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Hahnel Procube Review

Author	Post

Posted by Eric: Sat Mar 25th, 2017 04:55

1^st Post

Flush after underspending at the local camera shop I decided to treat myself to one of these versatile charger units. Quite often on holiday, we return from a day out with both of our cameras batteries depleted. Till now I used the manufacturers supplied charger ...which were single battery and no indicator of charge state. Because the wife has Panasonic and I have Fuji it meant we couldn't share a charger to declutter the trailer shelves....and they occupied two 13amp sockets.

Enter the Hahnel procube.
http://www.hahnel.ie/li-ion-battery-chargers
Not only does it charge two batteries at the same time, it handles different makes of battery, charges your iPad and has indicators of charge state. There was one model that billed itself as the combined Fuji/ Panasonic model...perfect match!!

It's expensive for a charger but the idea of it handling both our batteries at the same time was too good to be true. Well it was.

Having got it home, the notion you can charge the two types of battery at the same time went out the window. I suppose I should have read the advert better because it doesn't say "1 battery of each sort at the same time".
The unit has interchangeable cradles with two slots....one cradle for each battery type. So it means charging 2x Fuji first then swoping over to Panasonic. Ok a bit of a shame but still workable.

Well it would be if it was less fiddly to change over the cradles.

Insert a paper clip into a small hole ( reminiscent of reset buttons on many small electrical devices) to release the cradle. Well not exactly...its got a micro mini plug you have to undo underneath.

It's now gone from a great idea to a fiddly process that with time, will no doubt, wear out the little connector.

Why in this day and age couldn't the cradle just locate on a connector...like the very batteries in it's charging slots? Why the old fashioned plug and cables?

So what turned out to be an expensive but versatile accessory in my mind, is really not that bright. if your intention is to swop between camera battery types regularly.

Oh it does 4x AA batteries as well....but I threw my rechargeable AAs away some time ago.

:whip:

____________________
Eric

Posted by jk: Sat Mar 25th, 2017 08:48

2^nd Post

If you want to get rechargeable AA batteries the best ones are the Eneloop batteries as they do not discharge after charging (or at least only very slowly).

They come in AA and AAA sizes.

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Posted by Robert: Sat Mar 25th, 2017 15:12

3^rd Post

Mmmmm, I have some Enloop AA's, started using them for flash, bluetooth keyboards, mice etc. but they have gradually been disappearing...

I also bought some Fujitsu HR-3UTC AA batteries, apparently they are a similar spec to the Enloop product. They are very good, however they too are gradually disappearing, I have my suspicions.

The problem is, they are very expensive and to see a benefit over 'normal' dry batteries you need to keep them for many charge cycles, I am well short on my returns prospect at the moment.

____________________
Robert.

Posted by jk: Sat Mar 25th, 2017 15:34

4^th Post

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12-x-Panasonic-eneloop-pro-AA-2500-mAh-Rechargeable-Batteries-ready-NiMH-HR6-/301876577184?hash=item46493f03a0:g:y9kAAOSwKtVWx0D1

Yes they are very desirable. You can recharge them in an ordinary battery charger.

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Posted by Robert: Sat Mar 25th, 2017 16:16

5^th Post

Previously I have used CPC Chinese knockoff specials which weren't all that good. At the same time as I bought the Fujitysu I bought a really good re-charger which can do all sorts of clever tricks like refreshing, varied rates of charging and will do a capacity test too.

I may be missing something here but I think it would be good if the Nikon SB flashlights used one of the standard Nikon camera batteries to cut down on the number of spare battery types one has to carry around.

____________________
Robert.

Posted by amazing50: Wed Apr 5th, 2017 19:37

6^th Post

Seems that the biggest features in a lot of
Nikon model upgrades are new battery and charger shapes, and micro USB plugs. :lol:

____________________
There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept ;~) Mike Grace

Posted by Robert: Fri Apr 7th, 2017 18:21

7^th Post

Perhaps Nikon find it difficult to improve on perfection? Generally new battery design is safety related, concealing terminals, protecting chargers and making them more reliable, battery technology is a developing sphere due to other areas of technology, computers and of course phones...

The DSLR as we know it must have plateaued out by now. So much development has gone into making the 'perfect' DSLR. Most users have come to terms with the foibles and idiosyncrasies of the digital age, far more than was with film. Provided you got the sprockets engaged with the film, you were pretty much good to go in the good old days!

I will be very happy with my D3 for the foreseeable future, my dream camera, I doubt I will ever find it inadequate, my D1 was good but the D3 is something else. :thumbs:

____________________
Robert.

Posted by amazing50: Mon Apr 10th, 2017 21:05

8^th Post

You don't know what you're missing by not having Snapbridge. :-)

____________________
There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept ;~) Mike Grace

Posted by jk: Tue Apr 11th, 2017 03:08

9^th Post

amazing50 wrote:
You don't know what you're missing by not having Snapbridge. :-)

Not a lot! :lol:

I find it a complete PITA. If they had implemented simple WiFi like Fuji has in their latest cameras it would have been much easier for users.

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Posted by jk: Sat May 20th, 2017 13:34

10^th Post

Well Nikon seem to be persisting with Snapbridge.
I hope the new (future) cameras just have simple wifi.

I wish they would make a firmware update that allowed my D500 to use wifi directly.

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Posted by amazing50: Sat May 20th, 2017 18:52

11^th Post

Nikon is great at "flogging dead horses". :lol:

____________________
There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept ;~) Mike Grace

Posted by jk: Sun May 21st, 2017 15:50

12^th Post

amazing50 wrote:
Nikon is great at "flogging dead horses". :lol:

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