Photographer's travel hack. Have you heard of Nitecore?

I'm so excited! I got this Nitecore charger for Father's Day! Man, I wish I had this on my Japan trip. You can read about the ordeal in my Tokyo Post. I've been wishing for a USB camera battery charger for years! This is the model I just got, the Nitecore UCN1.

Basically, this little device can charge your camera battery via USB. I always carry a portable battery and one that is capable of charging everything I use, including my "mini laptop." For reference, my portable battery is a 10,000 mah battery with 3A output made by Red Monster (model: power up mini), it's roughly the same size as the Nitecore UCN1. There's bigger/better battery packs out there but that's the one I currently use. Anyways, back to the Nitecore UCN1.

While the packaging/advertisement indicates that it can charge two batteries, it doesn't mention that it CANNOT charge two of the SAME battery. My wife and kids thought it could so they ordered me 2 units so I can charge 4 batteries at the same time. Oh well. Regardless, it's still awesome! Being so much smaller than the OEM Canon charger, this Nitecore charger is easier to pack (no wires to mess with too)! Also to make packing lighter on trips, I pack a USB charging hub which is capable of charging 6 USB devices (at 2.1 A) so the four of us can charge our devices (including my batteries now) at the same time without the need to carry multiple chargers, multiple travel adapters etc.

The Nitcore UCN1 is very light and made of plastic but not the cheap feeling kind. It also doesn't feel like it is 10 ft drop proof either. The USB cable is permanently attached via thick rubber and is enclosed within the unit when not in use. The display is bright and the data is easily readable. I really love this device and for the sake of preparedness, I'm looking for USB pocket solar panels, lol. Having said that, there are a couple of "issues" or "pet peeves" I have with my units.

1. The display is so confusing to read. It toggles itself between a temperature and mAh meter, then voltage and different mAh meter. One of the mAh meters is how much the battery has charged and the other is for how much is being outputted by the UCN1? This is just my guess as there's no definitive documentation on the displayed items on the unit or manual. I find it confusing and would rather just look at a power level bar, which brings me to my next point.
2. On both my units, the power level indicators show either one blinking bar or full even though there are bars in between. Even if I put in a full battery, the UCN1 will flash one bar, show the mAh numbers then stop charging and show a full battery meter. After watching several youtube reviews, I've noticed that the reviewers UCN1's battery meter shows varying bars, not like mine (only one flashing or full). So I emailed Nitecore to ask if mine were defective. Basically, they never answered the question saying only that their battery meter is more accurate than my camera's meter and shows multiple bars. Doesn't make sense to me, because it doesn't matter if my camera shows flat battery, 2 bars, 3 bars or full, both my UCN1's battery meter shows 1 flashing bar, charges then shows full bars and the word 'end' when charging is complete.

According to Nitecore, the UCN1 is capable of: Automatic Current Adjustment, Battery Status Monitoring, Reverse Polarity and Anti-Short Circuit Protection, Battery Recovery.

Here's the sheer awesomeness of a USB camera battery charger. In a pinch you can charge your battery using your laptop, hotel room's flat screen tv (a lot have usb ports) I haven't tried but it should work, car's phone charger, someone else's portable battery, those charging stations at airports, convenience stores, the computers in library, PC game room, biz centres etc.

I'm so happy I got these chargers (even if I think the battery level meter isn't working properly), it relieves a certain sense of stress when it comes to power management, especially since my batteries are getting old. The peace of mind is well worth the price and it's more cost effective than buying multiple OEM Canon batteries. I think if you travel and shoot a lot, one of the Nitecore chargers is a must (hopefully they make one for your camera's battery). Oh, I'm not endorsed by Nitecore nor affiliated with them. If I was I probably would have units that read the battery levels accurately, haha.

More info on Nitecore's website and the UCN1 Manual

All the photos (unless otherwise noted in the post) were taken by me and are available for sale. If you're interested in buying an image or three, 😃 please don't hesitate to contact me for more details. Thanks in advance!

Comments & Critiques are always welcome. As are upvotes and resteems, if you like what you see.

Thanks for viewing and best wishes,

Ray

PS. If you want to check out my other 'works', you can find them here:

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