Back in September at IBC 2025 in Amsterdam, SWIT was showing a range of new PowerCell camera batteries that are now available for popular Sony, Canon, Nikon, and FUJIFILM cameras.
These look to be good solutions that are more affordable and offer comparable performance to original batteries.
Above, you can see my interview with SWIT from IBC.
The batteries are available in Sony NP-FZ100, Canon LP-E6P, Nikon EN-EL15c, and FUJIFILM NP-W235.
They will work with the following cameras:
Sony NP-FZ100 (7.2V 2200mAh / 16Wh / USB-C 5V Charging In / 4-LED Power Indicator)
- FX2 / FX3 / FX3A / FX30
- A7C / A7C II / A7S III /
- A7M III / A7M IV
- A7R III / A7R IV / A7R V
- A1 II / A9 / A9 II / A9 III
- A6600 / A6700 / ZV-E1
Canon LP-E6P (Compatible E6/E6N/E6NH, 7.2V 2200mAh / 16Wh / USB-C 5V Charging In / 4-LED Power Indicator)
- R5 / R5M2 / R6 / R6M2 / R6M3
- R7 / R7M2 / R / 5DS / 5DS R
- 5DM2 / 5DM3 / 5DM4
- 6D / 6DM2 / 7D / 7DM2
- 60D / 70D / 80D / 90D
- EOS C50
- ZCAM E2C / E2N
- BMPCC 4K / 6K / 6KG2 / 6K Pro
Nikon EN-EL15c (7.2V 2200mAh / 16Wh, USB-C 5V Charging In / 4-LED Power Indicator)
- Z5 /Z6 /Z6M2 /Z7 /Z7M2 /Z8 /ZF
- D500 /D610 /D750 /D780 /D810
- D810A / D850 / D7200 / D7500
- MB-D10/11/12/14/15/16/17/18
- MH-25a
- Nikon ZR
FUJIFILM NP-W235 (7.2V 2200mAh / 16Wh, USB-C 5V Charging In / 4-LED Power Indicator)
- X-S20, XT4 / XT5
- GFX100 II / 100S / 100S II
- GFX100RF
- GFX50S / 50S II
- GFX ETERNA 55
- XH2 / XH2S
What cells are being used?
All of SWIT’s PowerCell batteries use high-quality Panasonic NCR1850 cells to provide the same power performance as original batteries. They provide a constant high power load, so they are suitable for high-speed burst shooting while effectively managing heat, and for video recording.
Some readers may find it ironic that the PowerCell batteries use Panasonic cells, yet the batteries aren’t available for Panasonic cameras.
How can you charge them?
The PowerCell batteries are also fully compatible with their intended camera system. The discharging curve is completely identical to the original batteries, ensuring accurate display of remaining power information.
The PowerCell camera batteries can be charged directly using a USB-C charger or V-mount batteries with a USB-C port, or even a power bank. The batteries are compatible with their original deck chargers as well.
Power Check Indicator
What is great to see is that all of the batteries feature a 4-level LED power indicator. With a touch-sensitive Power Check button, you can check the remaining battery level directly, without having to insert it into the camera.
The factory Nikon EN-EL15c Lithium-Ion Batteries (2280mAh) don’t have a power indicator or a USB-C charging input.
The Sony NP-FZ100 Battery (2280mAh) and the Canon LP-E6P Lithium-Ion Battery have a power indicator, but no USB-C charging input.
The FUJIFILM NP-W235 Lithium-Ion Battery (7.2V, 2200mAh) also doesn’t have a power indicator or USB-C charging input.
Any issues?
The SWIT EN-EL15c PowerCell Nikon EN-EL15c type camera Battery was extremely hard to get out of the Nikon ZR, while the factory Nikon EN-EL15c Lithium-Ion Battery (2280mAh) came out of the camera easily.
I contacted SWIT about this, and they told me that through testing, they confirmed that the battery compartment of the Nikon ZR is slightly narrower horizontally compared to other Nikon cameras. This requires stricter control over battery thickness and presents a challenge for internal space management, especially after integrating multiple features. SWIT has now modified the casing design, and the issue will be resolved in the next mass production batch. For users who have already encountered this problem, SWIT will provide free replacements.
Real World Performance
To do a fair and honest real-world performance test, I am going to take a brand-new SWIT EN-EL15c PowerCell Nikon EN-EL15c type camera Battery and a Nikon EN-EL15c Lithium-Ion Battery (2280mAh) and put them into a Nikon ZR and see how long I can record UHD 6K (6048 x 3402) REDCODE RAW (R3D NE) at 60p. I did these tests with the flip-out screen opened and set at +5 brightness.
The SWIT EN-EL15c PowerCell Nikon EN-EL15c type camera Battery enabled the Nikon ZR to record UHD 6K (6048 x 3402) REDCODE RAW (R3D NE) at 60p for 1 hour and 57 minutes, and 52 seconds before it shut off.
There was a battery warning once it had been recording for 1 hour, 40 minutes, and 49 seconds. I was able to record for an additional 17 minutes and 3 seconds before the camera shut off. However, there was a big issue.
The problem was that because the recording didn’t automatically stop, the camera file was corrupted and couldn’t be viewed or recovered. What this tells me is that the battery isn’t communicating correctly about remaining power with the camera.
I contacted SWIT and told them about this issue. They got back to me and said that after an investigation, they believe this issue may potentially occur with all third-party batteries. Since PowerCell batteries utilize the same cell as first-party batteries but not identical communication chips (due to intellectual property constraints), SWIT can only guarantee battery lifespan and usage duration. SWIT recommends users proactively stop recording when the low battery warning appears to ensure file integrity.
As best practice, you should never keep recording once you get a battery warning on any camera.
The Nikon EN-EL15c Lithium-Ion Battery (2280mAh) enabled the Nikon ZR to record UHD 6K (6048 x 3402) REDCODE RAW (R3D NE) at 60p for 1 hour and 45 minutes and 43 seconds, before it shut off.
The battery warning came on after it had been recording for 1 hour, 36 minutes, and 30 seconds. After the battery warning came on, I got around 9 minutes of further recording before the camera shut off.
Unlike the SWIT battery, the Nikon battery allowed the camera to stop the recording before the camera shut off, so the file was intact.
Ok, so let’s see if anything changes if we record 1080 60p in H.265 instead of REDCODE RAW (R3D NE) using the SWIT battery.. The battery allowed the camera to record for 2 hours 20 minutes and 26 seconds in total (the Nikon ZR has a continuous recording limitation of 2 hours and 5 minutes). Unlike when recording REDCODE RAW (R3D NE), in H.265, the file got saved correctly before the camera powered off.
I also did another test recording ProRes RAW using the SWIT battery, and the file got correctly saved once the camera shut down.
From my tests using the Nikon ZR, it looks like you only have an issue with a corrupted file if the camera shuts off when you are recording REDCODE RAW (R3D NE).
With the SWIT LP-E6P PowerCell Canon LP-E6P type camera Battery and the Canon EOS R5C, the battery warning indicator came on when it was showing 5 minutes remaining. It then continued to record for an additional 12 minutes before shutting off.
When it shut down the camera, it didn’t save the recorded file correctly, and that file subsequently became corrupt. I was, however, able to recover the file after inserting a new battery and running the file recovery function in the camera. With the actual Canon LP-E6P battery, it stopped the recording correctly and then shut off. On the plus side, the SWIT LP-E6P PowerCell Canon LP-E6P type camera Battery allowed the camera to record for 15 minutes longer than when using the Canon LP-E6P Lithium-Ion Battery.
With the Canon EOS R5 Mark II and SWIT LP-E6P PowerCell Canon LP-E6P type camera Battery, the battery warning never came on, and the camera shut down even though it was still showing two bars remaining.
Unlike when using the R5C, the EOS R5 Mark II did save the file correctly. I could, however, turn the camera back on, and the battery was then showing the low battery indicator. The SWIT LP-E6P PowerCell Canon LP-E6P type camera Battery lets me record for 2 minutes longer than the Canon original battery.
Pricing & Availability
The new SWIT PowerCell Camera Batteries are now available to purchase. Here is what they cost:
- SWIT LP-E6P PowerCell Canon LP-E6P type camera Battery $49.99 USD
- SWIT NP-FZ100 PowerCell SONY NP-FZ100 type camera Battery $52.99 USD
- SWIT EN-EL15c PowerCell Nikon EN-EL15c type camera Battery $39.99 USD
- SWIT NP-W235 PowerCell Fujifilm NP-W235 type camera Battery $42.99 USD
So, how do those prices compare to the original options?
Conclusion
My tests showed that the SWIT EN-EL15c PowerCell Nikon EN-EL15c
type camera Batteries runtime performance was a lot better than when using the Nikon original battery.
The battery allows you to save the file correctly when the power shuts off in all of the recording codecs, except REDCODE RAW (R3D NE). The original Nikon EN-EL15c Lithium-Ion Battery (2280mAh) will save all recording codecs correctly, including REDCODE RAW (R3D NE).
The SWIT LP-E6P PowerCell Canon LP-E6P type camera Battery outperformed the Canon Canon LP-E6P Lithium-Ion Battery when it came to recording times, but it did have a couple of issues that I listed in my test results.
The SWIT PowerCell Camera Batteries have good run time performance, and it is nice that you can check the remaining capacity and charge them directly through their USB-C input. They also offer excellent value for money.
They are solid options if you are looking to spend less money on batteries; however, you do need to be mindful of some of the caveats, which you find across all brands of third-party batteries.
