When you start doing any kind of serious shooting with Canon DSLR’s you have to invest a decent supply of batteries, on an average 7hr day shooting with two DSLR’s I usually go through around 4 – 6 batteries. Quite often though the biggest challenge comes not from having enough batteries but from making sure they can be re-charged and ready go in time for the next days shoot.

If you’re trying to use the chargers that came with your DSLR you’re going to either have a very restless night as you keep waking yourself up to swap batteries on the chargers or you need to invest in a better solution.

In addition to my canon chargers I use two Delkin Dual Universal chargers which charge a pair of DSLR batteries each at the same time. Each charger handles it’s pair of batteries simultaneously and each battery is monitored and controlled individually providing the perfect charging cycle for each battery.

To make the chargers compatible with many battery types Delkin provide a range of charging plates that snap on to the sides of the chargers. The charging plates have to be purchased separately.

LED gauges on each side of the charger report individual battery charge status, once each battery is fully charged all of the LED’s on that side of the charger go out and the charger automatically stops charging that battery. The charger also has automatic 110/220V switching which allows you to take your charger with you on trips abroad.

In addition to the power brick the chargers are also supplied with a 12v car adapter which could prove invaluable if you need to be charging your batteries while driving to your next location.

I’ve been using these chargers for a few months now and highly recommend them. They sometimes seem to take a little longer to charge the individual batteries than the Canon chargers but the fact that I can leave four to six batteries charging overnight and know that I’ll have enough power for the next days shoot when I wake up is great.

Buying in the US
Calumet Photographic sell the Dual Universal chargers for $49.99 and the Canon LP-E6 charging plates for $5.99 per pack of two.

Buying in the UK
Warehouse Express sell the Dual Universal Chargers for £35 and the Canon LP-E6 charging plates for £9.99 per pack of two.