The Fxlion PL-SP40 is not a new product, but something I purchased recently that saved me hours, and that might be useful for you, too. It is a 4-channel battery charger compatible with Sony NP-F style batteries and older Panasonic D54/VBD cells. If you’re looking for a reliable and fast tool to speed up your workflow, let’s take a closer look at it!
   

Battery chargers are usually not the most exciting item in a filmmaker’s package. However, a fast and reliable battery charger is something that can save you time and money. When you’re back at home or a hotel room after a 12 hour day, the last thing you want to do is wake up during the night to swap out batteries so you can continue shooting tomorrow.

Nowadays, more and more camera equipment runs on Sony NP-F batteries. I have a dozen of these batteries to power my monitor/recorder, lights, sound recorder, and so on. If you use the larger Sony NP-F970 version, they can take quite a long time to charge. And if you don’t want to go with large V-Mount/Gold mount batteries, they are affordable batteries and easy to carry.

The PL-SP40 is made of plastic, but it is well built. It feels like you can really trust it out of the box. There are four charging indicators on the left side – one per battery – that simply go from red to green when your battery is charged. On the right side, there is the power input as well as an on/off switch.

Keep in mind that it’s not the lightest nor most portable Sony NP-F charger available, with dimensions of 223 x 103 x 63 mm and a weight of 780g. Mine lives primarily plugged in at the studio, but it can travel quite easily if necessary.

With the Fxlion PL-SP40, all you have to do is plug the charger to mains power, put your batteries in it, and you’re ready to go. All batteries will charge at the same time, and Sony/Panasonic batteries can even charge simultaneously.