Usually yes, by one of two published routes: a mains adapter with a dummy battery, or power over the camera’s own USB port where the maker states that it supports it. The second is not universal and the documentation is the only guide.
Continuous work — long recordings, studio sessions, timelapse — outruns any published shot count, because that figure was measured to a procedure that stops long before.
The two routes
A mains adapter with a dummy battery, which replaces the cell with a shaped insert and a cable. Reliable, and it occupies the battery door, so the seal there is broken.
USB power, where the body publishes support for being powered rather than merely charged. That distinction is the whole of the matter, and it is stated per body.
What to read before buying
The voltage and current the body expects, published by the maker; and which of the two claims the USB port makes. Neither is implied by a connector: USB-C appears in four titles here and says nothing by itself about power delivery.
What this changes about batteries
Less than it appears. A mains feed removes the runtime question indoors and does nothing outdoors, which is where the published shot count and the cold both bite. Spares remain the answer there, and battery grips — thirteen products here — hold more cells rather than extending one.
What people ask before they commit
Will any USB power bank run my camera?
Only if the body publishes support for USB power delivery rather than merely USB charging — the two are different claims and makers distinguish them. A body that charges over USB may refuse to operate while doing so, and nothing about the connector shape tells you which.
Is a dummy battery safe?
The maker’s own is designed for the body and the safest choice. What matters in every case is the voltage and the current the camera expects, which the maker publishes — an adapter that meets neither is the one avoidable risk in this whole question.
Last reviewed 12 September 2026