Videos

Most photographers have experienced the trauma of being on a daylong shoot, draining the camera's battery, and discovering that their spare is sitting on a charger at home. There’s not much you can do about that, unless you check out the video below.

After running out of power one too many times, photographer/filmmaker Armando Ferreira came up with a few tricks to make sure he’d get a full day of life from a singe battery in the future. Ferreira shoots with Sony, Canon, and Panasonic cameras, but the tips he describes will work with just about any camera you own.

Ferreira discusses the pros and cons of using a battery grip to double the power capacity of a camera. He also demonstrates how to connect a portable power bank to a camera via a simple micro USB cable. But there are pitfalls with that approach too—including potentially damaging your camera.

One gadget that Ferreira uses to give him far more juice than he needs for a full day of shooting, is the Electronic Ray E1 from iFootage. This tiny device mounts atop a camera, and while it looks like a small power pack, it’s actually a power converter that’s used along with just about any power bank on the market.

The handy Electronic Ray E1 is available in configurations for a number of popular cameras, and comes with a dummy battery that fits inside the camera’s battery compartment. The unit attaches to the camera with a shoe mount, and it has a strap for affixing whatever power bank you use. Then you can shoot to your heart’s content. There are a few more helpful tips in the video, so be sure and take a look.

Check out Ferreira’s YouTube channel for more interesting advice. You can read all about the Electronic Ray E1 power converter on the iFootage website.