Customer Reviews

Canon 2590B002 CG-800 Lithium Ion Battery Charger for 800 Series Batteries (Retail Packaging)

5 star:		(60)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I mean, what can you really say about it? Place battery in charger and watch it charge! Very exciting. It comes in a large red box. The charger is small and should be easy to store while traveling. I don't understand why Canon does not include this with the camera. Well I do know, more money selling it by itself. A very useful item to have. Very expensive for what it is but what choice do you have. 5 stars for design of it but it loses a star for the price.

This is awesome. I always get the portable charger when I get a camera that does not come with one. They save alot of time and headaches. Easy to travel with. It is also great to throw a spare battery on to charge in a hurry (I can honestly say, I dont think I ever used the power cord from my old camera.)

It also shaves 50 min off the recharge time for the standard battery, even more for the extended battery.

The Confusion:
There seems to be some confusion why the charger is recommended when the videocam seems to originally come with one.

If you own a videocam like f.e. HF11, HF10, HF100 etc. or any other you will find included a POWER SUPPLY !! <-- read this ? ... let it sink in ...

Its true that the power supply can - while its connected through the videocamera - charge the battery, but that is NOT what its made for primarily.

The difference:

a) A power supply does not care if your battery is half full or empty it just connects it and keeps it connected even after it became already full. A power supply also doesnt care if the battery is charged slow or fast.

b) The charger has some intelligence built in. It does communicate with the battery and checks the battery status. It then (dis)charges it GENTLY to the maximum possible and keeps it at that state. It stops loading when the battery is full and indicates with the green light that charging has finished.

The result:
Using the power supply regularly will reduce the lifecycle of the rechargeable battery, hence it will suffer an earlier death.

The charger itself:
- the charger gives each of your batteries a personalized treatment
- Its true that the packaging is helplessly oversized
- I found the charger to be comfortable AND robust enough for travelling
- NO messing with cables
- You can charge one battery meanhwile using the other on the go

--- How this charger protects your videocam: ---

- maximizes the lifecycle of the battery
- reduces the usage of the compact power supply connector on the videocam

You MUST plugin the power supply to the videocam in order to copy the video data to the PC/MAC. Those connection plugs usually break after warranty time. Thats another reason why the charger is recommended.

So, try to use the power supply not too often, or at least very gentle when pluggin it in/out to avoid disappointment or save your videos on the SD card.

I first went with a far less expensive third-party charger for these batteries. It seemed to work. But, when I tried to use the charged battery the camera, the camera told me the battery was dead. Save yourself some aggravation and purchase this charger.

Also note that your camera may have a built-in battery which needs charging as well. Even if you use an external charger, you should occasionally charge the battery through the camera's AC adapter to insure that everything is fully charged.

I purchased this charger in conjunction with an HF S100 camcorder for the convenience and charge speed factor. The charger charges quicker than the camcorder does. Plus it's far easier to stick a battery in the charger and plug it into a wall socket (no wires!) than it is to untangle and hook the two power supply wires to the camera. If you have two batteries this is a must as you cannot run the camcorder off wall power and charge an attached battery at the same time. It's also much smaller than the camcorder's power supply and wires, so it fits better in small camera bags.
The only knock I'm giving this product (aside from price) is the two simple status LEDs. They only tell you if it's charging or finished. Some of my other Canon battery chargers (that were included with their respective products) indicate the charging status - 25%, 50%, 75% complete.

The battery that comes standard with almost any camcorder usually doesn't last very long. The solution is to get an extra battery, preferably with extended life. The problem, of course, is that it takes a long time to charge those puppies. You can always have a couple ready to go in the morning, but if you are recording all day you'll want to charge up your spare while the other is in use.

That's where this battery charger comes in handy. I bought it for use with my Canon VIXIA HF10 and my HFS10, and it works great. As others have noted it charges your batteries a lot more quickly than if they were plugged in to the camcorder - plus it saves some wear and tear on the adapter plug for your camcorder.

Best of all, this is very compact. It fits in a little side pocket of my camcorder case and leaves room to spare. The plug flips in and out for easy storage. If you plan to get a lot of use out of your Vixia camcorder, this is really a must-have accessory. Highly recommended.

The battery charger is very useful, especially if you're in a hurry. I bought the Canon BP-819 battery and it took about 2 hours to charge which is quicker than using the camcorder to charge. There are only 2 issues that I have with the charger.
1. It gets really hot, so if you have children around becareful.
2. I think it is pricey for this charger. Wish Canon would include it with the camcorder but that is where Canon gets you to buy their product.
Overall, good product. If you plan to be recording and you need a quick charge, this will be helpful.

Altough a little expensive, it's a very good companion in trips, as you don't need the camera to charge batteries. Also, it's very slim and doesn't need any cables to connect to power.

This is compact and lightweight. The plug folds into the charger itself so it stores flat. I took this on a trip to Asia and only needed a plug adapter to use it (no voltage converter needed). The charger can handle up to 240V.

I would only get this if you have 2 batteries for your camcorder - you can still record while recharging the other battery. If you have only 1 battery, just use the in-camcorder charging feature but keep in mind this option will be slower.

Canon should have include this charger as part of Canon Vixia HF S100 video camera. Similar to the battery, this charger is WAY OVER PRICED hence the 3 stars.