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Charging solutions for travelling

Jake Hall

By Jake Hall
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Jake Hall Explorer

Jake Hall

Posted
Posted

Hi everyone, this is my first post so take it easy on me!

I've recently become the proud owner of an X-T1 after trading in my X100s and needless to say i'm pretty excited to get out there and shoot!

My question is this:

I travel all over the world for work (Why I switched from Canon DSLR to Fuji in the first place) and am in real need of an on-the-road charging solution. I think we can all vouch for the fact that the NP-W126 battery needs refuelling about as often as we humans do.

Ideally I would like to charge via USB, this way I can charge in the car or possibly connect some kind of solar panel (?) if i'm outdoors for extended periods of time.

I don't really know anything about voltages, amps, AC/DC etc and need some guidance here. As far as I understand it, the NP-W126 is a 7v battery and usb only charges up to 5v? I'd like to charge two batteries at once using my current muti-charger if possible. I have this one. 

 

I'd love some help, i'm totally lost here!

Also, I have about 4 spare batteries but doubt that will cut it. I have a tendency to go camping for months on end.

 

Thanks!

Jake

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Tom H. Experienced

Tom H.

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I never use up more than 2 batteries a day, and on a multipe model shoot I usually well surpass 800 to 1000 images without even depleting 2 batteries... I have one original one, and 2 wasabi spares. I never needed more than 2 ever, so I'm fine with charging during the night in the hotel.

 

But I switch of the camera between shots. And I nearly never review shots after taking them. Saves a lot of screen-on time. You can't leave it on all the time like you would a DSLR.

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Vidalgo Community Regular

Vidalgo

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usb only charges up to 5v

USB interface has +5V DC for powering peripheral devices and chargers. When for a battery charging needs more than 5V, then the USB-charger has built-in step-up converter.  

I have a USB charger for Fuji battery, got it from ebay for several bucks, it's small and works OK. See picture.

Charging from USB takes a little more time.

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darknj Experienced

darknj

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Posted

I know that Patona has a traveler friendly charger, which can used with power outlet, an external powerbank and that thingy in cars for smokers (can't seems to find the word back in English, sorry).

 

I keep it with me almost every time I have my X-T1 with me.

 

There might be other brands who can do the same thing but I do not know them that well enough.

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erwiurewurwehu Community Regular

erwiurewurwehu

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I was also wondering about the voltage but I got a USB charger for less than $10 from amazon and it works well. If I were travelling, I would get a big USB backup battery that I'd recharge whenever possible. That battery then would charge the batteries. If off grid, add a solar panel to charge the backup battery.

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CRAusmus Experienced

CRAusmus

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I just picked up this one to see how it works.

http://www.amazon.com/OAproda®-NP-W126-Portable-Battery-FUJIFILM/dp/B00PA2ABES/ref=pd_sim_421_3?ie=UTF8&dpID=41An-hAU0rL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=1P6W19CEVQ876FS77CZR

Would love to be able to find one that I can use in the back country and charge off of a battery pack that's been charged off of a solar panel.  Hopefully it'll work well (for 7 bucks it's worth the shot), I'll give it some tries and report back my impressions as I have not heard anyone on here using this one.

 

I have the Wasabi charger and love it.  It's currently my travel charger, but I've been frustrated trying to find a way to make it a USB charger.

 

 

Edit: Actually it looks like vidalgo has the same charger that I just got.

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olli Community Regular

olli

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This is the one I have. I've been using it for around eight months and these days I rarely use the mains charger that came with the camera. When I travel I just bring this. No problems so far.

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  • 1 year later...
Horence Newbie

Horence

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Thanks for you sharing, guys. The way for me to fix charging when travelling is to take a charger. Most of time, this is for road trip. When I was planning to start a road trip, I will take a 400w power inverter. It is common DC 12v to AC 110v charger. I like to charge camera battery and shaver with it to connect with car cigarette lighter charger outlet. Friend recommends this charger to me in last year. If you are interested in knowing more details about this charger, you can click here to learn more. Warm regards. 

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BobJ Community Regular

BobJ

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I can recommend the batteries from EXpro. They have been ok for me. They also do chargers that will work from USB or a 12 volt car battery. See www.exprodirect.com/np-w126/

 

On the subject of how many batteries you need, it depends on many things but I would never go out for a day with less than three. I found this out with my first X, the XE-2. I took it on a trip to Romania with three batteries and a single charger and had to get up in the middle of the night to change the batteries in the charger as I had flattened all three. I don't fully agree with the switch it off between shots technique though. I do this whenever possible but if you are street shooting you will get many missed shots as a result.Even the lens you use will affect the battery drain. The 50-140mm eats batteries at a prodigous rate. Good luck with your adventures.

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  • 3 months later...
Steve Lew Apprentice

Steve Lew

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Posted

I only have experience in Europe. In Italy, Portugal and Spain simply use a 110 adapter to charge your XT1 camera batteries. I believe this will work in other European countries. In China I have also used the 110 adapter with great success. 

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frankinfuji Community Regular

frankinfuji

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Solar charging will be very slow, and in practice you'll be on the move during the day so solar charging may be impractical, and then at night solar is no use. But I've seen advertisements for solar charging rucksacks, and this may be an answer? Use the solar cells on the rucksack to charge the spare battery via a USB charger whilst walking around? Wouldn't work in UK, but could work in countries with sunlight.

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marcosv Rookie

marcosv

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My favorite travel charger is the Watson Compact AC/DC Charger for $20.  https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/880159-REG/watson_c_2109_compact_ac_dc_charger_for.html

 

It has fold out 2 prong, 100-220V, and comes with a 12V car adapter.  What's really nice is that you can buy additional charge plates for $3 each to charge other camera battery types.

 

For USB charging, I'm playing with a Wasabi dual charger.  It comes bundled with two Wasabi NP-W126 batteries for $25 on Amazon.  https://www.amazon.com/Wasabi-Power-Battery-Charger-Fujifilm/dp/B06VVGY5KW   I have had great luck with Wasabi 3rd party batteries over the years.

 

I also bought a Neewar USB charger.  It is slightly smaller than the Wasabi.  It has a crude LCD charge meter that doesn't really give me good enough feedback (the Wasabi has a green/red led for charging status).  https://www.amazon.com/Neewer-NW-W126-Battery-Charger-Fujifilm/dp/B019C51VJW

 

I use an Anker five port wall charger which is good enough to charge my smartphone, tablet, and batteries at the same time.

 

For batteries, I like to go with one in the camera and two in my camera bag.  With the camera in performance mode and turning off the camera when not in use, I normally go through 1.5 to 2 batteries per day and so the 3rd battery is there just in case.  I like putting the spare batteries in the Think Tank DSLR battery holders.

 

For my next trip, I plan on traveling with three batteries per camera body, one Watson charger, and the Wasabi dual USB charger.  In case the Wasabi charger doesn't charge as fast as expected, I'm considering bringing another pair of batteries in case I need to charge a pair during the day to keep up.

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  • 4 years later...
jeostorm-adam Newbie

jeostorm-adam

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Posted

Is this car charger ok? It has a 3 In 1 charging cable and a magnetic bracket design, you can install it in the car and use it, and it is not easy to fall off, this magnetic cell phone stand is very suitable for the car and is firm , suitable for travel

https://jeostorm.com/us/product/magnetic-cell-phone-stand-with-3-in-1-charging-cable-jeostorm/

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  • 9 months later...
thaleszop Newbie

thaleszop

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On a trip where you drive abundantly each day, you can charge camera batteries using the car 12V DC power from the cigarette lighter. The manufacturer-supplied camera battery charger often operates only on 110V AC, and you could use a power inverter to obtain 110V power from the car's 12V.

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jlmphotos Experienced

jlmphotos

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Posted

I spent 53 days traveling in the Yukon and Alaska this past summer (2022).  Using my vans power outlet and some splitters, and some accessories I purchased off AmazonI always had my XH1 (3 batteries), G50r (2 batteries), and G100s (2 batteries) , plus three drone batteries, my iPad, a power bank, apple watches,  and two iPhones charging as I drove.  Never had a low or dead battery issue on any device EXCEPT for the ONE time my spouse UNPLUGGED the main cable because she wanted to power up a har straightener (LOL NOW, NOT THEN).  Check out the many options available on various online retailers, as well as Staples, Best Buy etc.

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