I have 600 hundred USB-C chargers everywhere; in my car, next to my bed, in my bathroom, in the garage, in my camera bag. Do you know what I never remember to pack? The battery charger for my camera. Yes, you can charge the battery with the camera itself for most of Sony’s Alpha line of cameras, but no self-respecting photographer has time for that — you’re too busy shooting! Nitecore to the rescue, with its ridiculously clever battery with a built-in USB-C socket. Use any USB-C power brick or battery pack to charge your camera batteries on the go.
The batteries themselves are standard 7.2 volt, 2,250 mAh lithium-ion batteries, roughly comparable with Sony’s own NP-FZ100 batteries. Of course, those things retail at $80 or so, and Nitecore’s other accessory battery packs sell for about half that. The company isn’t revealing the price tag and haven’t suggested what the premium will be for its USB-C chargeable battery packs. As a photographer who is both forgetful and often fails to plan ahead, I’d gladly pay the same price as Sony charges for its InfoLithium battery packs, just for the convenience of charging them wherever I find myself running low on juice.
It’s one of those innovations where you go “well… damn, why aren’t all batteries like this!?” Battery manufacturers, if you’re reading this, you have your marching orders. Put some charging circuitry in your batteries and let me charge on the go.