Hi all, i've only recently got into DSLR photography, previously had a fuji HS20EXR which used common or garden "AA" type batteries. i now have a nikon D5100 and was wondering if those £20 "compatible" batteries that you can buy on ebay are worth considering? or would it be best just to buy another official EN EL14? thanks in advance for any replies. :) Ste

Hi all,

i've only recently got into DSLR photography, previously had a fuji HS20EXR which used common or garden "AA" type batteries.

i now have a nikon D5100 and was wondering if those £20 "compatible" batteries that you can buy on ebay are worth considering?
or would it be best just to buy another official EN EL14?

thanks in advance for any replies.

Ste

I have bought two batteries for canon and have no qualms about them. Infact they are actually stronger and last longer than the canon original! And half the cost! Ive had them about a year now and have not lost there charging power once.

I have bought two batteries for canon and have no qualms about them. Infact they are actually stronger and last longer than the canon original! And half the cost!

Ive had them about a year now and have not lost there charging power once.

[link=https://www.ephotozine.com/forums/topic/dslr-camera-batteries-99510]See Here[/link]

I carry one `main brand' and one `compatible' for my Nikon...can't notice any difference (except the price!!) :)

I carry one `main brand' and one `compatible' for my Nikon...can't notice any difference (except the price!!)

Caution! The EN-EL14 batteries that fit your camera (and mine) aren't the same as the EN-EL14 batteries that are readily available as after market versions for other Nikons. I have a D3100 and unless there's been a change that I'm unaware of, only genuine batteries will work in it. You'll find the same applies to the D5100. Having said that, I've just found that there's one on [link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Maxsima-EN-EL14-Compatible-Battery-compatible/dp/B004ZH3K56/ref=sr_1_10?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1349252313&sr=1-10]Amazon[/link] that claims to work, meaning that someone's beaten the chip. If that is the case, then cheap, reliable alternatives from all over might be just around the corner. Bren.

Caution!

The EN-EL14 batteries that fit your camera (and mine) aren't the same as the EN-EL14 batteries that are readily available as after market versions for other Nikons.
I have a D3100 and unless there's been a change that I'm unaware of, only genuine batteries will work in it. You'll find the same applies to the D5100.

Having said that, I've just found that there's one on Amazon that claims to work, meaning that someone's beaten the chip.
If that is the case, then cheap, reliable alternatives from all over might be just around the corner.

Bren.

Update on above. I've just had another look on Amazon and found [link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=sr_pg_1?rh=n%3A560798%2Ck%3Aen-el14+for+nikon+d3100&keywords=en-el14+for+nikon+d3100&ie=UTF8&qid=1349253054]this page.[/link] I've been watching for some time and this is the first time I've seen any after market batteries that claim to have been decoded, so perhaps my earlier post was closer to the truth than I realised. They're still not [i]super[/i] cheap but you will save something. Bren.

Update on above.

I've just had another look on Amazon and found this page.
I've been watching for some time and this is the first time I've seen any after market batteries that claim to have been decoded, so perhaps my earlier post was closer to the truth than I realised.
They're still not super cheap but you will save something.

Bren.

thanks for the replies :) yes, i did notice that some of them mentioned "decoded" in the description. i suppose for £20 it's worth taking a punt. one last request; the official Nikon is rated at 1030mAh, the compatibles seem to be between 1030, 1050 & 1200mAh so i suppose the 1200 will give a fair more shots before it's depleted? i do tend to use the live view a lot checking pictures after i've taken them and the official battery doesn't get anywhere near the suggested amount.. my fault i know! thanks again. Ste

thanks for the replies

yes, i did notice that some of them mentioned "decoded" in the description.

i suppose for £20 it's worth taking a punt.

one last request; the official Nikon is rated at 1030mAh, the compatibles seem to be
between 1030, 1050 & 1200mAh so i suppose the 1200 will give a fair more shots
before it's depleted? i do tend to use the live view a lot checking pictures after i've taken
them and the official battery doesn't get anywhere near the suggested amount.. my fault
i know!

thanks again.

Ste

[quote][i]i do tend to use the live view a lot checking pictures after i've taken them and the official battery doesn't get anywhere near the suggested amount... [/i][/quote] I was concerned about the number of shot's that I might get from a fully charged battery, having read on a couple of forums that some people had returned their batteries/cameras after only getting a couple of hundred instead of the 550 odd that they were supposed to get. The consensus seemed to be that the batteries need charging 5 or 6 times, their performance gradually improving each time, until they're able to produce the expected results. Mine started off pretty dismally, taking about 230 shots from its first charge but it did get better after a couple of charges. The best result that I've had so far was during the alleged summer when I was shooting my daughter and her mate in a local park. Bright sunshine, shooting RAW, aperture priority, no live view and no flash. I just fired away, barely checking any of them, I was that confident. I took 1,300 shots on a single charge. I haven't been able to repeat that though. Used 'normally,' with the flash on (if I'm not using a hotshoe flash, which I do almost all of the time) and checking each shot fairly carefully, I now get about 400 which is about what I'd expected to get in the first place. I've never shot video, except for a thirty second test on the way home from Jessops when I bought the camera but I understand that doing so drains the battery pretty quickly. I shall be interested to see how well these compatibles work. They're only about £12 or so cheaper than the real thing, that's about 3 for the price of 2 but if you need more than one, then they're probably a good buy. As long as they work. [i][quote]the official Nikon is rated at 1030mAh, the compatibles seem to be between 1030, 1050 & 1200mAh so i suppose the 1200 will give a fair more shots[/quote][/i] Whoops, I'd missed that bit. I'm not sure about that. Presumably that would be the case but I don't know. Hopefully, someone who knows more about batteries and their capacities will tell us shortly!

Quote:i do tend to use the live view a lot checking pictures after i've taken
them and the official battery doesn't get anywhere near the suggested amount...


I was concerned about the number of shot's that I might get from a fully charged battery, having read on a couple of forums that some people had returned their batteries/cameras after only getting a couple of hundred instead of the 550 odd that they were supposed to get.
The consensus seemed to be that the batteries need charging 5 or 6 times, their performance gradually improving each time, until they're able to produce the expected results.
Mine started off pretty dismally, taking about 230 shots from its first charge but it did get better after a couple of charges.
The best result that I've had so far was during the alleged summer when I was shooting my daughter and her mate in a local park. Bright sunshine, shooting RAW, aperture priority, no live view and no flash. I just fired away, barely checking any of them, I was that confident.
I took 1,300 shots on a single charge.
I haven't been able to repeat that though. Used 'normally,' with the flash on (if I'm not using a hotshoe flash, which I do almost all of the time) and checking each shot fairly carefully, I now get about 400 which is about what I'd expected to get in the first place.
I've never shot video, except for a thirty second test on the way home from Jessops when I bought the camera but I understand that doing so drains the battery pretty quickly.
I shall be interested to see how well these compatibles work. They're only about £12 or so cheaper than the real thing, that's about 3 for the price of 2 but if you need more than one, then they're probably a good buy.
As long as they work.


Quote:the official Nikon is rated at 1030mAh, the compatibles seem to be
between 1030, 1050 & 1200mAh so i suppose the 1200 will give a fair more shots

Whoops, I'd missed that bit.
I'm not sure about that. Presumably that would be the case but I don't know.
Hopefully, someone who knows more about batteries and their capacities will tell us shortly!

Thanks Jester. i get paid in a week or so's time so will wait until then to buy one. [quote]The consensus seemed to be that the batteries need charging 5 or 6 times, their performance gradually improving each time, until they're able to produce the expected results.[/quote] ahh, i've only charged my twice so far so that's probably why i'm getting less than expected out of it. thanks again, Ste

Thanks Jester.

i get paid in a week or so's time so will wait until then to buy one.


Quote:The consensus seemed to be that the batteries need charging 5 or 6 times, their performance gradually improving each time, until they're able to produce the expected results.

ahh, i've only charged my twice so far so that's probably why i'm getting less than expected out of it.

thanks again,

Ste

Hi Ste, I'm going to wait [link=http://www.7dayshop.com/batteries-and-power/7dayshop-compatible-nikon-digital-camera-battery-en-el14-en-el14e-950mah-3850][i]for these[/i][/link] to come back into stock. They come with a slightly lower rating but if that's not going to make a lot of difference, then two or three of them will do just fine. I'm interested to know more about the rating though? Anyone . . .?

Hi Ste,

I'm going to wait for these to come back into stock.
They come with a slightly lower rating but if that's not going to make a lot of difference, then two or three of them will do just fine.

I'm interested to know more about the rating though?

Anyone . . .?

[quote]I'm interested to know more about the rating though?[/quote] they seem to have quite a low mAh rating... from my understanding of it, the higher the mAh, theoretically the longer they can hold and supply a charge, pretty much why my 2700mAh AA's would last longer than my lower rated ones. i'm glad that there are compatibles available now though... ~£40 for an official one is a bit steep tbh :) Ste

Quote:I'm interested to know more about the rating though?

they seem to have quite a low mAh rating... from my understanding of it, the higher the mAh, theoretically
the longer they can hold and supply a charge, pretty much why my 2700mAh AA's would last longer than
my lower rated ones.

i'm glad that there are compatibles available now though... ~£40 for an official one is a bit steep tbh

Ste

That's my understanding too, although I'm happy to be proven wrong. I'm just interested to know by how much their capability would be reduced. Using AAs as an example, I had some, now deceased, which I used to power my Fuji bridge camera. One set was rated at 1300mah. and the other at 2000mah. I'm sure that one set must have worked for longer than the other but I can't honestly say that I ever noticed the difference.

That's my understanding too, although I'm happy to be proven wrong.
I'm just interested to know by how much their capability would be reduced.
Using AAs as an example, I had some, now deceased, which I used to power my Fuji bridge camera. One set was rated at 1300mah. and the other at 2000mah. I'm sure that one set must have worked for longer than the other but I can't honestly say that I ever noticed the difference.

Hi Jester, tell you what, we both ought to buy one of the lower < 1030mAh rated batteries and one of the higher (2000mAh) ones and compare notes! Ste

Hi Jester,

tell you what, we both ought to buy one of the lower < 1030mAh rated batteries and
one of the higher (2000mAh) ones and compare notes!

Ste

I'm not going to buy anything yet. I'm going to wait until I've seen a few reviews. DPReviews' forums are a pretty good place to go for sounding out how god or otherwise a product is.

I'm not going to buy anything yet.

I'm going to wait until I've seen a few reviews. DPReviews' forums are a pretty good place to go for sounding out how god or otherwise a product is.

i've had 'troubles' with non-nikon batteries and battery chargers for my d90. the life is a third of a nikon battery in my experience.... they seem to go on forever between charges...... i found it was false economy, i save up and buy only nikon now :) maggie

i've had 'troubles' with non-nikon batteries and battery chargers for my d90.
the life is a third of a nikon battery in my experience.... they seem to go on forever between charges......

i found it was false economy, i save up and buy only nikon now

maggie