Camera Battery Charging Example for GFX

[Greg7579]

The other long battery thread is getting clogged, and I responded too many times so the message gets garbled. Here is a new thread with a good example of what I have been talking about.

Here is my travel (and home) setup. I use one 100-watt Baseus desktop charger (soon to be a 240-watt Anker latest model charger). It has a power cable so you can place the charger far from the wall plug, like on top of a desk (as pictured here on my kitchen counter). It has two USB C ports and two USB A ports. One of the USB A ports is optimal for QC charging if you have a device with an older QC version that is not interchangeable with PD. All ports are PD-capable and will handshake with all ports to over 34 various combinations of Volts-Watts-Amps so you can charge anything that is PD capable up to 100 watts, whether it is a laptop, phone, tablet or tiny low power devices like ear buds or watches.

The battery charging bases I use for my camera batteries are Nitecore. The Nitecore bases are designed for almost all popular camera models, and they have LED readouts and the latest tech. These mounts must be connected to a charging device as they are just powerless mounts. The latest Nitecore chargers are all USB C, but the older models that are USB A are fine. In the example here, I can put a USB C adapter on the USB A plug and switch from the USB A port to the USB C port and the charge is the same.

Here I have two GFX 100S Wasabi batteries charging on the Nitecore mount. (Note: I also own 3 Fuji batteries for my 100s, so don't get mad at me for using Wasabi and Watson for all of you batter judgers and ideologues.) I have two Fuji GFX 50r batteries charging on the Nitecore mount. There is a Leica Q2 battery charging on its Nitecore mount.

So, here there are 5 batteries from three different cameras all fast charging at once on the same charger on three different Nitecore mounts. The LCD readouts on the Nitecore mounts show the battery charging temps, voltage and amps for both the current maximum charging rate - how much has been provided as well as how much remains to be provided. It also lets you know if the battery is healthy. It also tells you if the battery is fast charging or not. I have noticed that as the battery gets fuller, sometimes it stops fast charging. It will also stop fast charging if the temp gets too high.

The optimal charging rate is negotiated between the battery and the charger, and it reads out on the Nitecore mount. You can't overcharge a battery, so you can plug the 100-watt laptop into the same connection as a very low-watt watch - as long as the device has PD it will do the proper handshake.

Note: the Leica Q2 charger is Nitecore's worse charger because it has a built in 3-inch USB A cord that will just dangle off of a wall charger, but on my desktop charger, it doesn't matter.

Don't pay too much attention to the readings. I had just plugged all three of these mounts in and the batteries were already charged. Plus, the readout switches between several types of readouts.

These LCD readouts are reason enough to trash all your OEM chargers. LOL.....



--
Greg Johnson, San Antonio, Texas
https://www.flickr.com/photos/139148982@N02/albums

 

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

Well, you got me to go look at the Nitecore website. They have nothing for most of what I have what uses rechargeable batteries around here. Just the individual AA cells and the battery pack for the Nikon Df.

Nothing for Pentax, Kodak and older Nikon digitals.

Nothing for any of the 2-way radios. But then, to be fair, I wasn't expecting any. There are other companies who have the aftermarket batteries and chargers for all the makes and models of 2-way radio. Most of which have been around prior to the advent of digital photography.

I have plenty of decent enough chargers for the AA cells, but I'd buy from them should my Nikon Df charger pack it in. Too bad they don't offer anything for Pentax though. That was my real disappointment. I could see having one supply and two charger bases for the Pentax 645 and the Nikon Df. And then adding one for the AA cells just because that'd be pretty neat.

And it'd have been nice if they had something for the Kodak collector crowd. It's getting hard to find that stuff these days.

Stan

 

[Greg7579]

Hi,

Well, you got me to go look at the Nitecore website. They have nothing for most of what I have what uses rechargeable batteries around here. Just the individual AA cells and the battery pack for the Nikon Df.

Nothing for Pentax, Kodak and older Nikon digitals.

Nothing for any of the 2-way radios. But then, to be fair, I wasn't expecting any. There are other companies who have the aftermarket batteries and chargers for all the makes and models of 2-way radio. Most of which have been around prior to the advent of digital photography.

I have plenty of decent enough chargers for the AA cells, but I'd buy from them should my Nikon Df charger pack it in. Too bad they don't offer anything for Pentax though. That was my real disappointment. I could see having one supply and two charger bases for the Pentax 645 and the Nikon Df. And then adding one for the AA cells just because that'd be pretty neat.

And it'd have been nice if they had something for the Kodak collector crowd. It's getting hard to find that stuff these days.

Stan

Stan, you are slowly but surely coming around; you are the only guy on the forum who has the skillset to be able to rub two sticks together for 16 hours to generate the electricity stored in glass bottles hooked to charge your stack of home-made batteries the size of a pile of suitcases to power your wall-size array of WWII-era transistor short-wave radios so you can communicate with other survivors from the oncoming zombie apocalypse.

Now that was a long single sentence! Pretty good huh?

 

[JimKasson]

Hi,

Well, you got me to go look at the Nitecore website. They have nothing for most of what I have what uses rechargeable batteries around here. Just the individual AA cells and the battery pack for the Nikon Df.

Nothing for Pentax, Kodak and older Nikon digitals.

Nothing for any of the 2-way radios. But then, to be fair, I wasn't expecting any. There are other companies who have the aftermarket batteries and chargers for all the makes and models of 2-way radio. Most of which have been around prior to the advent of digital photography.

I have plenty of decent enough chargers for the AA cells, but I'd buy from them should my Nikon Df charger pack it in. Too bad they don't offer anything for Pentax though. That was my real disappointment. I could see having one supply and two charger bases for the Pentax 645 and the Nikon Df. And then adding one for the AA cells just because that'd be pretty neat.

And it'd have been nice if they had something for the Kodak collector crowd. It's getting hard to find that stuff these days.

Stan

Stan, you are slowly but surely coming around; you are the only guy on the forum who has the skillset to be able to rub two sticks together for 16 hours to generate the electricity stored in glass bottles hooked to charge your stack of home-made batteries the size of a pile of suitcases to power your wall-size array of WWII-era transistor short-wave radios so you can communicate with other survivors from the oncoming zombie apocalypse.

Now that was a long single sentence! Pretty good huh?

Channeling William Faulkner?

 

[paulraphael]

Too paratactic for Faulkner. More like Hemingway. But do go on, Greg; I think you're just getting started here.

 

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

I'm thinking more like William L Shirer on CBS from Germany during Christmas 1939. Edward R Murrow's (he Broadcast from London for CBS) counterpart.

Stan

 

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

Um WW-II era transistors? Um, no. Bell Labs was a long way from making the first transistor during the war.

All tubes back then, baby. And you don't want to see the current draw of the motor-generators they used back then to make the 400 volts the tubes needed when on 12 VDC.

One tube needing power from these modern power supply things we are talking about would send their guts up in a massive cloud of smoke! Ha!

Nope. No tubes here. All solid state running off 13.8 volts nominal. Although there is a 600 watt FET power amp for HF which needs 48 volts nominal. Usually run off its own AC power supply. But I could series four batteries and use that in a pinch. But, when the AC power is out, I stick with the 100 watt output of the radio itself.

Oldest rig in the shack is 1983. A Kenwood TS-430s HF rig I bought brand new. These days, it's my backup.

I used to have a tube rig as backup back in 1983. Long gone.

Stan

 

[Greg7579]

Yes, I knew when I scanned my post later you would get me on that. I don't know why I said transistor in WWII-era radios.... Hahaha. I really did mean to say tubes. Even I knew that.

--
Greg Johnson, San Antonio, Texas
https://www.flickr.com/photos/139148982@N02/albums

 

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

We sometimes call tubes:

Glass encapsulated, atmosphere evacuated, thermally stabilized, high electron mobility field effect transistors - with pilot lamps.



Tubes are still used some in power amplifiers. Usually above 500 watts. They become more common as the power level rises.

I have a dream of converting a Gates BC-1 AM broadcast transmitter to the 160m ham band. That's fairly common. They were built in the days when the transmitter was the centerpiece to show visitors. With a window so you can see the main power tubes.




This guy has two of them, one on 160m the other on 80m




The main power tubes operating

And then two 130 foot hot towers with a Phasor so I can use them as an electrically steered two element beam antenna.

Stan



--
Amateur Photographer
Professional Electronics Development Engineer

 

[JimKasson]

Hi,

We sometimes call tubes:

Glass encapsulated, atmosphere evacuated, thermally stabilized, high electron mobility field effect transistors - with pilot lamps.



Tubes are still used some in power amplifiers. Usually above 500 watts. They become more common as the power level rises.

Also linear accelerators like SLAC, microwave ovens.

I have a dream of converting a Gates BC-1 AM broadcast transmitter to the 160m ham band. That's fairly common. They were built in the days when the transmitter was the centerpiece to show visitors. With a window so you can see the main power tubes.


This guy has two of them, one on 160m the other on 80m


The main power tubes operating

And then two 130 foot hot towers with a Phasor so I can use them as an electrically steered two element beam antenna.

Stan

--

the last word the last word - Photography meets digital computer technology. Photography wins -- most of the time.

Photography meets digital computer technology. Photography wins -- most of the time.

blog.kasson.com

 

[Rich42]

Hi,

We sometimes call tubes:

Glass encapsulated, atmosphere evacuated, thermally stabilized, high electron mobility field effect transistors - with pilot lamps.



Tubes are still used some in power amplifiers. Usually above 500 watts. They become more common as the power level rises.

I have a dream of converting a Gates BC-1 AM broadcast transmitter to the 160m ham band. That's fairly common. They were built in the days when the transmitter was the centerpiece to show visitors. With a window so you can see the main power tubes.


This guy has two of them, one on 160m the other on 80m


The main power tubes operating

And then two 130 foot hot towers with a Phasor so I can use them as an electrically steered two element beam antenna.

Stan

I never got my Ham ticket. I passed the General Class exam at age 13, but never could discipline myself to learn Morse Code.

I built a Heathkit SW "receiver" which was never much more than a broadcast band superhet with band-switching grafted on. No actual RF stage. RF input was to the first IF stage. It had a loud speaker. No "real" SW radio had a speaker! I designed and built a 2-stage RF amp for it as well as a Q-multiplier.

"CQ DX. CQ DX." My father would not allow me to attach an antenna to our chimney in Philadelphia. Everything I was able to receive was just by a long wire hung out my window. I would send QSL cards to Chicago, sometimes to California when I could pick up stuff on 10 meters just before dawn. Mostly SSB "audio." I was ecstatic when I got cards back.

I designed and built kilowatt transmitters for other guys. I just loved laying out tube sockets and transformers and punching aluminum chassis with big Greenlee chassis punches. I learned Mil Specs and measured wires to exact lengths, wrapped solder connections exactly with the correct number of turns. Washed, and polished every solder joint, before delivering the finished job. Not a spec of flux visible anywhere. Everything was over-engineered. BIG was the style then. HUGE band switching gangs and ceramic stand-offs to handle the power. Gorgeous.

Every once in a while, I would fire up one of the rigs on my own. I was sure that as soon as my long wire "antenna" radiated (for the 5 seconds I would dare to apply power) that FCC "detectives" would be knocking at my front door and take me away. Hey, in the 1950s it was normal for a kid to feel guilty about everything.

--
Rich
"That's like, just your opinion, man." ;-)

 

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

You can get your ticket now. No mo code!

And only three classes now. technician, general and extra.

73 de w2ck

--
Amateur Photographer
Professional Electronics Development Engineer

 

[Rich42]

Hi,

You can get your ticket now. No mo code!

And only three classes now. technician, general and extra.

73 de w2ck

No need, no mo.

*sigh*

iPhone does everything.

Besides, now its my Home Owners' Association that won't let me put an antenna on my roof!

;-)

 

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

Well, you could use a Net Connected station. But you do need your own callsign.

Drive the net connected station with that iPhone.

Get yourself that General.

Stan

 

[Rich42]

Hi,

Well, you could use a Net Connected station. But you do need your own callsign.

Drive the net connected station with that iPhone.

Get yourself that General.

Stan

LOL. Another "hobby!" My wife will really be on board with that!

I think my interest in Ham radio is a thing of the distant past.

;-)

 

[Manzur Fahim]

The other long battery thread is getting clogged, and I responded too many times so the message gets garbled. Here is a new thread with a good example of what I have been talking about.

Here is my travel (and home) setup. I use one 100-watt Baseus desktop charger (soon to be a 240-watt Anker latest model charger). It has a power cable so you can place the charger far from the wall plug, like on top of a desk (as pictured here on my kitchen counter). It has two USB C ports and two USB A ports. One of the USB A ports is optimal for QC charging if you have a device with an older QC version that is not interchangeable with PD. All ports are PD-capable and will handshake with all ports to over 34 various combinations of Volts-Watts-Amps so you can charge anything that is PD capable up to 100 watts, whether it is a laptop, phone, tablet or tiny low power devices like ear buds or watches.

I use the MiniX NEO P3 Turbo adapter. I like the fact that it has travel plugs, so I can use UK plug. US plugs are not as tight-fitting as the UK plugs, so this one is quite useful for me. Also charging capability and supporting protocols are great too.

The battery charging bases I use for my camera batteries are Nitecore. The Nitecore bases are designed for almost all popular camera models, and they have LED readouts and the latest tech. These mounts must be connected to a charging device as they are just powerless mounts. The latest Nitecore chargers are all USB C, but the older models that are USB A are fine. In the example here, I can put a USB C adapter on the USB A plug and switch from the USB A port to the USB C port and the charge is the same.

Although I quite like nitecore products, and have own battery chargers, batteries and tactical flashlights from them, when it comes to camera chargers, I decided not to use their products.

Reason 1: When I tried their charger for my GFX 100, it was charging the battery and was showing fully charged, but in camera, it was showing only 80%+ charge in the batteries. I purchased another and had the same issue.

Reason 2: Exactly the same problem but with the FX3 charger for W235 batteries. It charges them and saying charge is full, but in camera it shows 80-90%.

Also, in QC mode, it was taking in 17-18W (Fujifilm OEM charger taking in 19W max), but at the end, the OEM charger finished charging the batteries a good 20-25mins quicker.

Here I have two GFX 100S Wasabi batteries charging on the Nitecore mount. (Note: I also own 3 Fuji batteries for my 100s, so don't get mad at me for using Wasabi and Watson for all of you batter judgers and ideologues.) I have two Fuji GFX 50r batteries charging on the Nitecore mount. There is a Leica Q2 battery charging on its Nitecore mount.

So, here there are 5 batteries from three different cameras all fast charging at once on the same charger on three different Nitecore mounts. The LCD readouts on the Nitecore mounts show the battery charging temps, voltage and amps for both the current maximum charging rate - how much has been provided as well as how much remains to be provided. It also lets you know if the battery is healthy. It also tells you if the battery is fast charging or not. I have noticed that as the battery gets fuller, sometimes it stops fast charging. It will also stop fast charging if the temp gets too high.

The optimal charging rate is negotiated between the battery and the charger, and it reads out on the Nitecore mount. You can't overcharge a battery, so you can plug the 100-watt laptop into the same connection as a very low-watt watch - as long as the device has PD it will do the proper handshake.

Note: the Leica Q2 charger is Nitecore's worse charger because it has a built in 3-inch USB A cord that will just dangle off of a wall charger, but on my desktop charger, it doesn't matter.

Don't pay too much attention to the readings. I had just plugged all three of these mounts in and the batteries were already charged. Plus, the readout switches between several types of readouts.

These LCD readouts are reason enough to trash all your OEM chargers. LOL.....

All my chargers and products are now USB-C, so one charger is all I need. I just carry several USB-C cables that can also display input wattage. I purchased USB-C chargers for my old Sigma and Fuji cameras too, to ensure that one charger is all I need.

--
IG: https://www.instagram.com/manzurfahim/
website: https://www.manzurfahim.com

 

[Greg7579]

Looking at Manzur's charger here... Take note of the bottom port. It is Qualcom's QC 3.0. That is important to know, we need to talk about QC a little. You all know what PD and PPS is. If you don't, google it and learn fast, or read the two ongoing threads here.

If you have a QC device, you need to know it and whether or not it is QC 2, 3 or 4. QC does not use a USB C connectivity. That is not allowed by the PD standard. QC is USB A only, which is who all of these multiple port GaN chargers have a USB A port.

The big news is that the latest QC standard, QC 4.0 and 4+ are completely compatible with PD 3.0. QC has programmed in the PD language. So, tour new QC device can plug into a USB C PD port using a tiny little USB A to C adapter and the QC will handshake with PD perfectly, just as if it were PD.

But do yourself a favor. Just but new devices that are USB-C. If they have proprietary chargers, barrel mount chargers or anything but USB C, don't buy it. But if you do buy a device that has a USB A connection, it is probably QC and probably QC 4.0 (if it is new), so you can plug it in to a USB C PD 3.0 slot.

Bottom line - buy a new multiple port GaN charger of at least 65 watts (and why not 100-watts or more - they are cheaper now) and make sure the USB A port is QC 4.0 (and thus also PD 3), and make sure the USB C ports are PD 3.0 and PPS. That means the charger is new - not last year's model.

When you do that, you can plug anything anywhere on those A and C ports and it won't matter. Everything will quick-charge and the proper handshake will occur - PD or QC.

Over time this will all smooth out even more than it already has because everything (chargers and devices) is going USB C PD/PPS now and QC 4.0 USB A (if any device makers stay with it) will also work fine because it now is completely compatible with PD.

But I think QC is dead. They lost. PD won. In the past 2 years, Apple and Samsung finally dropped their proprietary charging remnants and went PD. Samsung is the last stubborn major holdout and half of their 2022 lineup still was committed to Qualcom. But it is QC 4.0. so compatible with PD. But if you have older Samsung devices you will need that USB A port that is QC, like on Manzur's charger.

Know your devices and don't buy anything that will not charge on your new GaN multiport, high-watt PD/PPS USB C charger. All the major phone, tablet, laptop, camera batteries, earbuds and Kindels (last year finally abandoned micro-USB and went PD).

Massagers, power tools, vacuums, LED lights and a lot of that type of devices still often have their own weird proprietary battery mounts and big barrel chargers. You can bet this too is soon to be a thing of the past. There is no reason those devices can't charge off of USB C with PD. You can buy 240-watt USB C PD/PPS chargers now that should charge everything except Stans stack of vintage radios.

--
Greg Johnson, San Antonio, Texas

Greg Johnson’s albums | Flickr

www.flickr.com

 

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

I have doubts that this sort of charger will move from consumer to professional electronics.

Bet we never see Motorora, Harris, Vertex, Kenwood, ICOM, etc, etc move away from their own chargers. Maybe some of the amateur radio only makers. But not the commercial and public safety radio makers. Too much at stake there, I think. That stuff has to operate from -30 C to +70 C. Batteries too.

I have made up my own Li Ion replacements for what were NiCD. My own chargers, too. And I might make some use of this newer stuff just to save myself some time on the bench.

So far, I haven't seen any to power any of my notebook PCs, most of which are older, and go all the way back to 386 ones to run legacy software for older radio systems still in service at the County and Town levels. Fortunately, there are plenty of spare power bricks on eBay. But I don't see any for use even with newer i5 and i7 ones.

Stan

 

[Greg7579]

Stan, I hear you and that is really interesting. I mean it.

But it has zero applicability to buying and charging the new devices we carry and use on a daily basis (shavers, earbuds, cameras, phones, tablets, e-readers, watches and any laptop made the last 3 years).

But it is interesting.

 

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

Well, the things I mention are devices I carry and use on a daily basis. And more so than the ones you mention. I do far more communication via a proper radio than I do a cell phone, for example. Radios with price tags comparable to those of the Fuji MF gear. Such as what one needs to be on the North Carolina Viper System. APCO P25 gear.

And far more use of various computers than things like phones and tablets. Things needed to wrench on these modern public safety comm systems. And also the 6G cellular stuff. Yes, it's out there already.

In fact the only thing I have with a USB-C input is this bottom of the pile Android phone AT&T forced upon me to replace a more capable BlackBerry.

And I still use the 8 MP camera in the old BB than I do the 2 MP one in the Android. The Android does make for a good WiFi repeater, though. Keeps the other things connected.

And I rarely use my MF stuff as of late. Too busy with electronics projects to take trips anywhere I'd use it. But then this new charging stuff doesn't support it anyway. I'm sticking with individual OEM charging schemes for a while yet.

What I'd love to see is a universal charging power supply with programmable output ports to various things not USB. You know, in place of six different supplies all plugged into a power strip.

Stan