Watch video: DCW Unwrapped (December 17)
We're in the home straight of the holiday season and, for those who celebrate it, we're just over a week away from the big day. So we're celebrating with our very own Christmas countdown, as we unwrap a photographic or imaging-related present every day until December 25!
• December 16
• December 17
• December 19
• December 20
• December 21
• December 22
Of course, you don't have to be a Christmas person to enjoy a great gift for the holidays. So regardless of what kind of meaning this season holds for you, we'd love to invite you to share in the joy of unwrapping and unboxing a fun photo gift with us each day until we reach "toy day".
It may even give you some inspiration for gifts you can give during other seasons and occasions, whether it's a birthday, a graduation or a tradition like Eid. Or of course, you may just be inspired to pick something up for yourself!
The gift we unwrapped today is something that every photographer really, really should have in their kit bag. On the surface, the Hahnel Pro Cube 2 is just a battery charger. But it is just so much more than that!
Yes, chargers are usually the single most boring piece of the photography puzzle, but the Pro Cube 2 genuinely excites us here at DCW. Not only is it a piece of equipment that I personally rave about, so does my colleague Dan, who listed it among the best pieces of kit he owns.
First off, you can charge two batteries simultaneously – and the intelligent readout gives you an independent readout of the percentage charge for each one. But while the Pro Cube 2 comes with specific battery slots – for the different models of Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus, Fujifilm and Panasonic batteries – you can actually swap out the slot tray for different battery types.
So if you own a Canon and an Olympus camera (like me), you don't need to buy two separate Pro Cubes – you can just buy the tray for your battery type and swap it out when you need it! You can also clip on the included tray for rechargeable AA batteries, and there's a USB-A slot at the back as well.
In short, if you have a camera then you have batteries. Which means you need this!
