Hähnel ProCube 2
Andy Westlake tests Hähnel’s latest dual battery charger
IF THERE’S one thing we can’t get enough of in the digital age, it’s electricity. In contrast to old manual film cameras that could operate without a battery, it’s now impossible to record an image if you have no juice left to fire the shutter. And while DSLRs tend to have greater stamina than compacts or mirrorless cameras, only the most over- confident of photographers would venture out for a day without a spare battery.
Almost invariably, though, cameras are only supplied with the means to charge a single battery, meaning it’s not easy to replenish two at the end of a shoot. For this, your life is made much easier by a dual charger such as this Hähnel ProCube 2. It’s an update to the original ProCube, which we liked a lot and gave our top 5-star rating back in February 2014.
This latest model is based on the same concept, with a sturdy metal body shell and interchangeable plates that each accept a pair of batteries. But it gains a few neat updates; the battery holders now simply clip in place, without the need to plug in a fiddly connector wire, and the LCD display shows how much charge has been fed to each battery. You also get a plate for charging four AA batteries, which fixes magnetically onto the top of the unit; however, this means it can’t be used when you have Li-ion batteries installed.
Versions are available for Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Sony, and Fujifilm/Panasonic, each coming with several battery plates to cover a wide range of cameras. For example, the Sony version I received for review has plates for the NP- BX1 used in RX100-series compacts, the NP- FW50 employed by RX10-series bridge cameras and most Sony mirrorless models, and the new NP- FZ100 for the Alpha 9 and Alpha 7R III. One minor concern is that the plates are changed using a small tool that’s akin to those used to install SIM cards into phones, but there’s nowhere to store it, meaning it could easily be lost.
Verdict
Since we reviewed the original ProCube, many inexpensive twin chargers have appeared online, which might make this new model appear outdated and overpriced. But it’s still a supremely versatile, well-made and robustfeeling piece of kit. Crucially, it’s also fast: it can fully charge a Sony NP- FW50 from empty in a little over an hour, which is considerably quicker than in- camera charging. So it’s still very much worth considering, especially if you use multiple cameras from the same brand.