After shooting with the A7r for the last 6 months I’ve decided to do a write-up on batteries and what batteries you should buy for your Sony mirrorless camera.
Batteries You Should and Should Not Buy For The Sony A7, A7r & A7s
When I first bought my camera I was shooting a lot of videos so I purchased the two Sony Batteries and two Wasabi Batteries.
Sony NPFW50 Rechargeable Battery – Amazon
Wasabi Power Battery (2-Pack) for Sony – Amazon
For the first couple of weeks, everything was great. I noticed it takes a while for those Sony batteries to get broken in. But once they do they last much longer, and the Wasabi batteries were working great.
A Few Months In Is When It Started
I was in Japan shooting some temple in Kyoto when my camera kept powering off. Or it would die during a 3 shot HDR burst. It kept doing it. I thought it was my card so I swapped my card. It wasn’t that. So I changed batteries.
Lo and behold I was using a Wasabi battery. I switched to the Sony Battery and then everything was fine. Needless to say, I was panicking. I was a week into my 5 week Japan trip and thought I had a broken camera.
Moral of the story. Don’t buy those wasabi batteries. Unless. . . you use them as an emergency backup. They come with a great charging kit for the car and wall and use them for that. Emergencies. And the price is great. I recommend them for that reason, and mine does hold a charge.
The Story Continues
A few weeks in the same problem started happening to my Sony batteries.
This whole time I was using the Wasabi battery charger on my Sony batteries. And I noticed something, the Wasabi battery charger charges much faster than the standard plug that came with the Sony A7r.
A Faster Charge Is A Weaker Charge
One thing I’ve learned about lithium-ion batteries, it’s better to constantly charge them with a slower charge. They’ll last longer, and be more reliable.
That Sony A7r uses every bit of power that the battery puts out to feed that 36-megapixel sensor and the massive shutter. If the batteries are not pristine you may get problems.
Since I started getting power issues on the Sony Batteries, I started only charging them with the kit that came with my camera and after a few weeks, things are returning to normal even with the Wasabi batteries.
So I recommend only charging with the adapter that camera with the camera or ordering the Sony wall adapter to save yourself any headache in the future.
Sony BC-TRW W Series Battery Charger – Amazon
Conclusions
Buy those wasabi or other third-party batteries for emergency backup, but always charge with official chargers.
You might only need one Sony Battery but I would buy two just in case. A single battery can last you through the day, only if you are religious about powering off your camera every second you’re not using it.
And if you’re a filmmaker, you’ll probably need 3. Maybe 2 Sony’s and a backup.
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I got two RAV power batteries as backups for the two Sony batteries since the A7rii (which uses the same battery) eats through them. The RAV power batteries last longer on a charge than the Sonys, which really surprised me. I’ve had the camera and all four batteries for over 2 years now. The RAV power charger charges 2 batteries at once and with a USB cord can be used in my car, so great for long road trips. I’ve never used off brand batteries before, but had read good things about RAV Power.
Sony actually switched up its official batteries back in the A7rII days. They use to have heavier batteries that felt denser, then with the A7rII my battery that came with my camera was from China and were much lighter. I wonder if they lost some quality with that change.