Seven NPF battery adapter plates Compared (overview)

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Spark E Studio

Күн бұрын

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@chinphreyndukwe937 6 ай бұрын

I needed to see this review. Thank you, Spark!

@k0hl 5 ай бұрын

Excellent overview! Thanks for making this, really helped me decide what to get

@corazonanalogico 8 ай бұрын

Thanks for the video. There is another Smallrig model that I have been using for 2 years. Smallrig 3168, I use it for both Black Magic 6K pro and Zoom f8n pro recoder. No problems. It has power button and charge indicator. Greetings from spain

@sparkestudio 8 ай бұрын

Good to know you had no issues, I saw the nicer Smallrig adapter plate before. I was uncertain about getting it based on the very high price in Canada and the negative Amazon reviews. Thank you for sharing your experience.

@sparkestudio 5 ай бұрын

I just ordered the Smallrig 3168-SR last night. Using the power delivery port I can power my new Sony camera via USB while keeping the battery inserted.

@druidasinbosque 5 ай бұрын

@@sparkestudio Wonderful. And you must have bought the new version. The usb-c port is very versatile. Now it's time to try it out and enjoy it. To date it hasn't given me any problems in almost 3 years. Best regards from Madrid.

@bernardocuesta4217 5 ай бұрын

nice video, did you loose your footage or missed it out cause lack of power?

@sparkestudio 5 ай бұрын

I am confused on the question. I wanted to make this video as short and too the point as possible. Since this video I now use the very expensive Smallrig 3168B. I often use the USB power delivery port to power my camera. With up to 36 watts power delivery that is impressive. The catch? There is no off button, only a battery life check button. I am also NOW using the Sony A7C ii which I can use the power delivery to either a USB C dummy batter or to the camera USB to keep the battery charged.

@bernardocuesta4217 5 ай бұрын

@@sparkestudio thank you so much, do you know if its better to power monitor via dummy battery to dc or a Dc to DC cable its just fine?

@sparkestudio 5 ай бұрын

@@bernardocuesta4217 I don't have an answer for your question. I do know a battery with DC is much safer and cleaner power compared to using wall power to DC. Usually USB connection is well voltage regulated and most DC to DC is using nearly if not the identical power output to the battery. if using DC barrel power you should use the closest output voltage to the battery included with the camera.

@bernardocuesta4217 5 ай бұрын

@@sparkestudio i think thats a good answer btw, its normal 12 v for external on camera monitor, so i will use dc contected to 12 v to dc, i dont think its going to be a bad idea after all the plate, and the monitor got the conection

@GeloOfficialPR 4 ай бұрын

any issues with ground loop? seems ppl on the internet freak out when ppl use one battery for monitor and camera

@sparkestudio 4 ай бұрын

@@GeloOfficialPR i never had issues and connected both many times. If you are talking camera and the zoom F3. 100% of the time there are issues on the line and headphone out. The monitor used can make a difference... I have only used the Neewer F500. With both the Fujifilm X-S20 and my Sony A7C ii and also with the Sony ZV-E1.

@TheReelport 3 ай бұрын

Any tests for low discharge protection? Smallrig broke 2 npf batteries of mine due to lack of it.

@sparkestudio 3 ай бұрын

@@TheReelport to be honest I am uncertain how to test for that. I work as a construction electrician not the PLC and electronics side of things. I have the smallrig as well, safest method is having a real on /off switch like some of these have. Good to know about the safety thing so don't kill battery from low discharge to completely dead

@sparkestudio 3 ай бұрын

@sparkestudio 2 ай бұрын

@caughtbycloud at the time of this video I didn't have the Smallrig Advanced plate, only the lite. I have been using the Advanced for about 4 months now. Disappointed there is no power button, only a power level indicator button. I work out of town for town for 2 weeks at a time, I always remove the batteries out of fear of a dead forever battery. Works great so far, the USB power delivery can keep my Sony A7C ii at full 100% charge but I mainly use the 2.1mm with dummy battery.

@qxi2856 4 ай бұрын

Hi! I purchased the ulanzi npf battery plate for my lumix S5 II I also got a dtap to blk22 dummy battery . I have a problem, the camera only turns on if I detach either the npf970 battery or the dtap connector and attach it again , then i have 5-10 seconds to turn on the camera. So it only works if the power is recently plugged in. This concerns me with the npf or dtap pins wearing and getting loose. Do you maybe have any suggestions how i could use it without detaching anything ? Thank you in advance !

@sparkestudio 4 ай бұрын

@@qxi2856 sadly I have no suggestions. I only wonder if your 2 devices are exceeding the power draw or is causing unclean power with you NPF plate. I have never used the NPF plate you have.

@qxi2856 4 ай бұрын

@@sparkestudio thank you for the reply, in the meantime i just figured that Panasonic made an original dummy battery with usb c. I ordered it and just not use the d tap probably.

@IrreverentSOB 5 ай бұрын

There are many things lacking on this review, I would say this is more like an overview !

@sparkestudio 5 ай бұрын

Yes you are correct. I was "comparing" just like the title says. Since I can't test the limits of the items I cannot make it an actual "review". It's more for your information video, nobody and I mean nobody goes out and buys 7 plus NPF plates... I sure as heck cannot find any video with a pile of them compared.

@sparkestudio 5 ай бұрын

Even if I had the equipment to test the limits of these this video would be excessively long to review 7 of these. I attempted to make this as short as possible.

@DigiDriftZone 8 ай бұрын

Great comparison, but I am still in 2 minds about going this route. My monitor has 2 MP-F battery slots, I use the slim ones that seemingly last forever, makes it clean with just a single Micro HDMI cable to the camera. For the camera (ZV-E1) the small rig battery has a USB-C input right on the battery, just opening the battery door and plugging in a standard USB-C battery bank also powers it pretty much indefinitely (or you can connect USB-C to the camera, but this can cause thermal issues). Once the battery bank is depleted, it still has 95 minutes or so on the built in battery, it's a shame you lose that backup with a dummy battery.

@sparkestudio 8 ай бұрын

2 NPF battery slots?! NICE! Which one do you have Godox? Atomos? With my F500 Monitor I can actually power my camera with the barrel out connector or use 1 of my 2 NPF batteries with USB slots that I show near the end of this video (Same as Smallrig but my one has 30Watts Power Delivery not only 20 PD like smallrig). Using that I use a USB dummy battery while the NPF is connected to monitor. The Fujifilm Cameras are slow to charge via USB, it makes little to no sense to keep the original battery. Even the Sony ZV1 was rather slow charging so I used a Dummy battery with that one as well.

@DigiDriftZone 8 ай бұрын

@@sparkestudio It's just some cheap monitor I got from eBay, the manufacturer is Feelworld. It still has a MiniUSB port on it for upgrades lol. Charging is slow but I'm using the SmallRig battery as effectively a dummy battery with backup, if my small USB-C powerbank dies, I still have 90 minutes on the internal batt :)

@sparkestudio 8 ай бұрын

@@DigiDriftZone B&H photo video in the USA sells feelworld as well. I live in Canada, sometimes USA products are cheaper. Great that your system works for you, I could try it the same way to charge the battery as well and see how it goes. I almost purchased the dual battery Godox GM7s but the price point is rather high.

@k0hl 4 ай бұрын

One idea for a potential future video would be NPF battery chargers. Your style of video would be excellent, and there's very little content already out. Something to consider, and I know I would watch it! _Either way thanks again, I picked up the plate you recommended and its been fantastic!

@sparkestudio 4 ай бұрын

@@k0hl of those plate 2 of them charge NPF batteries. The one if you leave it connected to the battery the camera powers off and on. The other works fine and I since bought the more expensive smallrig one that has higher power delivery via USB C than any other plate I've used. I don't think I kept the other NPF charging plate. I believe I sold it off with my 2 X-S20 cameras. The koo named one flicks the camera on and off if the cable isn't disconnected. Since I use a Sony A7C ii which has power delivery via USB C it is kind of the ultimate option. When I get back to the studio after my 2 weeks working out of town. Going to be reviewing a camera slider, a tripod, more microphones and maybe accessories for the camera and plus min 2 videos on my Texh channel in the 6 days back before I am gone for another 14 days

@michaelmeissner1631 3 ай бұрын

I saw your review of NP-F battery plates, as I've been searching for a new plate, but I have some rather specific options. Note, I don't do video, but I'm more into powering cameras because I have them encased in art installations (specifically a steampunk camera) and it can take 10-15 minutes to take apart the camera to change the battery. I use external powering in several contexts, depending on the camera and usage: 1: The standard usage is 7.2-8.4 volts output feed into a dummy battery. There the camera battery monitor in the camera, because the NP-F are 2 cell batteries like the camera batteries. But I don't like dummy batteries as much because they break the weather sealing (I shoot OM and Olympus cameras, with splash resistant bodis and lenses), and are awkward to use, particularly on OM/Olympus bodies that don't have a door on the battery door to allow feeding out the cable. 2: One of my cameras (Olympus E-m1 mark II) has a battery grip that has an external power port. When Olympus released the E-m1 mark II, the new grip now takes a more or less standard 5.5mm x 2.5mm port, and it is easy to find an adapter from the more common 5.5mm x 2.1mm port. In addition, I can run the camera with both batteries installed plus the cable from the NP-F plate, so if the cord gets yanked out from the external power supply, the camera is still powered. 3: One of my cameras (OM-1 mark I) does not have an external power port like the E-m1 mark II + grip had, but it can be powered by USB C-PD. When I have a USB C-PD connection, the OM-1 will be powered by the connection, and re-charge the batteries in the background. So in general, if the cable gets yanked out, it can still work (depending on how charged the 1-2 batteries in the camera/grip are). However, we get down to details of USB C-PD. According to the documentation, the OM-1 requires a USB C-PD connection that provides 9 volts and 3 amps (i.e. 27 watts). Most USB C-PD power sources out there (i.e. wall warts, power banks, and some of the NP-F plates that produce USB C-PD) will limit their 9 volt output to 2 amps. Now, it turns out the documentation lies (yeah, horrors), and the camera will actually run fine on 2 amps. However previous Olympus cameras that supported USB C-PD (E-m1 mark III and E-m1x) were strict in that they required the USB C-PD power source to provide at least 3 amps. I don't have those cameras, but the BCX-1 battery charger for the OM-1 does require 9 volts and 3 amps to do fast charging. So if I wanted to toss a depleted BLX-1 battery into my camera bag with the BCX-1 charger and either the NP-F plate or power bank, it most likely will not do fast charging. Finding an appropriate NP-F replacement charger that provides both 7.2-8.4 volts via 5.5mm x 2.1mm plug and USB C-PD that cn provide 9 volts and 3 amps is challenging. I have the Smallrig 'Advanced' NP-F plate that can provide USB C-PD support, but it limits the output to 2 amps. Smallrig has revised the Advanced plate, and the new plate claims to produce 36 watts (i.e. in theory 9 volts and 4 amps providing you have the right USB cable with an e-mark chip, but I suspect it more likely is 9 volts/3 amps, and maybe 18 volts/2 amps. It would be nice if smallrig provided the precise voltage/amp combinations that it provides. Of course if you go buying it from the store, the store may still have the older plate that is limited to 20 watt output. In looking around, I see a FOMITO NP-F plate that has 2 separate 7.2-8.4 volt 5.5mm x 2.1mm power ports, a 12 volt port, and a 30 watt USB C-PD output port. Like smallrig, they don't bother listing the precise volt/amp combinations. One thing I like is that it has 2 ports for 7.2-8.4 volts. When I'm using a dummy battery, I can use the 2nd port to attach a digital monitor that I can turn on to see what the battery level is. To me, seeing that the battery having 8% remaining capacity is a lot better than having 4 LEDs that may tell you the power remaining is under 25%. On my current Smallrig plate, I would need to use a Y cable to power both the dummy battery and meter. I actually found your review when I was looking for more reviews of the FOMITO plate. There is a Toprig plate that also claims to produce USB C-PD, but one of the comments says that it doesn't provide the desired voltage. You mentioned about using a power bank with USB C-PD to power your main camera. I wasn't sure if the camera takes USB C-PD input, or if you are feeding a dummy battery with a 9 volt trigger. If you are using the 9 volt trigger, I've been wondering whether some camera in the world might get damaged. The 2 cell camera batteries deliver 8.4 volts when the battery is freshly charged, and 9 volts is more than 8.4 volts. In the cameras I've tried, it seems to work, but maybe I've been living on borrowed time, and soon the magic smoke may be released. I've moved to the NP-F plates, because the 7.2-8.4 volt port is straight from the NP-F battery, and it isn't more than the camera expects. A nice extra is the camera battery meter works fine, and it measures the NP-F capacity. I've been playing around with writing programs to measure the exact volt/amp combinations on USB C-PD power devices. Without doing the programming, you can use a FNIRSI FNB58 to probe the capabilities of USB C-PD. You hook it up, and DON'T connect a device. There is a menu item to allow you to set the USB C-PD trigger voltage/amps. You can go through the voltages, and once you select the voltage, you can then select the AMPs and the values it provides are the amps the USB C-PD power source provides. It is kind of awkward (which is why I wanted to have something that just plugs in and it tells me the capabilities). I want to combine it with stuff to monitor voltage/amp/watts to probe what in my cameras uses the juice (I have an earlier version of that, but I want to combine it with the USB C-PD status). Talking about battery meters, I really, really wish the NP-F plates had a digital display instead of 4 LEDs. On ebay, I got a "Mini Round Voltage Power Meter Colour 2-wires LED Display Voltmeter" and I selected the 2S version. Using a 5.5mm x 2.1mm power jack with a terminal block (or soldering the wires), I now have a meter that tells me the battery percentage. Now, OM-1 will also now tell me the power in digital, but a lot of the older cameras go back to 3-4 blocks. One minor note in your review, please say the name (or least spell it) when you pick up the NP-F plates. The link for the Amazon page was fast enough that I had to reset the video to stop it at the exact point I could read the brand.

@sparkestudio 3 ай бұрын

Thank you for thoughts on listing the names... and wow this is a long message. I may make a second review with the charging battery while attached to NPF plate option but mostly likely on camera powering methods with charging NPF plates with the 2 charging types shown including showing the advantage and disadvantage of each including my Smallrig advanced plate (bought after the making of this video that you mention about with the max PD of 36 watts. Showing I can power the internal battery of my camera to swap batteries without losing power to the camera but there is a negative as well, a big one negative about it I'm hearing.

@michaelmeissner1631 3 ай бұрын

@@sparkestudio I suspect the whatever the negative is depends on which camera you are using, the NP-F batteries you are using, NP-F plates, and cables. I can't speak for other brands, but in the Olympus/OM world, two of the cameras (E-m1 mark III and E-m1x) require 9 volts and 3 amps of power which as I mentioned many USB C-PD power sources can't provide. Both of those cameras don't recharge the camera batteries while using USB C-PD power. In addition, the E-m1 mark III also has restrictions that USB C-PD can't be used if you use the external HDMI support, which kind of makes it useless for a lot of video, and USB C-PD can't be used with the battery grip (the battery grip was designed for the earlier model that did not recharge batteries in the camera nor support USB C-PD at all). All 4 of the cameras that support USB C-PD (E-m1 mark III, E-m1x, OM-1 mark I/II) require that you have a partially charged battery (at least 10% according to one set of documentation), but at least the OM-1 mark I/II will recharge the battery after the USB C-PD connection is set up. I don't do tethered work, but I believe you can't use USB C-PD while either tethering the camera or using the camera as a web camera. And I have discovered that random USB C cables might not be capable of allowing USB C-PD. Back in the day when I was recording a friends 1.5 hour theater show before I got into external power, I was using a camera with a battery grip. I set up the camera to use the battery in the grip first, and when the camera switched to the internal battery, I would open the battery grip and replace the battery all while recording the live video (camera on a tripod). When I closed the grip battery door, the camera would instantly switch back to using the battery in the grip. This is probably not a recommended behavior. 🙂

@sparkestudio 3 ай бұрын

@@michaelmeissner1631 I'll tell you the simple negative especially if you use a dummy battery. Lets say your battery is never dead you leave the battery for a few weeks your battery is now dead, forever. No safety to protect from low level discharge. A lot of cheap cables are only USB 2.0 rated and cannot do / handle power delivery. Many people don't realize there are many different USB standards... Lots of them loke 7 or so and the cables don't work the same

@Maskra_ 5 ай бұрын

Ulanzi EA702403 npf plate is what I use

@sparkestudio 5 ай бұрын

@@Maskra_ thanks for sharing. Oddly I couldn't find that one. I can only fund the Ulanzi NP-F01 which I had not known about until I searched Ulanzi NPF plate.

@KaptainCanuck 6 ай бұрын

A bolt, not a screw.Simple English: Knee/were, NOT knew/were

@sparkestudio 6 ай бұрын

Thank you for the correction I am certain 100% everyone was completely utterly confused beyond belief and could not figure it out 🙄 Being on camera with zero time to correct mistakes because I have 2 channels and 6 days off of my 14 days straight of work at a camp and taking zero days off to just work even more it is easier said than done to think clearly. I promise you I will for 100% certain have more mistakes for you to correct and you can help everyone understand what they can not logically figure out on their own. So again thank God you are here to help us all. I appreciate you assisting so I can attempt to pay more attention and stop being so shameful.

@sparkestudio 6 ай бұрын

And trust me no human in their right state of mind would ever work as much as I do. My camp job alone is already double full time hours per week of work. I made this video at the same time as attempting to study for my electrical IP exam. I have literally is no time left for me to actually get sleep. Oh not only is this one of 2 channels I also work with an actor and record for him on his channel of 291,000 subscribers as well during those 6 days home out of every 21 days. Simple English is the least of my worries, the long term negative health consequences are going to be a real downer.