USB Battery Packs

[madara]

Has anyone tried USB battery packs with the A7sII or A7rII? Can they power the camera or charge the internal batteries when the camera is not in use?

 

Thanks.

 

 

[adwb]

they ought to power the camera, a USB plugin cable does when tethered shooting on the A7Rmk2 

[JonathanStewart]

Yes to both.  It's a great feature. But to power the camera through USB, you still need a camera battery installed.  I often use the USB battery to power the camera during time lapses that can go on for multiple hours.  It's a capability that wouldn't be possible without that feature. 

[fermin]

While I haven't had the USB power pack attached during the actual shootings, I've used it to charge the battery while it was in the camera. I've also bought an additional USB charger that will take one Sony battery. So when one of my batteries is dead, I switch and the empty battery is charged in my backpack while I move on. Charging in the car can also be an option - all you'd need is a USB outlet for your 12V socket in the car. I haven't made any comparisons, but I suspect charging in the car would be even faster.

[RRRoger]

Yes, you can supplement the battery thru the USB port while shooting.

but:

1. The internal battery will discharge faster than it charges.

2. It adds to the "OverHeating" problem and thus actually cuts your movie recording time.

 

What I do is remove the battery and replace it with a dummy attached to a $20 SmallRig battery plate.

Then I attach a NP-F990 10400 mAh battery for well over 3 hours of recording with my A7s.

This will work with any A7 camera and it will run cooler too.

You can use smaller NP batteries if you wish/already have them.