How to charge a camera battery without a charger？ While using the camera, you must have experienced days when your camera battery ran out of power and you could not charge it as you left the charger at home.
Whatever the case, it is always painful to stop taking photos due to a dead battery.
How can you charge a camera’s battery without a charger? We will discuss different ways of charging a camera in this blog post.
Camera battery charger understanding:
Most cameras come with an adapter and a charging cable. You can charge a camera by plugging the cable into a laptop or a desktop computer.
Alternatively, plug the USB cable into the AC/DC adapter and charge the camera through a power outlet.
If you don’t have your camera charger, you can charge it with any standard USB multi-chargers.
Electrical plug adapters
Can I Charge my camera’s battery without a charger?
Yes, there are different ways to charge a camera without a charger, but the way depends on the camera.
Today most camera battery allows USB charging with several benefits, including:
- USB charging is convenient as you can charge your camera with a USB port available in power banks, laptops and computers. Also, as most devices today have USB charging options, you must already have a USB cable for charging and thus, you do not need any extra investment.
- USB charging is faster than any other charging method, and high-power sources like power banks and computers can further reduce this charging time.
You can use a USB-C cable to charge modern RF-mount full-frame cameras like EOS RP and EOS R with a battery in the camera.
On the other hand, you have to take out the battery from cameras like Canon’s DSLR to charge it with an external charger.
Another camera Canon PowerShot G7 X, also needs an external charger as it does not allow charging with a USB cable.
Cameras, phones and charging accessories
How to charge my camera battery without a charger?
Choose the available way to charge the battery if you don’t have a charger:
With USB cables and any source of power
Modern mirrorless cameras like the Nikon Z series, Sony A6000, Canon’s EOS R, Panasonic Lumix Gx85, or Fujifilm XT-2 can be changed with a USB cable without needing an external battery pack.
It would be best to have a suitable USB cable and any power source, such as power banks. If you use a wall socket as a power source, the plug should have the same voltage as the camera’s battery.
If the charging output is 5 volts, charging will be as expected, and if it is less than 500mA, it may take longer to charge your camera.
Here are a few steps for charging your camera battery;
- First, read the user manual to check if there is an option for USB charging in your camera and ensure that the battery is inside the camera.
- Connect your camera to the available power source with the help of a USB cable, and once connected, your camera will start charging automatically.
- Allow the battery to charge fully before disconnecting the camera from the power source.
Many cameras, like old DSLRs, don’t allow USB charging as you need high-voltage USB cables for charging these cameras.
If you take a low-voltage USB cable it may take 8 hours or more to charge fully.
Some cameras have a built-in charger with an extra battery grip holder at the bottom.
To charge them, what you need to do is to ensure that you always use a USB adapter.
However, not all cameras come with an in-camera charger/transformer.
Using an external battery pack
Use an external battery pack if your cameras do not have a USB port for charging.
It would be best to pull out the camera’s battery to charge it in this method.
Once taking it out, insert the battery into the battery pack charger. You can use a power bank or a wall plug to charge the battery through a battery pack and the USB cable.
How to charge a camera battery without a charger？ Batteries for cameras with a USB-C port:
If you have batteries like EL3E, E6NH, or F770, you are lucky, as these batteries come with USB-C ports.
You need not carry an external charger to charge the battery if you have USB-C series battery packs; instead, you must connect one end of the USB cable to the battery port and the other to the power bank/phone charger.
Also, the good thing is the time taken for charging is the same as that with the traditional charger. And the USB-C battery replacements are also compatible with the conventional charger.
Here are battery replacement options compatible with the most popular cameras available today. Some popular camera brands include Fuji, Olympus, Sony, Canon, and Nikon.
- Newell’s EN-EL15C with USB-C port compatible with most Nikon models including D500, D650, D600, D780, D750, D800, D850, D810, D7200, Z5, Z6, Z7. Z7II, Z6II.
- Newell’s NP-W235 is compatible with Fuji GFX100A, X-T4 and X-H2s.
- Newell’s En-EL3E with USB C compatible with different Nikon models.
- Newell’s battery replacement NP-FZ100 with USB C compatible with Sony A7III, A7SIII, A7R IV, A7R III, A7R V, A6600, A1, etc.
- Newell LP-E6NH with USB-C for Canon cameras including EOS 5D mark II, mark III, mark IV, 7D, 7D (mark II), 6D, 6D (mark II), 60 and 70D, R, R5, R6, etc.
- Newell’s NP-FM500H with USB -C port compatible with Sony A series.
- Newell’s NP-F770 with USB-C port compatible with Sony.
- Newell’s NP-F570 with USB-C port compatible with Sony.
- Newell’s battery replacement with USB-C port compatible with Olympus OM systems.
How to charge a camera battery without a charger？ Using a battery to charge a battery
Step1: Remove the battery from the camera
First of all, you need to remove the battery from the camera.
Access the connection points without applying external forces to remove the battery, as dedicated push buttons allow access to camera batteries.
If you are facing any problems, refer to the user manual.
Step 2: Find AA, AAA or 9 volts batteries
The power in the household batteries is the same as in the camera batteries. Thus you can use one battery to charge another battery.
However, do not use improper amounts of current and voltage to charge the battery, as it can damage your camera batteries.
Step 3: Identify the positive and negative connectors of the battery
You can easily find these identifications of the AA, AAA and other household batteries as they are marked.
The positive connector is closer to the edge of the camera batteries, and the negative is farther from the edge.
You will find three to four connectors on the battery, but the middle ones are for temperature regulations and other similar functions.
Step 4: Match the voltage of the battery to be charged with the other batteries (AA, AAA, or 9 volts)
You can use either of the above batteries depending on the volts your camera battery requires to get charged.
For example, if your battery needs 5 volts to get charged, a single 9-volt battery will be enough.
On the other hand, AA and AAA batteries are 1.5 volts each, so you will need 3 to 4 AA and AAA batteries (1.5 + 1.5 + 1.5= 4.5volts) as the power source to charge your camera battery of 5 volts.
Step 5: Take two pieces of wire
Strip the ends of the wire insulated to remove the insulation and expose the metal conductor.
Step 6: Tape/clamp the wires to the battery providing power and the battery to be charged
You need to connect the two types of batteries with the wires to transfer power. Holding the wires while the charge gets transferred is impossible as they may get hot.
If you are using a single 9-volt battery, connecting is not a problem.
However, if you use multiple AA or AAA batteries, you must connect them in series before connecting them to the battery to be charged.
Series connection means you have to connect the negative points of all small batteries to the negative connectors of the battery.
Similarly, connect the positive sides of all the batteries.
Step 7: Allow the battery to charge
Your battery will start charging once you connect all the wires described above.
However, remember that batteries cannot charge a camera battery to its full potential and can provide enough charge to use the device for some time.
USB-C cable
Conclusion:
Cameras have become indispensable devices for people whether they travel or study, so keeping your camera charged is very important to use anytime and anywhere.
In addition, don’t forget to take a charger or external battery packs while you travel for emergencies.
You can also use extra lifesaver batteries when your camera battery dies at the most unexpected moments.
If you need high-quality charger cables for your camera batteries, contact Cloom, which offers various charging cable applications.