If you’re using a DSLR or mirrorless camera, there’s one piece of gear that you must have so that your camera doesn’t shut off mid dream…

And you never have to charge that camera battery again.

Thank goodness, because I am the worst charging things so this is a lifesaver. What about you?

And it’ll keep that fancy camera from overheating.

So what exactly is this?

Must have piece of gear?

Well, it’s called a dummy battery. Funny name, serious gear.

In this video, you’re gonna learn howa dummy battery works, if it’s better than USB charging.

If you should keep your camera on 24/7, and what dummy batteries to buy.

You do not want to to make a mistake on your purchase here or it could fry your camera.

The purpose of a dummy battery is pretty simple.

It simply replaces the battery. It’s shaped like the normal battery, but it has a cable coming out of the battery on the other end and that plugs into your outlet.

So is this better than USB charging?

Well, not all DSLRs or mirrorless cameras support charging via USB, so chances are that’s not even an option.

But if you have the Sony ZV-1 or ZV-E10 cameras, they do support USB charging, but I’d still recommend using the dummy battery.

In our tests, the camera runs hotter with USB power running continuously to it.

Wait a second. This means that I can keep my camera on 24/7 like all the time, right?

It is perfectly acceptable to keep it plugged in 24/7. While I have students that do indeed leave the camera on constantly, it’s best to power down the camera along with everything else in your studio, like the lights when you’re not using it.

Leaving any piece of equipment on 24/7 can shorten its life.

Just plug it all into the party on switch so that you hit one button and everything powers down or up.

If you want to learn more about the party on switch and how to build out your studio from start to finish, definitely take our course on building your professional video studio.

The link is in the description.

So which dummy battery should I buy?

Choosing the wrong one can fry your camera.

So please stick with the recommendations listed in the description, which have been tested by us and thousands of our students.

At the very least, please read reviews before you buy.

Canon and Sony and other manufacturers have their own dummy batteries and it’s perfectly fine to grab one from them.

The only issue with that is the cost. There’s a big premium to slap that logo on there.

We found that the Gonine battery works really well for Sony cameras and for Canon we trust Glorich dummy batteries.

Hopefully I’m saying that right.

The Neewer brand dummy batteries are also great. Again, links in the description to make it easy for you.

Don’t forget to grab that professional video studio course to get set up with a push button simple studio for all your video needs, and you can dive deeper into the tech with this series full of how to tutorials.

If you have questions, be sure to join us for a live show.

I’ll see you there.