12v Sony Camera Battery Charging

Rod.

You have answered your own question/s in your 2nd & 3rd paragraphs, in that Sony have gone out of their way to ensure that the charging method for their '12V' device (ie your camera) is from a 230/240V source via THEIR charging medium/device.

I try to never make assumptions, however in this case I have no doubt that Sony have incorporated specific electronic 'trickery/wizardry' in their charging device that makes it compatible with their so called '12V' battery and or camera if batterey charged whilst in same.

So you may find that you are restricted to the Inverter/ charger setup so that you don't fry their battery or if it charges whilst still in the camera - the camera along with the battery.

I use JAYCAR 150w 'drink can' inverters whilst travelling to charge mobile phones and other devices, without any problems.

They are small and easy to monitor.

Regards

DD

I would recommend an inverter, you can use it for other uses and the Sony will work best that way.

Great camera, I bought one for my daughter and she loves the automatic panorama feature. It worked very well on our Paris trip 2 months ago.

Regards

Derek

Appears to take a NP-FG1 Lithium ion battery.

Have a search on ebay and you will find 12v chargers available.

eg
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/NP-BG1-NP-FG1-battery-Charger-Sony-DSC-W50-H150-W55-/150527509115?pt=AU_Cameras_Photographic_Accessories&hash=item230c23827b

With all my cameras I have overcome this issue by purchasing 2nd or spare batteries to suit. 2 Batteries usually suffice. After market batteries for this camera start at $8. Do some shopping , spare batteries are worth their weight in gold for obvious reasons.

Some sample Ebay links.

Sony Batteries

Hi Rod

While my Sony takes AA batteries, in general i have found charging batteries on 12 v extremely slow compared to using a 240 v charger on an inverter. If they don't recommend it, why risk it? Two advantages of using an inverter to charge your camera.

Motherhen

Thanks for the replies all. It appears that no-one has successfully done this yet via 12V.

I dropped into a Sony store yesterday and they agreed that Sony were not particularly innovative in this area. Apparently you used to be able to charge some older Sony cameras via the USB, but Sony have disabled that feature and they were unsure why.

Both Sony and a couple of camera shops all agreed not to try generic 12V chargers. A salesperson in Teds had bought one of their own 12v chargers and had ruined batteries in her own Sony camera and they had other customers return also complaining about 12V chargers and ruined Sony batteries. Apparently it's the chip in the Sony battery that is unique to this brand.

Power wise, I am self sufficient via solar and 12V for fridge, lighting, laptop, mobile phone, UHF etc when I am away. Why should I have to lug an inefficient inverter around just to charge my Sony batteries ?

C'mon Sony, lift your game! You heard the market and let us use non-proprietry memory sticks in your cameras, now please give us a way to charge your batteries from 12V.