Getting ready for a shoot or a trip can be quite a chore, especially when you have a lot of batteries to charge. But what if a $29 charging case can make that easier for you?
They say that if you fail to prepare, then you prepare to fail, and sometimes that involves getting all your gear ready for a shoot. The number of batteries you need for a shoot (or a trip) totally depends on how much you shoot and how many cameras you use. For some, two batteries can be enough, while others need a couple more. When packing for a shoot, the quickest part is often putting all the cameras and lenses that you need inside your bag, but the inevitably longer part of preparing would have to be charging all your batteries. This 4-slot battery charger from Tilta aims to minimize the steps and the time that you need to get ready.
The Tilta Portable Charging Station
Tilta’s 4-slot charging case is a 4.8 x 2.3 x 4-inch (121.5 x 57 x 76 mm) pack made of green and gray hard plastic with a matte, rugged-looking finish. It weighs 176 grams and includes a removable translucent lid that makes up about 40% of the height of the case. The lid is removed entirely using two buttons on each side of the case, which then reveals the four battery slots for charging.
On the front surface of the charging case are four indicator lights corresponding to each of the battery ports. These lights are color-coded red, orange, and green depending on the status of each of the batteries. To activate the lights, one simply has to insert at least one battery into one of the slots, and each slot will light up accordingly.
On the bottom edge of the right side of the charging case is a single USB-C input port for use with a properly matched cable and charger. The charger is capable of a maximum 45 W input with Power Delivery (PD), but other variables such as the cable and charger come into play. The package only includes a USB-C to USB-C cable but does not include an AC adapter, so it’s important to find the right one that will maximize the charging speed of the case. With a PD charger capable of at least 45 W and a cable with the same capacity, charging all four batteries from 0 to 100% can take only 3 hours, which is supposedly 68% faster than having to charge each battery individually with a single-slot charger. The Tilta portable charging case is also available for select Canon, Nikon, Fujifilm, and Panasonic camera batteries. Along with that, some of the variants are also available as a set with four compatible batteries also from Tilta.
Tilta’s Sony NPF-Z100 battery, the TNP-FZ100 comes in a unique form and aesthetic. The batteries come in the same dark green finish as the charger’s bottom half, have a capacity of 2,400 mAh instead of the normal 2,280 mAh on the main brand’s counterpart, and each battery has its own USB-C input port that can be used to charge the battery directly with a PD charger. The brand gave no information on whether the battery can be charged while in use, acting like a dummy battery, so we don’t recommend trying it either.
Neither the batteries nor the port on the portable charger allow for reverse charging (or using them like a power bank to charge other devices), which would have been a nice feature.
Application
Charging four batteries in the same case that you would bring them in has some directly appreciable implications. Being able to charge four in one go can simplify the process, and since the charger is compatible with PD, this means you can just leave it charging even while you’re sleeping, and it should safely end the charging process whenever each of the batteries is full. Once done, you can just unplug the cable and put the entire case inside your bag as the last step of packing up.
When using the TNP-FZ100 batteries, since they have a bit more capacity, they potentially last longer, but this is highly dependent on how one uses their cameras. The individual USB-C ports are nice to have but are ultimately trivial if used with the charging case.
Altogether, using the Tilta portable camera battery charging case offers a lot of convenience, especially when charging a lot of batteries in one go. Anyone who shoots with fewer than two batteries can still benefit from having more extras. I personally consume 2 to 3 batteries when I shoot, which means that I don’t necessarily need a full recharge for the next shoot. For anyone who needs more than four batteries, then getting more than one doesn’t seem like a bad idea since the charger only costs $29. The Tilta batteries are also conveniently cheaper than the main brands’ batteries; however, the limited time I’ve had to test and use the batteries, of course, has not given me information on the comparative longevity of the batteries altogether.
It would be great to see an enhanced “Pro” version of this portable charging station that has a built-in battery that can charge a batch of four batteries on the go, can do reverse charging and act like a power bank for other USB-C devices, and possibly have a screen that gives precise battery percentages. On a personal note, it would also be nice if the lid flips out instead of detaching entirely, though I acknowledge that all of these might mean a bigger charging case altogether, and I think that’s still acceptable considering the potential convenience.
Overall, Tilta’s portable camera battery charging case and their unique-looking batteries definitely offer significant benefits over the supplied single charger and individual batteries. While I have some recommendations to possibly improve the functionality, the charger case as it is has undoubtedly offered a lot of convenience, especially on days with consecutive shoots and/or trips. For an anxious packer such as myself, seeing the four green lights is an indication that all my gear is ready for the next shoot, and the peace of mind that comes with that is even more valuable than the $29 price tag.
What I Liked
- Safely charges 4 batteries in 3 hours
- USB-C compatibility
- Battery charge level indicators
What Can Be Improved
- Optimized charger not included
- Possibly an enhanced version with a built-in battery
- Screen and button for precise battery percentage
Camera batteries from third-party manufacturers are always a major risk, as they are sold without a guarantee against consequential damage. If the battery inflates in the camera and can no longer be removed or even damages the camera housing, you may have to get a new battery. You will be responsible for the cost of repairing the damage.
This is not the case with original batteries. In this case, consequential damage is also covered by the warranty and, in most cases, by the goodwill of the camera manufacturer. I certainly wouldn't take the risk of damaging my camera, which costs 100 times as much, because of the small savings when buying a battery from third-party manufacturers.
I would also avoid chargers from third-party manufacturers that do not offer temperature control with a switch-off function for the charging process. Excessively high temperatures during the charging process will permanently damage the battery.
Everyone should be aware of this when buying supposedly cheap batteries and chargers.
If the 3rd party batteries are of good quality then they can be worthwhile. Though for full confidence, it would usually require someone to disassemble one of the battery packs, and examine the internals.
First party batteries are typically a very high margin item. If you would like you can find various teardowns on sites like ifixit as well as various electronic repair subreddits, and blogs.
For example, Canon, Nikon, and various other brands like using cells made by Panasonic. And often you can find the batteries used in the packs on various reputable parts suppliers. Sadly it is common to see a teardown of a $80 battery pack that has 2, 2000 - 2300mAh NCR18500 cells inside of it (about $5-6 per cell), and a basic TI BMS that cost around 20 cents, a fuse, thermistor, a microcontroller and a flash chip that is used for DRM to identify a genuine battery). Often you are looking at a first party battery that has a BOM cost in the $15-$18 range, but a retail price in the $80 range.
This overall means that there is a lot of price wiggle room for a 3rd party company to step in and make a pack with quality cells, but charge far less.
The only risk, is in the 3rd party realm, there is a wide range of qualities.
Sadly it is also an area where there are a lack of in-depth reviews of 3rd party batteries. I welcome more sites and people reviewing 3rd party batteries.
Everything you write is correct. The most important point is and remains the warranty and guarantee for consequential damage.
In my case, I save maybe US$ 30 per battery. And if the worst comes to the worst, I save myself the repair costs and the breakdown of my US$ 7500 camera using original batteries.
Ultimately, this applies to all kinds of spare parts in every industry. And everyone can decide how they want. I'm just trying to provide more information to help you decide.
It is why I really want to see in-depth reviews, and ideally a teardown of 3rd party batteries. Many first party batteries will use pretty much all off the shelf components with the custom parts pretty much being the case, PCB, and connector. My hope is to eventually find a 3rd party that will just provide OEM quality.
Most camera batteries use either the 18500 style cells which do not well, but instead have bents if pressure builds, or for the flatter ones, found in smaller cameras, then often 2 flat cells with a metal outer casing that limits how much they can swell, while allowing the camera to reject the battery if the 2 cells have a significant voltage imbalance.
The biggest risk, will be a failure mode where the VCC shorts to a data line, which would instantly destroy the DC-in portion of the camera and require some difficult board level repair.
In my digital life I have probably had 10 Canon batteries for 1Ds, 5Dmk2, 1Dmk2 about half being OEM, all worked fine without problems.
Then when I got Sony about 7-8 years ago due their surprisingly short life I have had a lot of batteries for a7s, a7r2, a6000 and in that time 2 batteries got puffy, one was OEM and the other from Amazon. The OEM cost around $60-70 each while the more others are often $50 ish for two and a charger.
What sort of damage have people here had with non OEM batteries? I have asked my 5 or 6 pro friends and none have had any damage to their cameras.
Shorter battery life is the main downside I see.