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Charging Canon BP-511A from the car?

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by Alexandre Vaz on Tue Jul 14, 2009 7:07 am

Alexandre Vaz
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Hi all!

I'm planing a trip to Angola next month, and I'm concerned with power supply? I will spend several days camping far from power sockets.
I'm considering buying some extra batteries but I would still like the idea of being able to charge them along the way...
I don't know much about power inverters, but I'm suspecting they are big, heavy and expensive... I'm looking for a cheap lightweight alternative. Is there a way to plug my CB-5L battery charger to a car lighter?
Any other ideas besides getting the Battery Grip?

Thanks in advance.

alex

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by McKaso on Tue Jul 14, 2009 7:27 am

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Visit website

Found this article on inverters http://www.roadtripamerica.com/dashboar ... erters.htm and a quick google search will turn up many more. I personally don't know much about them. I also found a couple of links for car chargers. B&H offers some cannon chargers http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/control ... %20charger and Sterling Tek a company I have used before offers onehttp://www.sterlingtek.com/canbp511acba.html. Not sure if this was what you were looking for. Good luck on your trip.

Steve

Steve Sullivan - [url]http://www.mckaso.com[/url]

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by Scott Baxter on Tue Jul 14, 2009 8:07 am

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Alex,
I use both inverters and aftermarket chargers (that plug into a car lighter that can be used with AC or DC. They both work fine and are reasonably inexpensive. This is similar to one of the oens I use.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/5 ... arger.html

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by Justin C on Tue Jul 14, 2009 9:06 am

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I've been using a power inverter for a few years to charge BP511's whilst on the road. I also take a plug adapter and two battery chargers, so I can charge two batteries at the same time.
The power inverter wasn't expensive, just under £30 (not sure what the $ equivelant is).
The compatable BP511's are pretty cheap nowadays, so stocking up with those may be another option.

Justin

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by JHaagsma on Wed Jul 15, 2009 5:09 am

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the Hahnel Power Station Ultima for Canon comes with a 12V car lead included. The charger also has a USB socket for devices that have to be charged via USB.

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by Alexandre Vaz on Wed Jul 15, 2009 4:28 pm

Alexandre Vaz
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Location: Portugal

Thank you all!

I've been studying the inverter solution and a doubt arose: does anyone have an idea which is the average charger consumption? I cannot find this value under the product specifications.
The cheaper (and smaller) inverters are suitable for devices under 150 W consumption...

Thanks again.

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by JHaagsma on Fri Jul 17, 2009 3:56 am

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power consumption of a charger like the one you have should not be a problem. Charging current 1A at something like 8V = 8W. I doubt overall power consumption is more than somewhere between 10 and 20 Watts.

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