Solar camera strap concept really charges us up
By Laura June 
posted June 28th 2010 11:31AM
posted June 28th 2010 11:31AM
Forget to charge your camera when you're on the go? Well, this solar camera strap concept could help you out -- it would require just a few of the sun's rays to give your cam the juice it needs -- and it's a pretty attractive design to boot. So far (like we said), it's just a concept, but it shouldn't be too hard to make this one a reality, so let's get on it!
How do you hook it up to the battery?
@dardub With a cable
@MichaelJJackson can you charge that camera without taking out the battery?
@dardub
just a concept dude.. .
why you getting into the tech details of it?
@coolkams03
What's the point of a concept if it's fundamentally flawed? The whole point of the concept is charging the battery, that's more than a technical detail.
Anyway, I don't own a big dslr like that, I was just asking if there is a way to charge it that way. I don't think people want to buy a whole new camera just for the strap.
@coolkams03
Because that's how something that is only a concept becomes reality you nincompoop.
@MichaelJJackson
No, Canon DSLRs cannot charge their batteries like that. You can either power it solely from external power, or take out the battery and charge that. But you cannot simply plug the camera in "with a cable" and expect it to charge.
@henhun I think nincompoop is the best insult to ever grace the Engadget forums... Way to go.
This would be a great addon for my Canon EOS 550D
@coolkams03
Seconded. That thing has been eating my battery like nothing else I've ever owned.
@coolkams03 Only 3 hours of sunshine and you can take the shot of your dreams!
I'd rather buy 3 extra batteries and a 4-batteries charger station - and it will still be cheaper than a prototype.
My guess is that a special battery (or grip) would have to be designed where you'd plug this device into. If they do a good job with this then heck yeah, I'd buy one. Even if it just charges another one of my batteries that I'm not using, that's like in my pocket or attached to the strap where my remote is. I wouldn't mind that either.
Great idea! I think this thing would sell if it worked... even a little extra juice could help a lot of photographers.
Great idea.
great addition! since most sunlight's been wasted on ma' boddeh!
Ran out of battery in my gripped 50d yesterday. Did the switch battery locations and got a few more shots out. I was outside all day with my camera and it was bright and sunny all day, this strap could have helped me out :)
They should get a hold of powerfilm they've been making flexible solar panels for years.
What's the point of a concept if it's fundamentally flawed? The whole point of the concept is charging the battery, that's more than a technical detail.
Anyway, I don't own a big dslr like that, I was just asking if there is a way to charge it that way. I don't think people want to buy a whole new camera just for the strap.
It would be cheaper buying a second battery. My question is more about his shirt! Wft?
@squidvicioususa finally someone brings this up. Anyone? Anyone?
@squidvicioususa He's asian, the writing on the shirt is auto-translated!
Under fairly optimistic conditions - area of 3cm x 50cm at 300W/m^2 and assuming a camera that uses 7.4V at 2.5A (this is my D90) - I estimate that the strap could supply about 24% of camera power usage, or extend a battery's life by 33%.
But the strap is around the neck and not optimally pointed towards the sun, and 300W/m^2 is probably overly optimistic. I think it's probable that only one third of the strap is pointing towards the sun, not in the shade, perhaps 30% of the time (the hot sun being uncomfortable and all). That would divide the advantage by about 10. Efficiency probably wouldn't be as high as 300W either. I'd be very surprised to see more than 5% battery life improvement in practice.
that's pretty awesome. can I get a solar spider holster?
Why not just put solar cells on the camera?
@MatteoVega Because that would make the solar cell surface area even smaller, to the point of only extending life some 0.1% or so at most.
With a lot of these green solar cell ideas, there's a major disconnect between the designer mockups and the actual power that's available from the sun. Most people don't know how much power is actually needed by these devices, and how far away it is from what's available from tiny solar cells.
@barrkel Yeah, I guess... I have the Eos 400d and I had to get an extra battery because it drains like a... My idea was a solar charger that mounts in the hot shoe. You could but an extra battery inside. So it charges the battery while you're out shooting. When the battery in the camera is empty, you do the old switcheroo... Then again, solar cells have such a bad price / performance ratio that it wouldn't make any sense or be huge and expensive. But still, people empty their wallets for everything. Especially if it happens to have an Apple on it...
Dude, Can I borrow your camera? it's cloudy today....