I did some testing yesterday to see what kind of
battery life extension this device here
could bring to the Fuji X-T3
as well as the Sony and Panasonic cameras I have
and I have to say I was impressed with the results.
Let's get Undone.
[offbeat music]
♪ Gerald Undone ♪
♪ He's crazy ♪
What's happening everybody? I'm Gerald Undone
and I'm a geek so you don't have to be.
So, I ordered this USB power bank from Anker
because when I was updating the firmware on the X-T3,
I noticed that it was listed on the Fuji website
as a recommended accessory.
and back when I went to the X-T3 launch event
I remembered Billy from The Fuji Guys raving about
how awesome it was as well.
But I never got a chance to try it.
Now on the Fuji website
there are two models listed.
There's the 20,000 model
and then there's the bigger one.
This is the PowerCore+ 26800 PD,
but the important part is
the "PD" for power delivery. And power delivery, by the way,
is a USB extension that allows for PD-aware components
to deliver and receive increased power beyond what you could
normally transmit over USB. And this power delivery is essential
if you want to run the X-T3 as well as
several other Fuji models on USB power.
Now, we aren't talking about charging the X-T3 because
you can charge it with pretty much any USB power source.
We're talking about delivering continuous power
while the device is on and recording.
So, here's some test results to show you what I mean.
I had the X-T3 doing 4K video at 30fps
and I was using continuous autofocus
and found that with just the internal battery I could get
just under an hour of life, around 53 minutes on average.
Then I connected a standard USB-C charger
and ran the test again, I used the DJI Ronin-S charger
which has 5V at 3A and 12V at 2A, but it does not
have the power delivery certification.
Now, this is a powerful charger, but without the PD it didn't
impact the Fuji very much and it only increased the battery life
to about 1 hour and 11 minutes, up from the 53 minutes.
Then I used the fully charged PowerCore
and the results were drastically different.
It took over eight hours for the internal battery
on the Fuji to hit the critical red line.
Now, I couldn't just record straight through for eight hours
because of a 30-minute record limit, as well as overheating.
So, every 30 minutes, I would have to format the card
and start recording again and I would shut it off
for a few minutes every 90 to 120 minutes to avoid overheating
and every time I did do this, I would unplug the power cord
as to not recharge the battery
a little bit and corrupt the test.
And if you add up all the durations of which
I recorded I got over eight hours of record time
on a single charge from the Anker PowerCore
And outside of these extreme tests the PowerCore itself
lasts for a really long time.
It's a 26800 model because it has a 26800mAh battery
and for more practical things
like just recharging your camera, it's incredible.
since the last time I recharged this I recharged the Sony a7 III
twice, the Fuji X-T3 three times, and I used it
to power the Sony and the Fuji each
for two 30-minute record tests,
and it still has over 50% of its life left.
That means you'll probably be able to recharge
your camera's batteries around eight to ten times
on a single charge from the Anker
and because it's power delivery, it can also be recharged
with power delivery, which means it takes a lot less time
than I thought it would to recharge.
I was able to recharge this thing from one light
up to full power in about four hours,
where my previous power bank
took me like 18 hours to do that.
And that's another bonus if you get the 26800+ edition
is you also get a power delivery wall adapter
and a 3-foot USB-C PD cable.
So, you essentially end up with two
power delivery capable devices.
And so if you wanted to power two cameras,
or if you just wanted to use mains power, you could run
an extension cord from the wall outlet to the adapter here
and then you can just plug this into your camera
and you basically have unlimited power.
I tested it on a couple other cameras as well
like the Sony a7 III and the Panasonic G9.
I didn't find that much of a difference
between it and say another reasonably powerful USB adapter.
The Sonys and Panasonics don't require power delivery
like the Fuji does so they worked equally well on that
Ronin charger I talked about earlier, or even a phone charger
with enough output. With a Sony a7 III,
for example, I only lost 7% battery after 30 minutes
of 4K30 recording using the DJI Ronin adapter,
but I only lost 5% using the Anker PowerCore.
So, it's a little bit better but they're pretty similar results,
but still both are vastly better than using
no USB power source at all.
But that mixed requirement between the cameras means
that you can charge multiple cameras at the same time because
of the multiple ports on the PowerCore.
So, I was able to charge the Fuji X-T3 using the USB-C port
and then the Panasonic and the Sony
using the two Type-A ports all at the same time.
However, if you try to power multiple cameras
at the same time, you will experience reduced results.
Instead of having 5% battery loss on the Sony
and no bars on the Fuji after a 30 minute recording,
when I had them both being powered
at the same time, it was 18% on the Sony
that I lost after 30 minutes and 1 bar on the Fuji.
So, still pretty good compared to having nothing,
but it is worse than if you were to just power
a single camera at a time.
I also tested it on the new Nikon Z cameras,
but you're only able to charge them and not power them.
So, you're still going to have to get that special
Nikon accessory if you want to do that.
So, it works really well, but there are a couple
of downsides. First of all, it's not the smallest
or lightest unit in the world, and it's definitely
not the cheapest. It weighs 576g,
so about 1 and 1/4lbs, and it's 16cm x 8cm.
So, that's, like, 6 and 1/2" x 3"
and it's just under an inch thick.
I don't mind the size and weight.
I think it feels substantial and well-balanced
and the outside casing is metal,
which makes it feel like it's high quality.
Which is important because it's $130 US dollars.
I will say that it's probably the best
and most useful power bank I've ever owned
and having that PD certification does bump up the price
but it also increases the range of non-camera devices
you can charge as well including some game consoles and laptops.
But naturally because of its size the next obstacle
I wanted to tackle was how to mount this thing to a rig.
The first combination I got working
was this standard phone clamp from Amazon
with a 1/4-20 shoe adapter on it
so that I could attach it to a cage, or shoe,
or top handle of the camera rig,
and then a Velcro tie to secure the cable.
The other option was this strange clamp that I found
at my local camera store that actually has a curved contour
that somehow perfectly matches the PowerCore, and then
I just used the 1/4-20 on the bottom to secure it
to my GH5 cage as a test. Quick note, by the way,
this device will not power the GH5
because the GH5 doesn't charge via USB.
Now GH5 owners probably know that already
but I just wanted to clarify. So, I could get it
secured to the cameras pretty easily but it does add
a decent amount of weight and it's not really something I feel
that comfortable running around with due to the size of it.
So, I think you might just be better off just sticking it in
your pocket and running a cable to the camera you're holding.
In either case though, I'm pretty happy with it.
I just wanted to let you guys know the results of my tests.
But if you're looking for something like this to fill
a specific need, I think this is a great option.
But that's going to be it for me. I hope you found this video
helpful, or at least entertaining.
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Alright... I'm done.