Quest Ultra Power Belt-pack
External NiMH Battery Pack

The Quest Ultra Power Belt-pack is an external power solution for digital cameras that run on 6-volt power systems. The Belt-pack is rated 6V nominal @ 4.1Ah (24.6 watts) which is considerably more capacity than competing external NiMH rechargeable battery packs. More capacity equals a longer runtime between charges.

The Quest Belt-pack is also the smallest (4.1 x 2.4 x 1.7 in. / 104 x 61 x 43 mm) and lightest (13.24oz / 375gm) battery pack on the market for its capacity rating.

Available immediately from our friends at 2CR5 U.K. for just £49.75 (approx $74 USD). The AC power supply comes in three types: U.S., Euro or U.K. - the proper one is shipped according to the purchaser's country.

The Quest Belt-pack comes as a complete power system that includes:

• 6V 4100mAH NiMH battery pack with belt clip
• BK-2 Intelligent charger
• AC power supply
• Camera power cable with 3 modular coaxial plugs or 2cr5 coupler or Canon NB-5H type.

The camera power cord has a modular tip on the end and you get three different coaxial plugs that fit just about all of the digital cameras out there. The three plugs supplied are: 4mm x 1.75mm, 4.75mm x 1.75mm and 5.1mm x 2.1mm

You can use this battery pack to power a variety of devices that use 4 AA size batteries or a 6v input so those extra coaxial plugs will probably come in quite handy.

Besides the standard coaxial type plugs there are also other cables available for those cameras that don't have external power connectors. Shown here is the 2cr5 battery shell (white) and the Canon NB-5H shell (black) for the A5, S10 and S20 cameras. Also shown is the double "Y" cable for powering a camera and a flash unit from the same battery pack, an extension lead and the 12VDC car cord for the charger unit. Not shown here is a 12V cigarette lighter socket that uses two of the Quest Belt-pack 6V batteries.

When you first receive the new Belt-pack it requires that you give it a "formation" charge. The supplied BK-2 charger has two modes of operation; fast charge and recondition mode. Recondition mode is a battery discharge function and it can add up to 14 hours to the charge time if the battery pack is fully charged. These recondition cycles need only be performed when you notice a drop in performance. If a battery pack has not been used for some time it will benefit greatly from a recondition cycle.

A fully exhausted Belt-pack requires about four hours to be brought back to full charge using a 920mAh pulsed fast charge. The battery can be left on charge indefinitely as the charger will drop back to a safe 100mAh trickle charge once the pack is fully charged. If you're out in the car or the boat, you can charge the pack there too with the optional 12v lighter cord.

Steve's Conclusion

This is a high-capacity NiMH battery pack that easily outlasts the competing 6V @ 2700mAh battery packs. If you like to use your color LCD all the time then this is the pack for you. A nice benefit of using an external battery pack is that you can remove your regular batteries and this makes your camera lighter and easier to carry.

Exactly how long does this battery pack last?   This is a difficult question to answer, everyone uses their cameras differently and to try to say that it will let you capture "xx" number of shots is hard to quantify. How many are shot using the flash and how many times was the motorized zoom used, what was the image size and file type and so on. All of these factors have to be considered when technically evaluating a battery pack. Suffice it to say that even the heavy-duty users should be able to get a day's shooting on this pack, using the color LCD full time.

The Quest UK folks also sell the only NiMH rechargeable 2cr5 and cr123 type batteries on the planet. If you're tired of going through expensive, one-use lithium batteries then these will be just the ticket for you. They should be of great use to anyone that owns a 35mm camera that uses these type of batteries. They are not recommended as a replacement for 2cr5 batteries in digital cameras though as those camera have very high current requirements.