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Blind Spot Gear announces the Power Junkie v2 with USB Power Delivery and charging abilities

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Blind Spot Gear, the company behind 2018’s original Power Junkie, is back with an update. It’s the Power Junkie v2, and it’s just launched today through Kickstarter. If you’ve no idea what the Power Junkie is, it’s a battery plate that takes Sony NP-F style batteries and provides outputs with which you can power other gear, like cameras, monitors, field recorders, etc.

It negates the need to have multiple batteries for multiple devices. Now, you can power everything from a single battery. As well as the neatness of just having a single battery, it means you don’t have to monitor the battery life of multiple devices while you’re trying to record! The new Power Junkie v2 has been rebuilt from the ground up to power up to offer a whole host of new features over its predecessor.

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Stop paying through the nose for OEM batteries – Your camera might support USB power banks

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Do you ever get that feeling that you never have enough batteries for your camera(s)? I do, especially when I’m shooting video. OEM batteries for most mirrorless cameras can be insanely expensive, but many people shy away from third party batteries. But there is another, much less expensive power option available to many mirrorless camera shooters these days, and that’s USB Power Delivery.

I’ve spoken about USB-PD here on DIYP before. I use USB-PD cables that negotiate the voltages for me and let me feed it into a dummy battery inside my camera. But now, most new cameras are coming with USB-PD support natively built right into the camera. And we’re not just talking about charging up the battery here, either. No, you can actually power your camera from a USB-PD power bank (personally, I’m a fan of OnSite 100W PD battery)

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Core SWX’s new Powerbase Edge Link can power your mirrorless camera for over 12 hours

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Core SWX has updated its Powerbase lineup, initially launched in 2019, with two new batteries. There’s the PB Edge Link, a 70Wh V-mount battery that sports a 7.4v output port for your DSLR or mirrorless camera, as well as Type-A 5v and Type-C Power Delivery USB ports and two 14.8v d-tap ports. According to Core SWX, this battery is capable of powering a Sony A7 series camera for over 12 hours.

The other is the new PB Edge Lite, a 47Wh battery that is primarily designed to live underneath your camera and provides a little over 8 hours of use on a Sony A7 series camera. Like the PB Edge Link, there are two 14.8v d-tap sockets, a 7.4v port for your camera, but no USB-PD. Instead, you get a pair of Type-C USB sockets capable of delivering 5v. It’s very similar to the original PB Edge Base, but without V-mount connectivity.

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Powering a camera for a month-long 24/7 timelapse

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Long term timelapses are a lot of fun to shoot, but they can come with a lot of challenges. What happens if your gear gets stolen or damaged? What if it simply moves and you lose your framing? Or stops shooting entirely? It’s a constant learning experience of challenges that we have to figure out as we face them.

But probably the biggest challenge is that of power. For Oklahoma farmer Derek Chisum, who wanted to shoot timelapse of his peanuts growing up out of the ground in his field, the solution is simple. Hook the camera – a GoPro in this case – up to a car battery. Derek spoke to DIYP about his setup.

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The Omnicharge Off-Grid Power Station is a powerful 1500W plug socket in the wild

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Portable power has become a big deal over the last few years as more photographers and filmmakers are discovering the joy of getting out of the studio and shooting on location. And thanks to new battery tech, gone are the days of noisy generators (for some of us anyway).

This one from Omnicharge, though, definitely ranks up there amongst the beefiest I’ve seen, though. It’s the Omni Off-Grid Power Station and it’s an absolute monster, capable of delivering up to 1500 Watts of continuous power. As with previous Omnicharge products, like the “Ultimate” (review here), the new Off-Grid Power Station is being funded through IndieGoGo.

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Test explores which rechargeable AA batteries work the best over the long term

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AA batteries are becoming less common amongst photographers as they once were as more flash systems switch to lithium-ion power solutions, but they haven’t disappeared altogether. Many devices do still require them, though, and so photographers and filmmakers still use them.

Some photographers opt for something like regular Duracell Alkalines because they’re just less hassle, but a lot go for rechargeables. How good are rechargeables over the long term, though? YouTube channel Project Farm has been abusing a bunch of different brands of AA battery over the last year, and now they’re taking a look to see which ones have withstood the test of time.

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The Power Grip is a handle for your camera with a built-in 37Wh battery

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Blind Spot Gear’s Power Junkie has become an extremely popular piece of kit. Wandering around the halls of NAB and IBC, I saw them powering gear on many stands, and I’ve seen a lot of filmmakers using them to power their gear. But now, Blind Spot Gear has kicked things up a few notches with their new Power Cage & Bracket.

As with the Power Junkie, Blind Spot Gear is launching the new device via Kickstarter, with pledges starting at only £30 ($38) for the bracket, £89 ($113) for the cage, and £99 ($126) for both.

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The Core SWX Powerbase Edge wants to power all of your photo and video devices on location

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One of the biggest issues for photographers and filmmakers working on location is that of power. Many of us carry spare batteries of multiple kinds in our bags whenever we go out to shoot – for me, that’s usually 6 batteries each for 2 cameras, a couple of big USB power banks and my Novoo. Maybe a few LiPo batteries if I need LED lights. But all of those are a hassle.

Core SWX has an option that can help deliver power to all of my devices and more, cutting the number of different types of batteries one needs to take out with them. It’s called the Powerbase Edge, and we had a chat with Core SWX about it at NAB 2019.

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Portable battery & AC power options to keep your camera running for longer

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Anybody who knows me knows that portable power on location is a big deal to me. Whether it’s being able to recharge batteries in the middle of nowhere or directly powering cameras and other devices, I need portable power. I usually use my lipo batteries, USB batteries, and more recently the Novoo AC power bank, but these aren’t the only options.

In this video, Jay P Morgan at The Slanted Lens looks at a range of products from IndiPro that allow you to get all kinds of different power options when shooting on location.

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The Power Junkie is a “Swiss army knife” for Sony L series NP-F batteries

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A big thing for me, as a location shooter, is portable power. Whether it’s for powering lights and cameras or charging them up when they’re dead, power on location is always a struggle. It always seems that more of the kit I take out with me uses power or now seems to drain power much faster than it used to as they cram more tech into cameras.

Blind Spot Gear, though, want to try to make life a little easier for us, though. The Power Junkie is a new adapter plate that lets you turn standard Sony NP-F batteries into a pair of USB sockets and a 7.4v output for powering cameras with dummy batteries.

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