2021-07-31

I have been using the Fujifilm X-T4 since it launched last year. The first X Series camera comes with a new battery NP-W235. The battery life is much better than the NP-W126S for X-T3. My assignments mainly are sports, events & weddings. Those events require long hours of coverage throughout the day. Therefore battery life and battery charger are my best friends when working in the field. As you might be aware, Fujifilm X-T4 doesn’t come with a battery charger. You receive a power adapter and an USB-C cable instead. If you haven’t purchased the X-T4 power grid, charging one battery at a time is your only option. With the power grid, you can charge all three batteries (one inside the camera and two in the power grid) in one go. The downside is your camera will be occupied the whole charging time. It takes about 5-6 hours for the three batteries to be fully charged. There also no battery charging status information provided, ie. charging percentage. So a dual battery charger is highly recommended.

Nitecore sent me their FX3 dual slot battery charger with two Fujifilm NP-W235 compatible batteries recently to test out and give my thoughts on.

The FX3 battery charger comes with a sleek form factor with information display panel. It provides Battery Voltage, Battery Temperature, Charging Current (mA), Charging Volume (mAh) and Battery Health. It offers Standard and Quick charging mode by detecting the power input voltage (5V for Standard and 9V for Quick Charging).

In my testing, it takes around 5 and a half hours to fully charge two drained NP-W235 batteries in Standard Charging mode. For Quick Charging, it’s about 2 and a half hours for around 80% full.

Due to COVID, most of my assignments are either on hold or rescheduled. So I take my furry friends out for a video shooting as shooting at 4K drains battery quickly. I’m shooting with two X-T4 with Fujifilm and Nitecore batteries on them. I would say the Nitecore battery life is on par with Fujifilm. I don’t also encounter any heat resistance while shooting under a hot sunny day.

A good practice of battery management is the key to maximise the batteries life. You need to charge the battery that was left in your camera before you go out and shoot. Just pop it in the charger and give it a good refresh charge. It might be charged straight away and you are good to go. If not, take a coffee, sit back and relax for 10-20 minutes. It is worth it. Last but the least, turn off your camera while you’re not shooting. With the high performance power management on X-T4, the starting up time is almost instant.

You can find more details about the NITECORE NP-W235 Battery and FX3 Battery Charger from the link below.

https://photo.nitecore.com/product/np-w235

https://photo.nitecore.com/product/fx3