Is this a good battery charger?

G

Gene Sung

Veteran
Spec-ing out my FS package, and I saw this Sony AC-VQ1050D charger on B&H and I was wondering if anyone has used this for their 970 batteries?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/419888-REG/Sony_ACVQ1050D_AC_VQ1050D_AC_DC_Adapter_and.html

It claims to charge 70% faster, which would be great since I've heard that the 970s take forever to charge. The price is good and it has an LCD indicator.

This charger is also appealing because it looks fairly SMALL for being a double charger (3.75" x 1.8"). I travel a lot, so I cannot have a huge charger that takes up a lot of precious backpack space. The drawback are that it's a back-to-back charger and not simultaneous.

Any other recommendations for a fast, COMPACT double charger that's not crazy expensive?

Thanks in advance
 
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Yup, got one of these - it's my main charger because it charges knock-off NP-F970s at the same rate as the supplied charger does Sony NP-Fs - the FS100 charger 'trickle charges' my cheaper NP-Fs.

The charger is SEQUENTIAL - one at a time, but it does mean that you can charge a couple overnight. So, I travel with one of these and a little cheapo charger, plus an NP-F770 on the supplied charger (my LED lamps and the Pix all run on NP-Fs).

I love it - 'YMMV', but the lawyer in my head told me to say that.
 
Even with shipping, taxes and duty, still seems better to buy abroad. Got mine on eBay from the US.
 
Just out of curiosity, instead of using batteries, do you guys ever just plug your FS camera in with the supplied power unit when shooting studio stuff?

Seems like the cord might be a pain and get in the way, but in a studio type shoot might save on some batteries.
 
Well, with almost a day per battery on an FS100, one wonders if it's a little too much bother? Power off mains? Tape down another cable run?

But... on a rig, powering your FS100, EVF, separate recorder off a V-lock?

I have to say, I do like having lots of NP-F bricks scattered around, all fully charged. No single point of failure. But in the same breath, I'll admit to liking one big V-Lock powering it all. Nice heft to act as counterbalance or to add inertia.

On yet another hand, NP-F powered LEDs have been such a winning thing to have tucked into the every growing tripod bag... Add a bit of sun to everything.

So the Ebay-special Dual Gang NP-F charger remains on my 'must have' list.
 
NextWaveG said:
This one says it charges two simultaneously, has the screen readout and is $80:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...o_Battery_Charger_for.html/BI/6749/KBID/7324/
Click to expand...

Pearstone does not get recommendations from me, in fact I suggest you be quite weary of their products.
The charger for my LP-E6 batteries died barely a month after purchase and 3 of the 5 LP-E6 batteries
are in the same heap.

I could have just had some bad luck however, it would be a long string to say the least.
Just some words on my own personal experiences so others have the information
to make an educated decision.
 
My experience with the AC-VQ1050 has been a little different than MattDavis's - I've yet to find a knock off battery on Ebay that charges at the same rate as the genuine NP-F770's that come with the FS-100, Z5U & so on. The genuine batts light up the red LED that says "QUICK MODE" on the charger, and so far, nothing else has for me, unfortunately, and I have quite a collection of no-name NP-F970s, as well as a few of the counterfit ones that say "Sony" on them, and come in a blister with a Sony holograph on them - but straight out of China via Ebay.

Matt: do you have any links to knock-off products that worked in quick mode for you?

As far as size goes, the AC-VQ1050 takes up as much if not more room in your pack as 4 (FOUR!!!) of the $4 no-name Ebay NP-F series chargers! For this reason, I left it at home on a recent trip, and took the no-name chargers instead.

If you are concerned about plugging everything in, and don't want to waste space on power bars, buy a couple of 2 prong extension cords that have the rectangular 3 socket ends on them. Cut the cord off at about 6-8" from the 3 socket end, and install replacement plugs on them (5 minutes & no technical skill required). This lets you plug 6 things into a typical 2 socket outlet, and the arrangement of the sockets on the now miniaturized extension cord is much more accommodating of odd sized chargers than any power bar is. Plus your new min-extension cords take up almost no space in a pack! Outfit yourself with a couple of cheap 220-240v prong adaptors, and you are ready for any country in the world.
 
JuanDiaz said:
Matt: do you have any links to knock-off products that worked in quick mode for you?
Click to expand...

I bought the ones recommended by Postmaster last year - this one, IIRC..

Looking at my charger right now... It's charging fine, but not in 'Quick Mode' - but that doesn't come on for 'Genuine' NP-Fs, and when I was using Z1s with their chargers, I was warned off that mode.

As for charging points, I'm somewhat renowned for carrying 6 gang UK style plugs with the Shuko 2 pin Euro adaptors on the end, and whilst editing on-site, operating a "mi pwerstrip es su powerstrip" policy, so your level of efficiency is a little beyond me! :)

One thing I will say about the little single el-cheapo chargers: they're fragile. Had a couple fail with a nasty smell in Lebanon (hotel electrics?) and a battery got jammed on (delicate hinge over battery socket failed, took a bit of percussive maintenance with the metal bit of yet another hotel's chair to bang it out, thus rendering the charger into 'landfill').

Having said all that, a friend is off to the US on a nice little Assignment, he's getting some H&H stuff and I've asked him to pick one of the $79 ones.
 
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