K&F Concept NP-FW50 Battery with USB C Fast Charging
K&F Concept NP-FW50 Battery with USB C Fast Charging for Sony ZV-E10, Alpha 7, A7, A7II, A7RII, A7SII, A7S, A7S2, A7R, A7R2, A5000,A6000, A6500, A6300, NEX-3, NEX-5
From the brand
K&F Concept NP-FW50 Battery with USB C Fast Charging for Sony ZV-E10, Alpha 7, A7, A7II, A7RII, A7SII, A7S, A7S2, A7R, A7R2, A5000,A6000, A6500, A6300, NEX-3, NEX-5
These are very good 3rd party batteries for Fujifilm cameras that use NP-W235 batteries. They are rechargeable via either USB-C or a dedicated battery charger. LED indicator shows amber light for charging and green light for fully charged.
I can’t determine at this point the longevity or reliability of these batteries, but so far they fit the bill.
Recommended.
Es la primera vez que uso este producto. No es el original para mi cmara Sony pero el precio por dos bateras es muy correcto. Es posible cargarlas tambin con el cargador del movil
Permettono di essere caricate con usb-c, ormai standard anche nei telefoni ed in viaggio consente di portare un unico caricabatterie. Sul campo ottime, anche in condizioni di temperatura critiche (usate per fotografia naturalistica). Un’ottima alternativa alle batterie originali, con un surplus…se K&F mi volesse come tester dei suoi prodotti fotografici sarei contentissimo…sono tutti ottimi prodotti!
I ordered this 2 pack of the K&F Concept 2400mAh NP-W235 Battery for my Fuji GFX100s.
When I take my GFX out for a full day of shooting, I have to take a boatload of extra batteries with me. The energy-hungry GFX uses the same low-capacity battery as the newer Fuji X-series cameras. I’m sure that the Fuji engineers chose to use this smaller battery (as compared to the battery found in the GFX50r) in order to reduce the size and weight of the 100s, but any advantage gained is, in my opinion, more than compensated for by the need to carry more batteries and a charger to charge them on.
These batteries don’t need a charger. You just use the included USB-C to USB-A cord. The USB-C end plugs right into the battery and the USB-A end goes to your favorite charging block or your car’s USB port. Honestly, it’s a technology that deserves to be adopted by all of the camera manufacturers unless they want their clocks cleaned by the quality third-party battery distributors.
It’s hard to directly compare the longevity of any battery with another, because every shoot is different. A shoot where I am using the LCD screen a lot is going to eat up battery power faster than when I rely only on the viewfinder. What I can say is that these batteries play nicely with the Fuji electronics. The camera throws no errors when using the K&F Concept batteries and properly reports their state of charge and capacity.
Although this is the first battery I’ve used from them, K&F Concept is a well-respected brand for camera accessories in general, and these batteries have the clever twist that the Lithium Ion charge circuitry is built into the battery, so no charger is needed. Despite that, THESE BATTERIES HAVE A VERY COMPETITIVE PRICE — less for these two than I paid for my first one with a built-in charger. There is a simple LED that lights red when charging and turns green when charged. The battery comes with a charging cable, but no USB power supply… which isn’t a big deal; the cable is a little unusual in that the USB C end clips into the battery a bit more authoritatively rather than just smoothly sliding in.
It used to be that 3rd-party smart batteries often were recognized as “fakes” by cameras which would then refuse to operate with them, and some camera models and firmware revisions are pickier than others. Over the years, I’ve amassed quite a collection of NP-FW50 batteries and clones, including several rejected by my newer cameras or even by my original NEX-5 after I updated the firmware.
Incidentally, the main reason I’m still buying more NP-FW50 is that I have a fleet of Sony cameras (NEX-5, NEX-7, two A6000, A6500, A7, A7II, and two A7RII) that take this battery and about half of the batteries I have eventually (after multiple years of use) started to swell a little, which is a major danger sign for Lithium Ion batteries. If your batteries are becoming a tight fit into your camera, they are swelling too and you should properly dispose of them.
Anyway, I’ve tried using this battery in my Sony A7RII, which is one of the latest and presumably pickiest models taking this battery, and, happily, it seems to work identically to the Sony-branded original batteries. It’s too early to say if this battery will hold charge as well as Sonys over time, but so far, so good. The battery fits the Sony cameras perfectly and has a distinctive two-color case, white on one side and gray on the other, which makes it easy to avoid confusing it with the ones that need a separate charger.
Overall, I think the concept of not needing an external charger is really good and worthy of a 5/5, although the benefit is reduced slightly by the fact that you still need to carry a USB cable to charge it. It does come with a charging cable, but it would be better if the battery itself had a pull-out USB head so you could just plug it directly into a USB power supply without the need for a cable. Unlike a very similar battery, there isn’t much of a price premium for these over other non-Sony FW50 batteries that don’t have a built-in charger. Thus, I very strongly recommend these…
A camera battery with a USB-C charge port built in.
A BATTERY WITH A USB-C CHARGE PORT BUILT IN.
This one is for Fujifilm X-T4, X-T5, X-H2, X-H2S, and I can’t even wrap my head around it. I’ve been bringing my charging block with me for as long as I can remember. It’s just one extra thing I don’t want to have to carry when I’m out in the field on assignment. Now, I don’t have to.
And this battery has almost the capacity of the official OEM battery. Almost, but these batteries generally last most of the day. It’s close enough. And already, I digress…
A CAMERA BATTERY WITH A USB-C CHARGE PORT BUILT IN.
Some things are just well-designed, built by photographers, for photographers.
This is one of those things.
K&F are renowned for making top quality and affordable photography equipment and this K&F NP-W235 is no different.
The K&F branded NP-W235 battery has an inbuilt charger meaning all I need to charge it up is a USB C cable (either USB A to USB C or USB C to USBC), eliminating the need to take a bulky battery charger with me, and this is a game changer for me.
The K&F NP-W235 battery takes around 2.5 hours to fully charge which is longer than using a conventional NP-W235 battery and charger however this is a trade off I am willing to accept for the convenience of the K&F battery.
This battery doesn’t last as long as the Fuji branded batteries, but this is to be expected and I have yet to find any third party branded battery that lasts as long Fuji branded batteries. It is evident I don’t get as many photos or as many video minutes per charge however the difference isn’t that great. Besides, these batteries are a fraction of the price of Fuji branded batteries so I’ll just get another one.
Many third party batteries are a poor fit and suffer swelling when hot. I have not experienced this using the K&F NP-W235 battery and it fits nice and tight, hence ensuring a good connection, but also easy to remove at the end of the session when it needs charging.
At 36.99 (at the time of review) these K&F batteries are a fraction of the cost of the Fuji branded batteries and are great value for money. One thing that is worthy of note is that number of shots/video minutes per pound is less than Fuji branded batteries.
Overall these K&F batteries are superb and highly recommended and when I need additional batteries I am going to go for these over Fuji branded batteries not least because of the convenience of not having to take a charger.
Disclaimer: I am privileged enough to be part of the Amazon Vine program and as such I have the opportunity request products that I would find useful/potentially buy to road test in exchange for an honest review. I am not paid for this and all of my reviews are unbiased and based on my own experience.