Introduction

My digital cameras battery dies quickly when shooting video, about half an hour. And while I can charge the battery via USB, the port will not run the camera itself when recording. So I started looking for a way to power it externally. That led me to dummy batteries, and to some questionable third-party versions. So, is a dummy battery actually worth using?

My camera is an original Canon PowerShot G5 X, released in 2015, so it’s the frame of reference for this presentation. Canon’s official AC Adapter Dummy Battery kit for this camera is no longer manufactured, leaving third-party as the only option. There is one exception, people trying to sell the Original Canon kit for absurd amounts of money on sites like E-Bay and Craigslist. For my use case, it is a hard pass. For my use case and that kind of money, I would get a high end webcam instead.

But trying to not get sidetracked here, I want to explain what a dummy battery is, how it works, and a few things you will want to think about before investing in one.

I’ve heard similar concerns from other camera owners, though the details can vary by camera make and model. And I need to point out that not every digital camera will use dummy batteries in the same way or at all. For this presentation, I am focused specifically on what I found for the G5 X. I will however, point out some of the issues that can apply more broadly.