Compared to smartphones equivalent, (handheld) camera batteries have seen very little innovation, and many battery models have been around for years, if not decades.
The Nitecore UFZ100 is a 2250 mAh designed to replace the 2280 mAh Sony NP-FZ100 battery and has an integrated USB-C connector, and a charge-level LED indicator (3 levels).
Many users will find this extremely convenient, especially casual users who need one or two batteries at most. For example, I can perform my photographic work with a single battery. The same is true for short video reporting if the recording was well-prepared.
Users who need 3-5 batteries might find using a classic multi-battery charger more convenient. The downside of these large chargers is the potential space they occupy in a backpack. They also use proprietary connectors, which is a problem if the charger is lost or unavailable.
While I like this Nitecore battery design very much, I wish they had placed the USB port at the bottom of the battery facing outwards instead of having it on the “belly.” That way, we might have been able to keep the battery connected to power during web streaming events, for example. Instead, we still have to buy a dummy battery.
It’s also important to note that the battery capacity is slightly lower than Sony’s batteries (by 30mAh or 2.2%). That’s without a doubt due to the internal space occupied by the USB-C circuitry. It’s a tradeoff that I find entirely acceptable due to the extra convenience.
Filed in . Read more about Batteries, Sony and USB-C. Source: gizmodo
