EOS R8 on external power
Here are a few notes about supplying external power to the Canon EOS R8 mirrorles camera.
Canon sells a “fake battery” adapter which uses a 220V power supply, but the R8 has also a USB-C connector that can be used to power it and also recharge the battery without removing it.
Since there is plenty of external power packs available, this can be a much better solution if you must keep the camera continuously powered on for a long time, making a battery change not acceptable, and if you don’t have access to mains power.
However there are conflicting reports on the internet, and the user manual is very concise, stating that the camera can be powered by USB with the Canon provided power adapter (which requires mains power as well).
The tests with an external power bank lead to the following results.
Connecting the power bank when the camera is ON will not allow power to the camera. It isn’t enough to switch the camera OFF and ON again. You have to connect the power bank when the camera is OFF. A green light will turn on on the camera. If you switch on the camera, you will see the battery symbol switching to GRAY.
You need a power bank that is able to supply at least 45 W. I tested with a normal USB-A 3.0 power supply (which is able to output 18 W) and it didn’t work. An USB-C power supply, able to provide 45 W, was able to switch on the camera.
It is possible that some power rating between 18 W and 45 W works but I couldn’t test it.
The internal battery of the camera will be charged when the camera is switched off.
I don’t know yet whether the battery is charged when the camera is switched on.
In case the USB supply gets disconnected, you can continue using the camera on the internal battery, but you have to switch off the camera to reconnect the USB supply, otherwise it won’t work.