Berenstargh NP-F960/F970 Review

Powering everything from the ATOMS Ninja Vs to countless LED lighting brands and of course cameras, the NP-F battery format has long been a feature in the photography world.

Buy the Berenstargh NP-F960/F970

As such, there are countless brands out there with a huge variety of sizes and capacities. But, because of the popularity of the format, there are an equally large amount of lesser quality options. Generic brands you’ve never heard of are producing batteries with huge capacities at giving away prices.

However, more often than not, these cheap options rarely stand-up to the riggers of use. Discharge times can be relatively quick and are never consistent, and that’s why spending the right amount on a known brand is always a good idea.

Berenstargh is relatively new to the UK market but is already picking up a name as a reliable power source. The Berenstargh NP-F960/F970 is their NP-F option and features one of the largest capacities for this type of battery on the market.

The Berenstargh NP-F960/F970 is based around the Sony NP-F standard, so is fully compatible with any kit with that style of connector.

As a high capacity option, it is slightly larger than the NP-F750’s commonly used with the ATMOS Ninja V, but packs in twice the capacity and is only a little more expensive.

The size is the same as my stock 6600mAh batteries and measures 70mm x 38mm x 59mm and weighs in at 300g.

Taking a look at the technical data and the Berenstargh NP-F960/F970 has a capacity of 75.6Wh, 10500mAh at 7.2V.

Like any quality battery, the build quality feels good, to be honest, the difference on the exterior between one NP-F battery and another is almost non-existent. The only way you can see the difference between branded batteries is by looking at the base and reading the label.

Taking that into consideration and looking at a line of other NP-F batteries the build quality is closest, if not the same as the ATOMS batteries. The Berenstargh is also considerably better than my stock NP-F batteries which appear to be brandless.

Checking the fit and the Berenstargh NP-F960/F970 slots in place easily into a variety of different units including the ATMOS Ninja V and pnbe 7-inch monitor. Through the test, the battery was also inserted into a couple of LED lighting units, and in all cases, it fitted without issue.

Overall the build quality and accuracy of the battery connectors and mounts were all spot-on with no issues found.

Really when it comes to these batteries, you just want to see if it will power the intended device for the time you need. It’s important to know how many batteries you need, especially if you’re using a camera like the Blackmagic Designs Pocket Cinema camera.

Utilising the Tilta grip enables the connection of an additional battery greatly extending the usual 10-15minutes of recording time supplied by the small internal NP-F.

Using the Berenstargh NP-F960/F970 with the Tilta grip extended the usable recording time of the Blackmagic Designs Pocket Cinema camera to over an hour. Although we were stopping and starting, the hour was comfortably reached and passed.

Utilising the battery in other devices and the performance was equally impressive. In the ATMOS V set with brightness at 50%, I usually get between an hour and a half to two hours recording 4K at 30fps.

Recording a 4K 30fps output from a Sony A73 on the ATMOS Ninja V at 30-minute intervals the battery-powered the setup for over four hours in total.

The final test was in the pnbe monitor, I left this on during the shoot with no off time. At eight hours I packed up and went home and the battery was still going, although the indicator did show it was close to empty.

Overall the performance from the battery was roughly twice that of the ATMOS NP-F750’s that I use.

Finding a decent NP-F battery isn’t difficult, but the Berenstargh NP-F960/F970 does stand out as a reliable and robust option.

Build quality is as good as it gets with this format of battery, and the capacity is right at the top end.

It’s by no means cheap, but considering the capacity, size and weight, it is one of the cheaper premium battery options on the market.

If you’re in need for a reliable power source for you Blackmagic Designs Pocket Cinema Camera, with Tilta battery handle connected, ATMOS Ninja V or compact LED Lighting panel then definitely consider the Berenstargh NP-F960/F970.