March 23, 2023

Canon R5 - external power

The battery is a pair of Li-ion cells, which have a "nominal" 3.7 volt output (hence 7.4 to the camera), but will yield 4.2 volts when fully charged (hence 8.4 to the camera). So, if you get a "dummy battery" and an 8 volt supply you have confidence in, you are in business.

You could also just buy the $140 Canon AC-E6N adapter with DR-E6 coupler and feel confident you are trusting your $3000 camera to a well engineered piece of equipment.

Or you could buy the Watson rig for $18 which purports to be the same thing (they rate it at 8 volts, 3 amps.

USB power

The R5 has a USB-C connector and comes with a cable. This can be used for in-camera battery charging (something I can never envision myself doing). It can also be used to power the camera from a power bank (or some kind of AC to USB-C wall adapter.

There are important issues to be considered. You need to know more than just that your power source is USB-C. It needs to be rated for "PD" (power delivery) and you will need 3 amps and 9 volts, i.e. something like a 30 watt power bank at the very least. This makes me nervous given that these things need to negotiate their voltage delivery and can supply up to 20 volts. If you really need to work in the field and don't want to buy a bunch of Canon batteries, it would be something to look into.

Feedback? Questions? Drop me a line!

Tom's Digital Photography Info / tom@mmto.org