Photography News | Issue 41 | absolutephoto.com
54 First tests
TetherToolsCaseRelay from£122.20 A digital camera without power is a very expensive doorstop so power management is an important facet of modern imaging.
Specs
Case Relay Camera Power system Prices
Case Relay CRUPS110 £94, Relay Camera Couplers from £28.20 depending on camera In the box 1x Case Relay, adaptor for Canon and Nikon couplers, 5mm to 5mm female coupler and 4.2mm female to 5mm female reducer Battery Lithium 1200aMh 7.4V Input DC 5V-2A (type A USB) Output DC 8V, max 2A Barrel jack 5.5mm outside diameter; 2.1mm inside diameter Weight 114g
In all likelihood you are happy with the capacity of your camera’s battery. At least, most of the time. Naturally, it depends on what you’re shooting and there are situations and applications where power beyond the limits of the typical battery is very much a good thing. Remote shooting over a long period, shooting hundreds of night sky shots to stack, time lapse photography or a just a mammoth studio session are some examples. Basically, any situation where power drop-off and even swapping a camera battery over is an issue. TetherTools is a US company specializing in innovative solutions for image-makers of all types. Its expanding product range offers, among other things, kit for tethered cabled or wireless shooting, smart devicemounts and fittings, and power options to keep your camera running for as long as you want; which is where the Case Relay Camera Power System comes in. In essence, the Case Relay is a rechargeable battery that you connect to your camera via an adaptor that slips into your camera’s battery compartment. But the clever thing is that the Case Relay itself can be powered from the mains via a USB charger or an external USB 5V rechargeable battery. It means if you need to keep your camera powered up for a very long time you can use the Case Relay connected to a rechargeable battery (or mains) and when that battery dies, you can hot- swap to a fresh battery or just let the Case Relay itself take over and there is no interruption in power. I tried the Case Relay system here with a TetherTools Rock Solid 10,000mAh Solid External Battery Pack but you might already own a power pack if you’re a keen smart device user and you can use that. The Case Relay unit has a USB A connection and charging the unit is
Rock Solid External Battery Pack Price £51.54 Capacity 10,000mAh Type Polymer Input 5A-2A max Output 5V-1A, 5V-2A Charging time 5-6 hours Size 139x70x12.5mm Weight 275g Contact flaghead.co.uk
Above A very wide range of couplers is available so all you need to do is replace the camera’s battery with the relevant coupler which, in this case, locks into position.
done via that interface. Charging can be done via a rechargeable battery pack such as the Rock Solid battery or with a USB mains charger that provides at least 2.1 amps of power. The computer’s USB port is not recommended. The unit’s LED indicates power level – green means full, red empty. The LED glows steadily during charging unless the power source is disconnected or the unit has entered sleep mode. Power from the Case Relay unit to the camera is provided by attaching the appropriate Relay Camera Coupler. The TetherTools website will help you check compatibility and adaptors are available for Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus, Panasonic
and Fujifilm cameras. The coupler replaces the camera’s own battery and on the Nikon sample I tried, it clicked into place too. I checked the camera’s battery info indicators – the battery info menu item indicated that charge level was 45% even though the unit was fully charged beforehand. To give you some idea of the benefit and performance, I used live view to shoot video footage, a guaranteed way to run down a battery quickly. This also meant I didn’t have to wear out the camera shutter by firing it thousands of times in order to exhaust the various batteries. I used a Nikon D810 that allows 29 minutes and 59 seconds of video recording at a time; let’s say 30 minutes for brevity.With the camera’s
battery I got 90 minutes of recording from a fully charged cell and it had 1% charge left at the end. Next I repeated the process with a fully charged Case Relay on its own. Here I got 130 minutes of recording before the camera died; an extra 40 minutes of recording time with the Case Relay on its own without any external help. In this situation I was video shooting so the last 10 minutes recording were lost, but this gives you an idea of the capacity available. Finally, I fully charged the Case Relay and the Rock Solid battery, connected them together then plugged the duo into the camera with the appropriate adaptor. This time, I got 257 minutes of recording before both batteries died – that’s eight full 30-minute recordings, five more than the camera’s own battery. If this magnitude of performance translates to still shooting, you’re easily going to get several thousand shutter actuations (subject to the camera, working temperature etc). That’s impressive. WC
I got 257 minutes of recording before both batteries died
Verdict
Simple idea that works really well. The Case Relay is a great and elegant solution to dealing with the issue of limited battery capacity in specific shooting scenarios. In that context, the price of around £122 including a camera coupler or £174 with coupler and the Rock Solid battery is excellent value for money.
Pros Does deliver great shooting capacity Cons The camera’s battery info readout was not accurate
Right On the left, the silver box is the Rock Solid battery, in the centre is the Nikon camera coupler and the Case Relay is on the right.
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