’t have the capacity of the big 2000 Amp automotive jump starter, but now I know it can juice up my batteries.

One tried one additional test. I plugged a USB cord into my MacBook Air and attached the battery charger to it. Once again the batteries began to charge. I didn’t test this procedure long enough to determine how quickly the laptop’s internal battery would be discharged, but at least I know that my laptop can charge my camera batteries if needed.

Be prepared with a plan to keep your Sony NP-FW50 Batteries topped off

I am sure many of you already knew you could charge your camera with a power bank and that you can power a USB charger through your vehicle’s USB port. But some might have been unaware or never thought about how to go about topping off your cells without access to AC power.

If this describes you, I suggest you experiment with different charging methods to find one that works for you. That way, if you ever need to charge your batteries without an AC outlet, you’ll be ready.

Even the finest digital camera is useless without battery power. By being prepared for a sudden battery emergency, you can save yourself from missing irreplaceable shots.

Find NP-FW50 batteries on eBay!

https://ebay.us/tcXTbx

The post Sony NP-FW50 Batteries: Charge ’em without AC Power appeared first on Alphatracks.

Vampires, monsters, zombies, dropping your camera. When it comes to horror, watching your camera slip from your hands has to outrank anything conceived by Hollywood.

Big Hands, Small Cameras. What Could Go Wrong?

As cameras get smaller and lighter, they are also have become more tricky to hold. My old Minolta SLRs, even those without a built-in grip, always felt solid and secure in my hands.

Enter the Sony mirrorless cameras, especially the A6000 and A7 models. I love the small size, but I am uneasy handling them. Unlike my older Sony dSLRs, there simply isn’t enough space to clasp the camera in my right hand. With one finger over the shutter button, and two fingers clutching the body against my thumb, my little finger is left curling into nothing but air.

You get used to it after a while, but confession time: I sometimes feel nervous holding my camera, especially when I have a heavy (and expensive) lens attached.

I don’t mean to suggest that it is difficult to hold Sony mirrorless cameras. They are comfortable, and most of the time I never consider the value of the object I am carelessly waving around held only by a couple of digits.

That is the heart of the problem. When I am in the middle of a shoot, I am not thinking about the grip on my camera. Exposure, focus, and composition occupy my mind, leaving no room for thoughts of a camera disaster. Which is how accidents happen.

The risk intensifies in a crowd. You’re carrying equipment whose value exceeds that of a good used car. Jostled and jolted by bodies crowded around you, it only takes a second to lose your grip. The next thing you know, your beloved gear has had a great fall. And all the Sony Engineers and all the Alpha Repair Men can’t put your camera back together again.

A Simple Wrist Strap is the Answer

There are always neckstraps, but I don’t like having a strap permanently attached to my camera. Yet, the specter of smashed electronic gear smeared all over the ground haunts me. So, I went looking for a wrist strap.

There are plenty of wrist straps on Amazon, but I chose the WMWL Amazon Choice strap. It looks good, offers solid protection and costs less than ten dollars. What more could you ask for?

The strap attaches to the lug by the camera’s grip. Once in place, it only takes a moment to slip your hand through the loop, then you are ready to shoot.

The loop portion of this strap is made of parachute cord (paracord). Paracord is light and flexible, an excellent choice for a wrist strap. Thin leather sewn to the paracord attaches to a split ring in the side lug.

Some reviewers on Amazon have objected to the lightweight leather, suggesting it isn’t sturdy enough to secure a camera. I am not really concerned about this. I primarily use the strap as cheap insurance, and I am confident that should my cameras slip from my hand the leather would be sufficient to prevent it from crashing to the ground.

That being said, I find myself occasionally allowing the camera to dangle from my wrist. The leather has offered more than adequate support. For the most part, I still hold the camera in my hand with the strap serving as a fail-safe backup. There are times, however, when it is convenient to just let the camera dangle.

Paracord for the Win

The paracord loop is soft and nearly weightless. When I am shooting, I forget it is there. There is a cinch piece you can use to tighten the loop around your wrist. I usually don’t bother with this as just looping the paracord around my wrist feels nice and secure.

The strap comes in a variety of colors. I thought the silver-white version looked great, but Amazon said it would take a week to ship, while the black one was available for free overnight delivery. I wanted the extra protection ASAP, so I opted for black.

I may order a silver-white one for my A6000.

Will a wrist strap help you create better photos? Not directly. But a strap ensures that a moment of carelessness won’t leave your camera in pieces. And with that worry eliminated, you can concentrate on capturing the best images your mind can conceive. In that manner, a wrist strap could improve your photos.

Get it on Amazon for under Ten Dollars

You can get the strap here. As an Amazon affiliate, I will get a small commission if you buy it through my link. But even if you buy it elsewhere, buy one. Horror is fun on the silver screen, but not so much when you are staring at the corpse of a prized camera.

The post Save Your Camera! Use a Wrist Strap appeared first on Alphatracks.

I have recently started using PowerPax Storacell battery caddies, and I really like them for camera bag battery storage.

A couple of years ago, I posted about the nylon cases that I used to transport the batteries for my flashes. I have been using those cases for several years, and while I like them quite a bit, there are a few drawbacks that made me wish for a better solution.

For one, I have eight of them (hey, I go through a lot of batteries) and I sometimes lose track of where they are. Even if I start a shoot with all the battery cases organized in one place, there have been times the cases would get shuffled arround and I would find myself rooting through my camera bags and pockets to find a set of fresh batteries,

Secondly, the nylon cases are opaque. so I couldn’t tell which batteries were inside which case. I use different batteries for different applications. If I need a particular battery for a certain piece of equipment, I would have to dig through the cases to find the correct cells.

I couldn’t even tell if there were any batteries in a chosen case. For my workflow, I keep charged cells in cases, and discharged cells in a pouch in my camera bag. If there is one of the nylon cases in my bag, I would have to pick it up and examine it to see if it contained any batteries.

This didn’t keep my up at night, of course. but it was annoying. I knew there had to be a better way. And when I discovered the PowerPax Storacell containers, I found it.

I confess, my first thought when I saw the Storacell system was that the batteries were too exposed. Water and/or dirt could contaminate the cells. Then I realized I would only use the Storacells in my camera bag. If I have water and dirt in my camera case I have more important things to worry about than batteries.

Storacell Caddy Advantages

Once I got past that concern, I immediately realized these cases were just what I was looking for. Although PowerPax makes different sizes and configurations, the twelve cell carrier is perfect for my needs. It stores twelve AA batteries together in one place. It is large enough that it won’t get lost in the bottom of my camera bag, yet small enough that it can be squirreled away so it doesn’t take up too much space.

More importantly, I can see all the batteries inside the Storacell. If I need a particular cell, I can find it quickly.

The cells can be inserted with the positive terminal up or down, and some people like to store charged batteries with the terminals pointing in one direction and then insert discharged cells in the other direction.

While that is nice feature, I prefer to keep fully charged cells in the Storacell and then put all the discharged cells into a pouch for charging later. In that way, jut a glance at the Storacell tells me how many charged batteries I have available, I don’t have to take extra time to count which terminals are pointing up or down.

Since I like to charge and use my flash batteries together in sets of 4, I use a Sharpie marker to label the cells from a particular set. That way, i can dump all the discharged cells together in a pouch, then charge them together as a set. The fully charged cells can then be placed into the Storacell for the next shoot.

Testing NiMH batteries isn’t easy, because the cells usually test good until they are nearly expired. So using a meter to test the voltage of NiHM cell isn’t very helpful. Still the design of the Storacell allows users to use probes on the cells without removing the batteries. As for removal, you can slide the individual cells up with a push of a finger. So you can “dispense” the batteries you need one-handed.

Although it is easy to remove the cells, they appear to stay put in transport. I tried vigorous shaking of the Storacell caddies and could not dislodge the batteries.

Lots of Colors and Configurations Available

PowerPax offers the Storacell in a variety of colors. I opted for orange, because I thought that would be easiest to spot inside my camera bag. And they are “Sony Alpha Orange” to boot!

The carriers are also available in yellow, black, clear and curiously, military green. I’m not sure about the last one. The camouflage would only work if your batteries are also painted in a camouflage colors. There may ne applications where you need to hide your battery supply, but as I have said, I want my cases as visible as possible to I can find them quickly.

To that end, PowerPax also offers the cases in Moonshine. These cases are made of the stuff that glows in the dark after it has been exposed to bright light for a while. I used to do a considerable amount of night photography, and I think Moonshine would be perfect for this application. I may order some Moonshine cases for my next night-time photoshoot.

I have 2 12-cell AA Storacell carriers. PowerPax also makes a 4-cell AA carrier, as well as a six cell AAA version. If you use CR123, they also feature designs to carry these around as well.

I really like these carriers. The orange 12 pack caddies I am using cost just under $7.00 each. That price is slightly higher than the old nylon cases I have been using, but I think the obvious advantages make them well worth the extra cost.

One more thing. The Storacell cases are made in the USA. Great organization, easy to find in your camera bag and they are made in America. What more could you want?

You can find the Powerpax Storacell caddies on Amazon.

Adorama also carries a selection of Storacell cases.

The post Powerpax Storacell Caddies: Keep your Camera Bag Organized appeared first on Alphatracks.