SL3: in camera battery charging vs separate charger

[Ken Abrahams]

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It's great that there are a few options available for charging. Previously the SL cameras the charging unit was included in the cost however now the various choices for charging are extra costs which increase the sale price depending on choices of battery. The way I understand the information everyone has generously shared here, some of the options are less than appropriate and then there is the camera message and red light glowing on the on/off button advertising the fact one is using an old battery. Not really acceptable for most discerning Leica owners. In the end the cost of the Power Set means you do get a second battery and you will be totally covered for charging up and with an extra USB C cable considering there is one already in the SL3 box.  

I could see anywhere a single spare battery was available to buy on the Leica Australia page so that kind of forces one to purchase either the dual charger or the Power set. It's an easier decision to make with the Power Set and the extra battery regardless of the superfluous bits and pieces. Anyway, that is what I did today. I added the power set to my invoice and went willingly in a direction like a sheep being herded over a bridge and gladly adding to Leica's bottom line.   The Power set is on back order and I suspect that many buyers came back for the kit just like I did.    

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vor 7 Stunden schrieb algrove:

FWIW,  Leica Miami suggests one use the USB-C to USB-C cable that comes with the SL3. It not only charges correctly, but also is highly suitable for data transfer which they demonstrated in their SL3 you tube video while transferring DNG's from camera direct to iPad..

USB-C cables can be a little bit complicated...  😉

most of them are only charging-cables implementing USB 2.0 (480mb/s); even iPhone pro 15 comes with such a cheap cable

good: SL3 comes with a powerful USB 3.1 cable (up to 10gb/s)

[jrp]

The Leica cable doesn’t completely click into my iPhone with case, as other cables do …

[algrove]

1 hour ago, jrp said:

The Leica cable doesn’t completely click into my iPhone with case, as other cables do …

Which cable exactly? SL3-the USB-C to USB-C?

FWIW, I had Apple Store clean out my iPhone charging slot and it had an ever so slightly bit of fluff in it and that prevented proper charging due to improper insertion of the cable.

[algrove]

8 hours ago, scott kirkpatrick said:

I've been shooting with my SL3 since announcement day.  So far I have recharged in the camera, using the cable that came with my M11 charger.  I use the SL3's cable (it's cloth covered and heavy) to download pictures for processing into JPEGs.  The midweek video from Leica Store Miami recommends the 55 W Anker charger for driving the double battery charger, which should be a big step up from the older M11 DC converter.

Check again as I do believe David says 65W Anker.

[algrove]

6 hours ago, Ken Abrahams said:

It's great that there are a few options available for charging. Previously the SL cameras the charging unit was included in the cost however now the various choices for charging are extra costs which increase the sale price depending on choices of battery. The way I understand the information everyone has generously shared here, some of the options are less than appropriate and then there is the camera message and red light glowing on the on/off button advertising the fact one is using an old battery. Not really acceptable for most discerning Leica owners. In the end the cost of the Power Set means you do get a second battery and you will be totally covered for charging up and with an extra USB C cable considering there is one already in the SL3 box.  

I could see anywhere a single spare battery was available to buy on the Leica Australia page so that kind of forces one to purchase either the dual charger or the Power set. It's an easier decision to make with the Power Set and the extra battery regardless of the superfluous bits and pieces. Anyway, that is what I did today. I added the power set to my invoice and went willingly in a direction like a sheep being herded over a bridge and gladly adding to Leica's bottom line.   The Power set is on back order and I suspect that many buyers came back for the kit just like I did.    

Well, Ken just buy an extra battery and dual charger. The cable costs USD50 here and is worth having an extra IMHO. That adapter plug that completes the "kit" is what gives Leica's bottom line a big kick upwards-in addition to all of the other items, but USD80 for world plugs-yikes!

[jrp]

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17 minutes ago, algrove said:

Which cable exactly? SL3-the USB-C to USB-C?

FWIW, I had Apple Store clean out my iPhone charging slot and it had an ever so slightly bit of fluff in it and that prevented proper charging due to improper insertion of the cable.

Yes.  It works fine with other cables.  It's just the plastic housing that is preventing the connection.

[Photoworks]

Leica USB PD-capable power supply unit with at least 9 V/3 A (27 W).

You can buy a multiple-port charger if you want to use it for multiple devices. just get a larger one that does 100W or more. 

 

 

[Photoworks]

2 hours ago, jrp said:

The Leica cable doesn’t completely click into my iPhone with case, as other cables do …

Yep, it is too big for me too.

The SL3 cable down does not work on the M11 and iPhone

But with the SL3 you can buy many 3.2 USB-C cables and Thunderbolt 3 and they work very well, it is not like the 2.0 of the SL2

[algrove]

2 minutes ago, jrp said:

Yes.  It works fine with other cables.  It's just the plastic housing that is preventing the connection.

I see. Well with all my Leica purchases I cannot afford a new iPhone which takes the new USB-C cables. I am stuck using my M11 Leica cables.☹️

[scott kirkpatrick]

5 hours ago, algrove said:

Check again as I do believe David says 65W Anker.

I probably misquoted David and Josh.  But Anker makes a whole range of chargers.  I've ordered a 45 W, single outlet model.  While my 10 W charger that came with the M11 won't simultaneously run the camera and recharge,  with the camera firmly turned OFF it does recharge a half-empty battery (after a day of occasional chimping and 100 exposures) in about half an hour.

Since the latest chargers establish a communication with the receiving system to set their delivered current, you can even recharge with a laptop charger, which typically delivers up to 100 W.  But I think it is wise to stick with single-outlet chargers, since a $10-20 "30 Watt" charger with 2 or 3 outlets may not deliver more than 10 watts to any one of those outlets.  I might use one of my Apple laptop chargers as a "best case" and see how quickly it will recharge a half-depleted battery of the newest type (the BP-SCL6).

Edited March 18, 2024 by scott kirkpatrick

[algrove]

31 minutes ago, scott kirkpatrick said:

I probably misquoted David and Josh.  But Anker makes a whole range of chargers.  I've ordered a 45 W, single outlet model.  While my 10 W charger that came with the M11 won't simultaneously run the camera and recharge,  with the camera firmly turned OFF it does recharge a half-empty battery (after a day of occasional chimping and 100 exposures) in about half an hour.

Since the latest chargers establish a communication with the receiving system to set their delivered current, you can even recharge with a laptop charger, which typically delivers up to 100 W.  But I think it is wise to stick with single-outlet chargers, since a $10-20 "30 Watt" charger with 2 or 3 outlets may not deliver more than 10 watts to any one of those outlets.  I might use one of my Apple laptop chargers as a "best case" and see how quickly it will recharge a half-depleted battery of the newest type (the BP-SCL6).

Good. Glad you got something that can give a full charge and works.

[scott kirkpatrick]

3 hours ago, algrove said:

Good. Glad you got something that can give a full charge and works.

It's in the mail, arriving tomorrow.  I ordered the 313 model, and Amazon tells me there is a newer model, the 315, rated at 50% more power and costing 50% more.  That's the one that David and Josh picked out.  I'll report when I have played with it a bit.   

[algrove]

1 hour ago, scott kirkpatrick said:

It's in the mail, arriving tomorrow.  I ordered the 313 model, and Amazon tells me there is a newer model, the 315, rated at 50% more power and costing 50% more.  That's the one that David and Josh picked out.  I'll report when I have played with it a bit.   

Yes. The higher power one is the one I got.

[beewee]

I have two of these: https://satechi.net/products/6-port-gan-charger

When I travel, it charges everything including:

• MacBook Pro
• iPad Pro
• iPhones (multiple)
• DJI Fly More multi-battery charger
• Q3
• SL2-S
• Apple Watch
• Garmin Watches

It supports up to 140w charging so it can charge the MacBook Pro 16 at full speed.

If you want something smaller, this Anker one is handy if you don’t need to change as many devices: https://www.anker.com/ca/products/a2340

I do prefer the Satechi desktop charger as I can use shorter USB cables because the charger itself can sit on a desk rather than be attached to the outlet like the Anker.

Edited March 19, 2024 by beewee

[scott kirkpatrick]

On 3/18/2024 at 6:18 PM, scott kirkpatrick said:

It's in the mail, arriving tomorrow.  I ordered the 313 model, and Amazon tells me there is a newer model, the 315, rated at 50% more power and costing 50% more.  That's the one that David and Josh picked out.  I'll report when I have played with it a bit.   

The Anker 313 model is rated at 45 W, and charges noticeably faster than the M11 charger did.  It's really compact, too, but only comes with an American plug (which folds in nicely).  Conversion to a European plug (for use in Israel) is easy, but God forbid I have to go to the UK!  

Has anyone tried using external power to support continuous shooting for periods of several hours?  And does the 25 minute automatic shutoff required to  comply with some strange EU requirement still occur?  I was shooting amateur theater productions a few years with two DLSRs at two focal lengths on tripods with power and house audio plugged in.  Finding dark spots in which to shutdown before the 25 minutes were up was a nightmare.  I think there was a part of one scene that I never could locate.

[scott kirkpatrick]

On 3/17/2024 at 3:25 AM, mboerma said:

The 27W minimum is for charging and using the camera at the same time. For charging the wattage requirements are not that high. 
I used the Anker USB C Charger, 735 Charger (Nano II 65W), PPS 3-Port. But also others. The charging is erratic. 

I will have to wait for a couple of full cycles to see if this is just because it is a new battery. 

Modern chargers have two pieces, both smarter than you may think.  The voltage converter plugs into the wall, detects whether it is being fed 110 or 220 volts, and then talks to the charger, which tells it what voltage and current it would like to see.  They then negotiate a value that the converter can supply and the battery can accept, and get started, adjusting things as needed when batteries fill up and things have to slow down to avoid damage.  My M11 converter came with pins to fit in US and in European sockets (but not UK), and it is smart about slowing down for the final stages, when requested to do so by the Leica 4-pin charger that you put the  camera battery into.  My older SL and SL2 chargers have the same shaped receiver as the new two-slot charger, and have AC 110-24O volt power inputs with just an electric cord.  They don't seem to know what to say to an SCL6 higher capacity battery, so standardizing on the newer charger and giving it a wall-plugin converter with enough power seems like a sensible thing to do if you have cameras of both generations.  While I could charge an SCL6 batter with my M11 converter as the power source, it was slower by about half than when using a noname 30W converter, and may improve further now that I have the Anker 313 45 Watt converter.  I don't know if the 65 Watt Anker or a full blown laptop charger with around 100 Watts output will charge a battery any faster, or if it is wise to try to charge faster..., but the 65 Watt can power two outputs so it is possible that it can run the camera on tripod and charge batteries at the same time, always reserving 27 watts for the camera before doing anything else.  My laptop charger only does one thing at a time.

I've used a charger to support shooting video of plays, and the time limitation (25 minutes, I think) for non-video cameras was a headache.  Does anyone knnow if this limit has disappeared?

Edited March 21, 2024 by scott kirkpatrick

[Photoworks]

16 minutes ago, scott kirkpatrick said:

I've used a charger to support shooting video of plays, and the time limitation (25 minutes, I think) for non-video cameras was a headache.  Does anyone knnow if this limit has disappeared?

there is always the overheating limit. I was it yesterday on the SL2

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