Nitecore has announced the BB2, their new electronic photographer blower. No longer do you need to expend energy constantly squeezing the bulb of a rocket blower, now you just need to flick a switch to get air with speeds of up to 80km/h to blow the dust and other debris off your camera gear. It also features a built-in brush to help you dislodge that stubborn dirt. It’s powered by an internal 11.1v 650mAh (7.2Wh) battery that charges up over USB-C that pushes a 33.6W motor for blowing away dust on your lens, camera body or other pieces of gear. Nitecore says this is a 51% increase in motor power over the previous generation. It slots into your camera bag so it’s always at the ready when you need it and features a lock mode to prevent it accidentally turning on when you don’t want it to.
One of the big dangers of blowers, especially more powerful ones is that instead of just projecting air at whatever you’re trying to clean, it also blows more dust and other particles in the air at the thing, potentially damaging it. The Nitecore BB2 solves this with a unidirectional air intake with a high-density filter to specifically prevent secondary damage to the surface when used in harsher environments. The internal battery means it’s always ready to go when you need it, but when you find your battery going flat, it charges back up using a standard USB-C cable offering 5V at 2A. A power indicator also gives some indication as to how much charge is still remaining. The “On” symbol glows green when it’s above 50%, blue when it’s below 50% and red when it’s below 10%. You get a maximum of 800 uses on a full charge, with Nitecore defining each use as a 10 second burst of air at a time.
Most of us carry USB power banks in our camera bags these days, so if we haven’t checked it for a while and do find the battery has gotten low, it isn’t a problem to get some juice back into it while wandering around on location. Just plug it into a power bank and forget about it for a while. A silicone nozzle on the end of the unit lets you get really close to whatever it is you’re trying to clean with maximum pressure and virtually no chance of actually damaging its surface. There’s also a transparent dust cap you can put over it when not in use to prevent anything from accidentally falling in there. There’s also a magnetic brush attachment to help you dislodge some of the more stubborn dirt that isn’t shifted by air alone. And so that you can see exactly what you’re doing, there’s a high CRI LED light on the end of it to light up where you’re pointing it.
Personally, I think I’ll stick to my rocket blower and microfibre cloth – even if that’s just because I already have them. Otherwise, I think this might be a possible contender for space in my camera bag. If you one want, the Nitecore BB2 Electronic Photography Blower is available to buy now for $92.95 and is shipping now.
