M6ii power through USB

Hi,

I'm trying shooting star trails tonight with the M6ii from the back yard.

Any thoughts on whether I'd be better off using the using the Canon battery or this battery through USB?

Power Delivery Power Bank 26800mAh, PD Power Bank, Charmast 18W USB C Portable Charger Quick Charge 3.0 Battery Pack

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C1YR7QK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Hoka Hey wrote:

Hi,

I'm trying shooting star trails tonight with the M6ii from the back yard.

Any thoughts on whether I'd be better off using the using the Canon battery or this battery through USB?

Power Delivery Power Bank 26800mAh, PD Power Bank, Charmast 18W USB C Portable Charger Quick Charge 3.0 Battery Pack

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C1YR7QK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the M6 Ii only allowed charging over USB, not power over USB.

nnowak wrote:

Hoka Hey wrote:

Hi,

I'm trying shooting star trails tonight with the M6ii from the back yard.

Any thoughts on whether I'd be better off using the using the Canon battery or this battery through USB?

Power Delivery Power Bank 26800mAh, PD Power Bank, Charmast 18W USB C Portable Charger Quick Charge 3.0 Battery Pack

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C1YR7QK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the M6 Ii only allowed charging over USB, not power over USB.

Unfortunately, I was overly optimistic and you seem to be correct. I had tested the concept before posting and thought I had power with the battery removed and battery door closed, but on retesting, I couldn't replicate it.

JRET wrote:

Joe,

Assuming that you need uninterrupted power longer than the battery provides it is possible to use a power adapter kit. I believe the M6ii battery is LP-E17 and that the camera has a trap door on the battery compartment door. If that is correct check this LINK . Using the power adapter opens up all kinds of possibilities for extended shooting but does require 110v. If the shooting location is not convenient to 110v the solution is to use an INVERTER .

Using a Canon M2 on a tripod I used this setup with each of these components plus a 12v lawn tractor battery to shoot the solar eclipse a couple years ago. My goal was to shoot a 6 hour time lapse and, even with the smaller lawn tractor battery, I estimated that I had at least 24 hours battery capacity. This setup worked flawlessly.

There are other adapters and inverters available but the two units listed above worked quite well for me. This might work for your needs or at least point to a suitable solution for your needs.

Thanks JRET. Very helpful!

I have the power adapter for the LP-E6 battery and used it last night with my 5D4 on the back deck plugged into power.

However, I want to be able to carry a battery with me to remote sites when things go back to "normal". So, weight  is a big factor. I'm OK with a camera pack and R + lens + LP-E6N batteries for Milky Way and M6ii + lens for star trails and tripods, but not much more.

Do you think that I could use this adapter and the batterymentioned in the original post? Is there a simple way to calculate how much battery I need to last 8 hours? It's been 45 years since I had calculus and basic physics. So, please go easy on me here.

For what it's worth, last night, the LP-E17 lasted about 4.5 hours shooting 30 sec exposures with a second or two between each exposure.

RLBur wrote:

Hi Joe,

Be sure and share with us some of those photos.

I'm looking forward to it.

Randy

Thanks Randy.

Will do.

drip01 wrote:

Hoka Hey wrote:

nnowak wrote:

Hoka Hey wrote:

Hi,

I'm trying shooting star trails tonight with the M6ii from the back yard.

Any thoughts on whether I'd be better off using the using the Canon battery or this battery through USB?

Power Delivery Power Bank 26800mAh, PD Power Bank, Charmast 18W USB C Portable Charger Quick Charge 3.0 Battery Pack

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C1YR7QK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the M6 Ii only allowed charging over USB, not power over USB.

Unfortunately, I was overly optimistic and you seem to be correct. I had tested the concept before posting and thought I had power with the battery removed and battery door closed, but on retesting, I couldn't replicate it.

I can definitively confirm you that they are correct. Canon won't let the camera operate while charging. You'll need to switch to the Sony system to do that.

Actually, any system other than Canon can do it.

When I owned the a6300 and a6400, I always carry a regular power bank (not PD type) and shoot while charging the battery. There's no need to buy a spare battery. But this may still not achieve your goal as I found the camera drained the battery faster than the power bank could charge it even with a 2.4A output at the time. That means the battery will eventually go to 0% if you do this for too long. Charging while shooting did prolong the battery life though. Maybe some higher end power banks are better now? I don't know.

-- hide signature --

Brian

Hoka Hey wrote:

JRET wrote:

Joe,

Assuming that you need uninterrupted power longer than the battery provides it is possible to use a power adapter kit. I believe the M6ii battery is LP-E17 and that the camera has a trap door on the battery compartment door. If that is correct check this LINK . Using the power adapter opens up all kinds of possibilities for extended shooting but does require 110v. If the shooting location is not convenient to 110v the solution is to use an INVERTER .

Using a Canon M2 on a tripod I used this setup with each of these components plus a 12v lawn tractor battery to shoot the solar eclipse a couple years ago. My goal was to shoot a 6 hour time lapse and, even with the smaller lawn tractor battery, I estimated that I had at least 24 hours battery capacity. This setup worked flawlessly.

There are other adapters and inverters available but the two units listed above worked quite well for me. This might work for your needs or at least point to a suitable solution for your needs.

Thanks JRET. Very helpful!

I have the power adapter for the LP-E6 battery and used it last night with my 5D4 on the back deck plugged into power.

However, I want to be able to carry a battery with me to remote sites when things go back to "normal". So, weight is a big factor. I'm OK with a camera pack and R + lens + LP-E6N batteries for Milky Way and M6ii + lens for star trails and tripods, but not much more.

Do you think that I could use thisadapter and the batterymentioned in the original post? Is there a simple way to calculate how much battery I need to last 8 hours? It's been 45 years since I had calculus and basic physics. So, please go easy on me here.

For what it's worth, last night, the LP-E17 lasted about 4.5 hours shooting 30 sec exposures with a second or two between each exposure.

Good news/bad news.  The LP-E17 battery has a capacity of 7.5 watt hours.  The battery bank you linked has a 100 watt hour capacity.  If the LP-E17 last 4.5 hours, the bank would last 60 hours

Here is the problem... the M6 II is expecting 7.2 volts in the battery compartment.  7.4 or 7.6 are fine too.  This is the voltage you get with 2 lithium cells wired in series.

The bank you linked can not output 7.2V as that is not a standard PD voltage.  The USB port on the M6 II communicates with the bank to request a suitable PD voltage (probably 9V).  The battery compartment lacks this communication ability.

How are your soldering skills?  You will need a LP-E17 dummy battery and mating cable.  Find, or build, a high capacity 7.2/7.4V battery bank.  Some examples would be "2S" RC vehicle batteries or a bank made of 18650 cells.  Cut apart the Canon cable and solder on a mating connector for your battery bank.  Whatever you use, make sure it has a protection circuit.  Over charging and over discharging lithium batteries is dangerous.

If this all sounds overwhelming, the other option is to switch to almost any other camera brand for this use case.  Almost all other brands support powering the camera over USB and would easily work with the bank you linked and a standard USB cable.

nnowak wrote:

Hoka Hey wrote:

JRET wrote:

Joe,

Assuming that you need uninterrupted power longer than the battery provides it is possible to use a power adapter kit. I believe the M6ii battery is LP-E17 and that the camera has a trap door on the battery compartment door. If that is correct check this LINK . Using the power adapter opens up all kinds of possibilities for extended shooting but does require 110v. If the shooting location is not convenient to 110v the solution is to use an INVERTER .

Using a Canon M2 on a tripod I used this setup with each of these components plus a 12v lawn tractor battery to shoot the solar eclipse a couple years ago. My goal was to shoot a 6 hour time lapse and, even with the smaller lawn tractor battery, I estimated that I had at least 24 hours battery capacity. This setup worked flawlessly.

There are other adapters and inverters available but the two units listed above worked quite well for me. This might work for your needs or at least point to a suitable solution for your needs.

Thanks JRET. Very helpful!

I have the power adapter for the LP-E6 battery and used it last night with my 5D4 on the back deck plugged into power.

However, I want to be able to carry a battery with me to remote sites when things go back to "normal". So, weight is a big factor. I'm OK with a camera pack and R + lens + LP-E6N batteries for Milky Way and M6ii + lens for star trails and tripods, but not much more.

Do you think that I could use thisadapter and the batterymentioned in the original post? Is there a simple way to calculate how much battery I need to last 8 hours? It's been 45 years since I had calculus and basic physics. So, please go easy on me here.

For what it's worth, last night, the LP-E17 lasted about 4.5 hours shooting 30 sec exposures with a second or two between each exposure.

Good news/bad news. The LP-E17 battery has a capacity of 7.5 watt hours. The battery bank you linked has a 100 watt hour capacity. If the LP-E17 last 4.5 hours, the bank would last 60 hours

Here is the problem... the M6 II is expecting 7.2 volts in the battery compartment. 7.4 or 7.6 are fine too. This is the voltage you get with 2 lithium cells wired in series.

The bank you linked can not output 7.2V as that is not a standard PD voltage. The USB port on the M6 II communicates with the bank to request a suitable PD voltage (probably 9V). The battery compartment lacks this communication ability.

How are your soldering skills? You will need a LP-E17 dummy battery and mating cable. Find, or build, a high capacity 7.2/7.4V battery bank. Some examples would be "2S" RC vehicle batteries or a bank made of 18650 cells. Cut apart the Canon cable and solder on a mating connector for your battery bank. Whatever you use, make sure it has a protection circuit. Over charging and over discharging lithium batteries is dangerous.

If this all sounds overwhelming, the other option is to switch to almost any other camera brand for this use case. Almost all other brands support powering the camera over USB and would easily work with the bank you linked and a standard USB cable.

Thanks nnowak. When looking at the comments to this adapter, people seem to be able to use it with a usb power bank. If you have time, would you look at it and give me your opinion?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07J3DRKKM/ref=psdc_13535461_t2_B0864T2JYZ

Hoka Hey wrote:

nnowak wrote:

Hoka Hey wrote:

JRET wrote:

Joe,

Assuming that you need uninterrupted power longer than the battery provides it is possible to use a power adapter kit. I believe the M6ii battery is LP-E17 and that the camera has a trap door on the battery compartment door. If that is correct check this LINK . Using the power adapter opens up all kinds of possibilities for extended shooting but does require 110v. If the shooting location is not convenient to 110v the solution is to use an INVERTER .

Using a Canon M2 on a tripod I used this setup with each of these components plus a 12v lawn tractor battery to shoot the solar eclipse a couple years ago. My goal was to shoot a 6 hour time lapse and, even with the smaller lawn tractor battery, I estimated that I had at least 24 hours battery capacity. This setup worked flawlessly.

There are other adapters and inverters available but the two units listed above worked quite well for me. This might work for your needs or at least point to a suitable solution for your needs.

Thanks JRET. Very helpful!

I have the power adapter for the LP-E6 battery and used it last night with my 5D4 on the back deck plugged into power.

However, I want to be able to carry a battery with me to remote sites when things go back to "normal". So, weight is a big factor. I'm OK with a camera pack and R + lens + LP-E6N batteries for Milky Way and M6ii + lens for star trails and tripods, but not much more.

Do you think that I could use thisadapter and the batterymentioned in the original post? Is there a simple way to calculate how much battery I need to last 8 hours? It's been 45 years since I had calculus and basic physics. So, please go easy on me here.

For what it's worth, last night, the LP-E17 lasted about 4.5 hours shooting 30 sec exposures with a second or two between each exposure.

Good news/bad news. The LP-E17 battery has a capacity of 7.5 watt hours. The battery bank you linked has a 100 watt hour capacity. If the LP-E17 last 4.5 hours, the bank would last 60 hours

Here is the problem... the M6 II is expecting 7.2 volts in the battery compartment. 7.4 or 7.6 are fine too. This is the voltage you get with 2 lithium cells wired in series.

The bank you linked can not output 7.2V as that is not a standard PD voltage. The USB port on the M6 II communicates with the bank to request a suitable PD voltage (probably 9V). The battery compartment lacks this communication ability.

How are your soldering skills? You will need a LP-E17 dummy battery and mating cable. Find, or build, a high capacity 7.2/7.4V battery bank. Some examples would be "2S" RC vehicle batteries or a bank made of 18650 cells. Cut apart the Canon cable and solder on a mating connector for your battery bank. Whatever you use, make sure it has a protection circuit. Over charging and over discharging lithium batteries is dangerous.

If this all sounds overwhelming, the other option is to switch to almost any other camera brand for this use case. Almost all other brands support powering the camera over USB and would easily work with the bank you linked and a standard USB cable.

Thanks nnowak. When looking at the comments to this adapter, people seem to be able to use it with a usb power bank. If you have time, would you look at it and give me your opinion?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07J3DRKKM/ref=psdc_13535461_t2_B0864T2JYZ

It sounds like it should work with the M6 II.  You don't need a PD power bank.  Any standard USB power bank should work as the adapter is taking the standard 5V 2A USB output and stepping it up to match the output of the LP-E17.

nnowak wrote:

Thanks nnowak. When looking at the comments to this adapter, people seem to be able to use it with a usb power bank. If you have time, would you look at it and give me your opinion?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07J3DRKKM/ref=psdc_13535461_t2_B0864T2JYZ

It sounds like it should work with the M6 II. You don't need a PD power bank. Any standard USB power bank should work as the adapter is taking the standard 5V 2A USB output and stepping it up to match the output of the LP-E17.

I suspect not.  Seems to me the issue is probably a high short-term current draw peak.  Canon's power thing no doubt has a large cap or two to handle the peak current.  Given the size of energy storage caps, I suspect Canon didn't have enough space to add one in conjunction with a USB power port.  This is the only thing that makes sense under the circumstances.

So if you do a home brew battery substitute, you might want to put a big cap in parallel with the output.  The right size resistor might be tricky - high enough to protect the power source, low enough to power the peak demand of the camera.

All this is just a guess, but consistent with what we know.

ken_in_nh wrote:

nnowak wrote:

Thanks nnowak. When looking at the comments to this adapter, people seem to be able to use it with a usb power bank. If you have time, would you look at it and give me your opinion?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07J3DRKKM/ref=psdc_13535461_t2_B0864T2JYZ

It sounds like it should work with the M6 II. You don't need a PD power bank. Any standard USB power bank should work as the adapter is taking the standard 5V 2A USB output and stepping it up to match the output of the LP-E17.

I suspect not. Seems to me the issue is probably a high short-term current draw peak. Canon's power thing no doubt has a large cap or two to handle the peak current. Given the size of energy storage caps, I suspect Canon didn't have enough space to add one in conjunction with a USB power port. This is the only thing that makes sense under the circumstances.

So if you do a home brew battery substitute, you might want to put a big cap in parallel with the output. The right size resistor might be tricky - high enough to protect the power source, low enough to power the peak demand of the camera.

All this is just a guess, but consistent with what we know.

Or, just buy the kit linked by Hoka Key along with a USB power bank.  Many of the positive reviews are from M6 II owners.

nnowak wrote:

Hoka Hey wrote:

nnowak wrote:

Hoka Hey wrote:

JRET wrote:

Joe,

Assuming that you need uninterrupted power longer than the battery provides it is possible to use a power adapter kit. I believe the M6ii battery is LP-E17 and that the camera has a trap door on the battery compartment door. If that is correct check this LINK . Using the power adapter opens up all kinds of possibilities for extended shooting but does require 110v. If the shooting location is not convenient to 110v the solution is to use an INVERTER .

Using a Canon M2 on a tripod I used this setup with each of these components plus a 12v lawn tractor battery to shoot the solar eclipse a couple years ago. My goal was to shoot a 6 hour time lapse and, even with the smaller lawn tractor battery, I estimated that I had at least 24 hours battery capacity. This setup worked flawlessly.

There are other adapters and inverters available but the two units listed above worked quite well for me. This might work for your needs or at least point to a suitable solution for your needs.

Thanks JRET. Very helpful!

I have the power adapter for the LP-E6 battery and used it last night with my 5D4 on the back deck plugged into power.

However, I want to be able to carry a battery with me to remote sites when things go back to "normal". So, weight is a big factor. I'm OK with a camera pack and R + lens + LP-E6N batteries for Milky Way and M6ii + lens for star trails and tripods, but not much more.

Do you think that I could use thisadapter and the batterymentioned in the original post? Is there a simple way to calculate how much battery I need to last 8 hours? It's been 45 years since I had calculus and basic physics. So, please go easy on me here.

For what it's worth, last night, the LP-E17 lasted about 4.5 hours shooting 30 sec exposures with a second or two between each exposure.

Good news/bad news. The LP-E17 battery has a capacity of 7.5 watt hours. The battery bank you linked has a 100 watt hour capacity. If the LP-E17 last 4.5 hours, the bank would last 60 hours

Here is the problem... the M6 II is expecting 7.2 volts in the battery compartment. 7.4 or 7.6 are fine too. This is the voltage you get with 2 lithium cells wired in series.

The bank you linked can not output 7.2V as that is not a standard PD voltage. The USB port on the M6 II communicates with the bank to request a suitable PD voltage (probably 9V). The battery compartment lacks this communication ability.

How are your soldering skills? You will need a LP-E17 dummy battery and mating cable. Find, or build, a high capacity 7.2/7.4V battery bank. Some examples would be "2S" RC vehicle batteries or a bank made of 18650 cells. Cut apart the Canon cable and solder on a mating connector for your battery bank. Whatever you use, make sure it has a protection circuit. Over charging and over discharging lithium batteries is dangerous.

If this all sounds overwhelming, the other option is to switch to almost any other camera brand for this use case. Almost all other brands support powering the camera over USB and would easily work with the bank you linked and a standard USB cable.

Thanks nnowak. When looking at the comments to this adapter, people seem to be able to use it with a usb power bank. If you have time, would you look at it and give me your opinion?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07J3DRKKM/ref=psdc_13535461_t2_B0864T2JYZ

It sounds like it should work with the M6 II. You don't need a PD power bank. Any standard USB power bank should work as the adapter is taking the standard 5V 2A USB output and stepping it up to match the output of the LP-E17.

Thanks for taking a look. Part ordered, but delayed shipping for about 3 weeks.

Thanks R2.

I've got a few power banks. If they don't work, I'll definitely use your suggestions on getting another.

Good luck on your crossword book.!