As you are well aware, our passion takes energy, personal and actual to keep it going. I have this kinda crazy project I’m thinking about for the future where I need to have power totally off the grid, lots of power and I found the answer in Bluetti. The Bluetti AC60 & 200w Solar Panel arrived last week and I set right off planning a field trip to test it. The first thing one might think is, overkill. When you think of all we need to power and charge, notebooks, sat / iPhones, camera & flash batteries, radios just to mention a few items, the watts & amps add up. I already have some smaller, solar chargers & batteries but all but one has died overtime. I wanted a unit that was going to keep on going and going.

The first thing that caught my attention about Bluetti was their six year warranty. Next was all the power in comparison compared to size. Here are the specs for the AC60

BATTERY INFO
Capacity:
403Wh (18Ah)
Type:
LiFePO4 (Lithium Iron Phosphate)
Life Cycles:
3,000+ Cycles to 80% Original Capacity
Shelf-life:
Recharge to 80% Every 3-6 Months
Management System:
MPPT Controller, BMS, etc.
OUTPUT
AC Outlets:
2 × 120V/5A
600W In Total
Inverter Type:
Pure Sine Wave
Surge Power:
1,200W
USB-C Port:
1 × 100W Max. (Built-in eMark chip)
USB-A Port:
2 x 5V/3A
12V DC Outlet:
1 × 12V/10A (Car outlet, regulated.)
Wireless Charging Pad:
1 x 15W Max.
INPUT
AC Power Input (Turbo Mode):
600W Max.
Solar Input:
200W Max., VOC 12-28V, 8A
Car Input:
12/24V from Cigarette Lighter Port
Max Input:
600W
RECHARGE TIME
AC Charging Cable
(600W Turbo Charging):
≈1-1.5 Hours
Solar Panel (s)
(200W):
≈2.5-3 Hours
(With prime sunshine, ideal orientation and low temperature)
12V/24V Car Outlet
(100W/200W):
≈4.5-5 Hours / 2.5-3 Hours

Being able to charge it via 120 socket, car cigeratte socket, car battery or what I desired, solar is a biggie. Yeah, I can simply place my iPhone on top of it and it charges up fast. But what about real life? It just so happened that Mother Nature provided me with help there. We were to have a mother of a thunderstorm hit us for some twelve hours. I figured the power would go out so I did a real world “office” test before it did so I had time to recharge the AC60 if I really needed it. I plugged in my travel multi strip and then plugged in my iMac and drives, MacBook Pro and coffee maker (had to make it real world for an office morning) and dang if it all didn’t power up and do its thing. Yep, coffee was hot.

Now the specs say four hour battery life and to be honest with you, I’ve not tested that yet. Once everything came on and coffee was done brewing, I left test mode and I dove into work and turned everything off and plugged back into the grid. We never lost power so never did a long range test. It is coming though! To say I was impressed, totally amazed is an understatement! I put the solar panel on, charged it up and ready for power to go out. I am so impressed with the Bluetti, how complete it comes with cords and the like, I am truly amazed. If I’m gone and Sharon is home alone and the power goes out, she’s golden and that’s truly reassuring. It’s not standard camera kit gear, rather specialized actually but I’m telling you the Bluetti is amazing, power my life.

This is simply a really cool, really small, really light, really powerful LED light. The short video says it all and you can check out for yourself here.

That’s right, there are another set of legs inside the legs you see above (see below). Housed inside the carbon fiber legs are “flex” legs but not just flex legs. The can be screwed in place of the carbon fiber leg, or, they can be added to the carbon fiber legs. They are so strong they hold the Z 8 / Z14-24f2.8 wrapped around the head bar or strut of an airplane! They can do this without any scratches, no slippage and this is really important with aircraft and many other locals where you need to place a tripod. It’s brilliant, I love it! Just look below at how I attached the TablePod with a Z 8 / Z24-70f2.8 to the Tortoise. I really am heads over toes about this small yet powerful tool. I highly recommend it!

The Benro Mach3 Series 2 with the SmallRig Small Fluid video head is my dedicated tripod to the Z 9 / Z400f4.5 combo. I wanted a second, smaller tripod for landscapes and general video work. I had to look no further then the Benro line, their Tortoise Leveling Base #3 tripod with their VX30 Two Series Aluminum Ball Head. The Tortoise weighs in at only 2.8lbs but comes up to eyelevel. It has 1/4 accessory sockets all over the place. Legs can splay flat and with a push of a button, snap right back. It nests right in with the Mach3 in my luggage and compliments it perfectly. I love this new carbon fiber tripod too!

So, like many of you, I now have a number of tripods in the corner of the closet collecting dust now that I’ve updated but that’s ok. Lighter, sturdier tripods that solve my stability issues are a welcomed addition to the gear locker!

I thrive on being organized and Think Tank just made it a whole lot easier for me/us! They have just brought out their latest and best “all things” pouches, the EDC 20, 10 & 5. As seen above, I’m using the EDC 20 for all things travel computer. There were in one pouch prior so getting out one block or cable mean basically everything had to come out to get those two items. Not no more! The EDC 5 is the home of video mics and cables, all in one pouch now. And the EDC 10, well that’s my secret what I have organized in it. The beauty of the EDC is they can “mold” into where ever you store them for example, the EDC 20 slips into one compartment of my briefcase next to the iPad, the EDC 5 on top of the Z70-200f2.8 in the MP-3 V2 or Speedtop 15. Now I’m on a mission to organize even more so more EDC pouches are in route. Great stuff Think Tank … thank you!