Powertraveller sent me their latest power pack, the hefty Condor 100, a 27000mAh beast in a beautifully designed (award-winning) aluminium enclosure. The Condor 100 is an auto-sensing power unit that can handle 110V/220V mains electricity-driven equipment as well as 5V devices.
Tag: power
Powertraveller’s Falcon 40 is a 40W foldable solar panel driven by high-efficiency monocrystalline SunPower cells. It’s meant to be used while you’re backpacking or otherwise active in the great outdoors and therefore very useful for documentary makers or video shooters who don’t stay in the direct vicinity of a grid. It’s splash-proof (IPX4) and has individually sealed off (silicon plug) output connectors – two USB (5V/3A Max) and one DC output (20V/2A).
Thunderbolt 3 docks are being released at a fast pace. The CalDigit TS3 Thunderbolt Station has been around for a month now and it has an edge. Not only does it provide 85W charging power on one of its ports to Apple’s Thunderbolt 3 MacBook, but it’s also tiny compared to others. And it can be positioned upright, saving space on your desk.
OWC’s Thunderbolt 3 dock has the looks and the ports to appeal even to those who don’t need one. The company’s selection of ports to include has so far been the best I’ve encountered. There are 13 of them and they represent OWC’s experience with users’ needs in terms of support for legacy technology.
MacBook Pro 2016 users need a dock to hook up their legacy Thunderbolt gear. The most efficient and probably cheapest way to get there is to buy a dock like the CalDigit TS3 Lite or TS3. Those docks have their merit with iMacs too, despite of the need to work with adapters.
Users of an Apple wireless keyboard of the first generation know their Apple batteries will hold about 80% of their charge for often more than a year. There’s a rumour Apple AA batteries were really Eneloop cells with a different wrapper. Whatever the case, the original Eneloop has advanced over the years and is even better than the first generation.
MOTA was a company unknown to me until I saw an announcement of their Wireless Charger for GoPro. The charging station is a nicely designed, glossy black and white station that can hold and charge a GoPro while it is in its mounting case, as well as a battery and a USB device. MOTA claims the Wireless Charger for GoPro keeps your camera running.
In December of last year, I received Panasonic’s press release announcing their European photo contest that revolves around eneloop batteries. The prize to be given away for the ‘WINTER’ theme currently running (February 3, 2016 with a winner to be announced on April first) is a Panasonic action cam HX-A1 and two sets of “eneloop pro” rechargeable batteries with a CC16 charger (For those who missed the WINTER photo contest, the eneloop ‘SPRING’ photo challenge has recently been launched on https://photochallenge.panasonic-eneloop.eu). The eneloop pro battery is recommended for use in extreme low temperatures (-20 degrees Celsius) and for demanding devices, such as photo strobe speedlights. Reason enough to try these new eneloop batteries and see for myself how good they actually are.
GoPro action cameras lead the market in everything except one thing: battery life. While the company has improved the stamina of its batteries and delivers accessories that allow you to recharge them, there’s ample room for improvement. Hahnel steps up the mark and has come up with a solution, both for powering and charging.
I have been wanting to review Powertraveller’s professional power solutions for quite some time because to me their equipment seems to be the most effective way to power all your photo and video equipment — from 5V to 24V. And now it has finally happened: here’s a go at the Powergorilla and Solargorilla, the two most powerful rugged power devices in the Powertraveller product range. The Powergorilla is a 21000mAh battery that will charge your laptop and anything else that works on 5V to 24V. The Solargorilla is a foldable solar panel that can charge the Powergorilla or power anything that runs on on 5V or 20V. Both have the size of about an iPad, only about twice as thick.
