A Better Sony Battery?! SmallRig NP-FZ100 4265 USB-C

A Review of the SmallRig NP-FZ100 4265 Battery! I go into battery life, charging experience and if its worth your buy. I also compare it to the original sony battery to see how it stacks up.
0:00 - Overview
1:08 - Testing Methodology
1:47 - Battery Runtime
3:35 - Battery Charging
6:19 - Pricing
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[@hedydd2]

I recently bought this SmallRig battery model for my A7III. Not used it more than once so far but the other day it was down to 45% then suddenly it dropped to the red battery empty indication. I have re-charged it and its now in my camera again but I have not used it enough to know whether this is a problem of not. At the current rate of use, with a wedding drought this year, it may be a while before I can be sure.

[@theowlfromduolingo7982]

I wonder if they perform differently in other scenarios like extreme heat or cold and it would also be interesting to see how long the the smallrig’s lifecycle is

[@theowlfromduolingo7982]

I can highly recommend Blumaxx batteries. They last almost as long as the Sony ones and I’ve had zero issues in the last 1.5 years of using them (photo and video work).

[@User-pq2yn]

Thank You! I have the exact same one, but under the Neewer brand, in brown. I noticed that when I charge and shoot 4K video at the same time on the Sony a7IV, I get overheating. Unfortunately, their Type C does not support fast charging protocols. To do this, I purchased an ISDT NP2 Air charger. It charges the battery in 1.5 hours

[@JoshBirman]

Nice comparison! I’ve been super curious about these. I’d be interested to see the charging curve difference when both batteries are placed on the official Sony charger.

[@HarrisonTong]

Yeah I did mean to get around to testing that. I’d say they’d be pretty close - next time I discharge this one I’ll comment the results 🙂

[@ZLOBNY2005]

спасибо дружище !🤝

[@novikovgarage_SPB]

очень полезно брат, спасибо за информацию !🤝

[@Tythas1]

Appreciate the comparison; I agree the usb-c convenience is really handy. I also agree that it's nice to have "0%" be a reliable standard so you know how much life you have left in the device. However, I'm concerned about the power delivery of third-party devices. With a 5% increased capacity- maybe is is like you said and the thermal efficiency isn't as good- but perhaps it could also be a voltage issue. Maybe it's giving too much power to the device? I personally wouldn't use a third-party battery in an expensive device like a DSLR or a phone, but realisticly it is probably fine to use.

[@HarrisonTong]

Yeah honestly the 0% thing could be “fixed” on the later Sony cameras I’m not sure. It has the same voltage as the offical Sony ones and is all decoded so the camera doesn’t give any warnings. I feel these are pretty safe to use as apposed to the cheapest knock offs you can buy

[@kinocchio]

does the sony original battery have usb-c port for charging or do you need to put it in a separate charger?

[@HarrisonTong]

Seperate charger or charge via the cameras usb-c port

[@erik.karlsson]

They have similar for Canon. That battery was crap, I lost video footage because the battery died when there should have been 25% left. And I get only around 1000 pics with that, I get over 2000 with Canon's LP-E6NH

[@billblanchard5834]

It takes about 10 recharge cycles to get a lithium battery up to full efficiency and power output. So if you comparing a new battery against a broken in battery. The broken in will have more power. Was that factor that into results? In any case you did a great job delivering the information. Thanks

[@robert7622]

Not for consumer batteries like this, they are broken in and tested at the factory.

[@HarrisonTong]

As Robert says that’s a myth, anyways it has displayed the same behaviour as said in the video well and truly after 10 cycles

[@Graztok]

Hey, 6 months later are you still using these batteries? Did they hold up well?

[@HarrisonTong]

Yeah still have all the same behaviours as discussed. 6 months is too short to see battery degradation though unless your putting shit tonnes of cycles through them every day

[@leighmosley7873]

Thank you for this review. I’m going to stick with my Sony batteries for my cameras.

[@jermainenaidoo]

Is anyone getting the battery warning on Smallrig's FZ100's after updating their firmware?

[@demojoys]

I am

[@DigiDriftZone]

Despite SmallRig saying not to, I have been using it as a dummy battery and it has worked great, I tested it for 6+ hours and the battery was cool to the touch after. Not sure if this is good for the longevity of the battery.

[@BurekNeinDanke]

I want to do that too :) Do you think it will last all day if hooked to V mount 99Wh v mount battery via USB C? It's safer then dummy to D tap for sure

[@DigiDriftZone]

@@BurekNeinDanke it lasted for 6+ hours in my testing and the battery was still showing 4/4 bars after. Small Rig recently updated this battery to show an actual battery percentage, I need to try that again to see if there is any drain :)

[@BurekNeinDanke]

@@DigiDriftZone That's awesome! Which camera do you have? Do you think i'd be able to shoot all day on Sony FX30 with 99Wh V mount battery charging it inside the camera?

[@DigiDriftZone]

@@BurekNeinDanke ZV-E1 - I've never used V mount batteries, but a small power bank capable of at least 15W output should be able to keep it running for continuous shooting for many many hours no problem.

[@BurekNeinDanke]

@@DigiDriftZone Thats great! I'm gonna buy it instead of dummy battery as it's safer plus if V mount dies it still works :) Hope it will work with latest FX30 firmware!

[@DigiDriftZone]

Frustratingly, Sony updated the firmware and these batteries show a warning every time you switch the camera on (ZV-E1). I contacted small rig and they replaced the battery with a newer version, so can’t fault their warranty but bear in mind Sony keep messing with 3rd party batteries.

[@Herbridge]

I've got half a dozen third party batteries for my Sony...And none last more than 2/3 than Sony and all are unusable in cold weather.

[@HarrisonTong]

Yeah the OEM batteries are always the benchmark, but if you can get something close that’s always a good thing