Every year, companies like Canon and Nikon push camera technology forward with new models that add features like 8K video recording and 30 fps shooting speeds. But the batteries powering those cameras haven’t changed nearly as much during the mirrorless era.
Enter Chinese manufacturer Nitecore with its newly announced replacement for Sony’s NP-FZ100. Spotted by Sony Addict and later Gizmodo, the UFZ100 features a built-in USB-C port so that you don’t need to use a proprietary Sony power adapter to charge it. The battery also includes a handy LED indicator to tell you when it’s below 10 percent charge. That same LED will indicate when the UFZ100 is below half power, above 50 percent and finally fully topped up, with a constant green light indicating the final state. With a 2,250mAh capacity, it’s only slightly smaller than Sony’s 2,280mAh NP-FZ100 and works with many of the company’s most recent camera models, including the A6600 and A7 IV.
USB-C charging has been a standard feature on Sony cameras for a few years now, so it’s not like you couldn’t live without one of the company’s proprietary power adapters before. But having a USB-C port on the battery does make things more convenient since you don’t need access to a wall outlet. With enough cables, you could also more easily charge multiple batteries simultaneously.
One thing we don’t know about the UFZ100 yet is how much it will cost. Third-party battery manufacturers tend to price their offerings lower than Sony, Canon and Nikon to entice consumers to buy their products, but the added USC-C port on the UFZ100 could make it more expensive.