[galelegg]

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I am considering buying a USB battery charger for my Pentax and Canon cameras. They maybe more convenient than the power point models. Will they fully charge from a USB port on a desktop computer or from a car cigarette lighter jack with adaptor? They maybe able to be charged from a mobile phone charger? Does anyone have experience of these with the above mentioned cameras.

[automorphism]

I would also be interested in finding out about this for car charging. However, I have charged my old Blackberry phone with car chargers and I am not impressed with the charging speed compared to the wall.

[Barbu]

Considering that most Lithium batteries have a nominal voltage of ~7.2V (and go over 8.4V while charging) it's hard to believe that you will find a charger powered by an USB connection; every USB port delivers 5V, and most of them are limited to a current of 500mA (which would make even the most efficient charger, one that would up the voltage from 5 to 8.5V) an incredibly slow one; smaller batteries like D-Li109 would charge in 24h, and D-Li90 would take well over two days of continuous charging.
Of course, there is entirely another matter with car chargers; I personally own one, and it's basically faster than the Pentax one.

[stemked]

Traveling in the Outback of Australia I had to use solar panel to USB charger. It worked fine for me, but took a long time to charge. I had three batteries and was usually charging one of them with the solar USB channel.

[angerdan]

I am considering buying a USB battery charger for my Pentax and Canon cameras.

I do have a Onni-Tec digibuddy 5401 with adapter plate for D-LI90.
digibuddy - High quality rechargeable batteris and charging technology
http://b2b.onni-tec.de/camera-accessories/chargers/models-dtc-5101-digibuddy...t-display.html
OTB Ladeschale 5101/5401 für Pentax D-Li90 (126) Onni-Tec GmbH

There are also USB-powered universal chargers.
UniPal Extra
BRAUN PHOTO TECHNIK GmbH » Universal charger » BRAUN 1-for-all-Travel-mini

For Canon cameras you can use this one:
UCN1
ProCube DSLR Charger for Canon

[Barbu]

I think at least the ProCube does NOT do what people were asking earlier: charging from an USB port. It does supply an USB port for charging other devices (phones etc)
In short, doesn't charge *thru* USB but it charges USB devices.

[galelegg]

Thanks for advice from all concerned. I decided to give one of these products a try at recharging my Pentax 20D battery via the Pentax supplied charger.

150W Watt Car Inverter DC 12V to AC 220V Power Converter 2 USB Port Charger | eBay
Have taken a photograph of the setup. I found it took 2 1/2 hours to recharge a flat camera battery. The car started ok after the charge. The camera battery is showing fully charged. From the photo I connected directly to the car battery, I have tried to charge via the cigarette lighter but the small motor in the inverter makes an anoying humming sound. When I get a flat Canon Battery I will post results.

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[angerdan]

When I get a flat Canon Battery I will post results.

Are flat Canon batteries out there?