EN-EL18A&B Third-party Charger

Has anyone tried the Kastar LCD Dual Fast Charger for Nikon EN-EL18b EN-EL18a battery? I normally don't use third-party chargers, but for $39.95 it is awfully tempting to have one on hand as an additional/backup.

Barry, I did a quick check. B&H doesn't seem to carry this product. While I wouldn't treat customer reviews on Amazon as gospel, what I found on Amazon about Kastar makes me wonder.

 

Another issue to keep in mind is that Nikon is introducing another new battery version, the EN-EL18C, although the EN-EL18B is merely a year and half or so old. I am still checking with Nikon USA about what the differences are in the EN-EL18C. I would wait a bit to find out what the C version is all about.

 

A Japanese page on the new EN-EL18C. The release date was a few days ago on July 13, 2018:

Li-ionリチャージャブルバッテリー EN-EL18c-概要 | アクセサリー | ニコンイメージング

I have an Ex-Pro (sequential) dual fast charger, but I'm only using it with their third-party EN-EL18s (the charger and two batteries in a bundle cost substantially less than an on-brand EN-EL18b - £116 vs £185, and their batteries claim to be 2600mAh vs the 2500mAh EN-EL18b). I don't intend to use it much for expanding the battery, although I do seem to eat batteries a little more with the D850 than my D810, partly because I'm burst shooting more - but the combination does give 9fps and reduce the mirror black-out. I'll probably use it infrequently enough that I could have lived with the AA adaptor if it actually gave 9fps, but sadly it doesn't.

 

I've not used the Kastar charger, but Thom Hogan has just recommended it as a cheap route to getting a D850 to 9fps (along with the Watson battery that's rated at 3350mAh), which suggests that it works okay. It certainly looks a lot smaller than my Ex-Pro charger. Given the cost of the Kastar charger, I might actually pick one up next time I'm in the US (probably next year) - I'm expecting to take my Ex-Pro with me on a trip soon, but it's irritatingly chubby (if light) for the job.

 

All the EN-EL18 series appear to be three 18650 batteries wrapped in some proprietary plastic with a modicum of electronics. Given the number of variants of 18650 using different variants of lithium ion technology, I could believe Nikon decided to update it either for safety, for cost, or (optimistically) to match the discharge curve for the camera, despite the same supposed capacity. 18650s are nominally 3.7V (often 4.2 when fully charged) and can be made to support really high current drains (I've seen 30A) - I have a load because I have some high powered flashlights, although vaping has made the battery format popular; I can't imagine that the cameras could possibly be drawing enough current out of an EN-EL18 to be taxing the underlying technology.

I have no experience with the Kastar make, but I recently bought 2 'Ravpower' batteries for a Sony a6000 that came as a bundle with a charger (with no pointless LCD).

 

The charger works well and so far the batteries appear to have the same capacity as the OEM one that came with the camera. The charger is a definite bonus, since Sony expect you to charge the battery in the camera(!), and don't supply a separate charger.

 

Having read horror stories of cheap Li-ion chargers catching fire, I was cautious of using the Ravpower one. I placed it in a fairly fire-proof place and kept an eye on it for the first few charges. It doesn't even get warm, nor do the batteries, and has worked as expected so far.

 

Given the number of cheap batteries and chargers that must get sold, and the low number of reported incidents with them; I'm sure that most 3rd party batteries and chargers are perfectly safe unless abused.

 

OK, so the working life of a cheap battery might only be half of the OEM version - so what? If it cost you 1/5th of the overpriced OEM battery, you're still in profit.

I prefer and use Wasabi batteries and chargers for all of my Digital Nikons - have been doing so for several years. All still good. The chargers are smaller & faster than OEM. I do not have anything that takes En El 18 series.

Thanks everyone for the comments. The Wasabi EN-EL18 charger costs slightly more, but still much cheaper than the Nikon. I have never understood the $449 price tag on the Nikon charger.

"I have never understood the $449 price tag on the Nikon charger."

 

- Whoa! That's a totally unjustifiable price. Let's consider that a laptop computer can be bought for much less, and comes complete with battery containing 6 (not 3) 18650 cells and a much beefier charger.

 

Time Nikon got real with its accessory pricing.

 

FWIW, the smartphone I'm typing this on is simultaneously charging from a mobile supply containing 3 18650 cells, an inverter circuit, plus a charging cct with level indicator. It recharges from a common 5 v USB supply and costs around £20 (about $30 US). That leaves Nikon with a tidy profit of well over 400 bucks. Nice work!

Time Nikon got real with its accessory pricing.

 

Indeed. In this case, I guess they figure that anyone who can afford a single digit body won't care about a premium for a charger - but it's a bit harsh on Although to my surprise the Nikon MH-26a charger in the UK goes for about £350, which is almost comparable to the $449 value. Although I think it wasn't available at all in the UK when I got my third-party one.

 

By contrast, the WT-7 actually useful wireless accessory (unlike Snapbridge, if you actually want to download full size images) is about £1100 in the UK, compared with $750 in the US. It's also enormous and, for reasons I don't understand, isn't also designed to work as a battery grip (nor is it compatible with one). If you're going to stick something that size on the bottom of the camera... Given that I believe it's basically a wifi raspberry pi connected to the USB port, I've never been impressed. Nikon could do with getting their act together on wireless, both for just giving full streaming support in the camera, and for driving radio flash. They're losing money to third party solutions, and if cell phone manufacturers can get decent wifi into a much smaller and more constrained package, I don't know why Nikon can't.

 

I do have a genuine MB-D18 grip (partly because it was available as a discounted bundle with the D850 from the company I bought from). Otherwise £370 for a bit of plastic doesn't look very good compared with the $100 Vello version. Shipping the thing with a AA holder where AAs don't actually let you get 9fps seems kind of pointless, unless you're really using the camera in the middle of nowhere and can get AA batteries more easily than mains power. At least the D700 grip let you hit 8fps without buying a big battery. I can't help notice that it really doesn't sit very flush to the body, though - the lip has quite an overhang, even when it's solidly attached. For the money, I'd kind of hope for something that looked more like a D5.

"I can't help notice that it really doesn't sit very flush to the body, though - the lip has quite an overhang, even when it's solidly attached."

 

- The SD-8/9 flash auxiliary power packs have the same issue when screwed to the bottom of the camera. I can't help thinking that Nikon put almost no thought into the ergonomics of these things.

 

In fact it would take very little to pack a flash inverter CCT into a battery grip. Add a socket for the curly-whirly flash cable, and you have a very versatile accessory for the paparazzi market.

 

NB: This constitutes prior public disclosure for anyone thinking to patent the idea - and I will sue your pants off!

To be fair, it's not that the MB-D18 is sticking into my hand at all - the "lip" is away from my fingers. It just looks a bit unprofessional to have a misalignment of about 1mm all around. I understand not being perfectly flush given the tolerances, but it's not even close. It seems reasonably solid, although I'm not exactly trying to swing my 200-500 around while holding it by the grip. (I've seen people lift a 200 f/2 from the camera, and it makes me shudder...)

 

On the other hand, if the MB-D18 added the extra Fn2 function button that the D5 has under the right pinkie (and function button by the shutter on the MB-D18 isn't reachable in landscape mode, so it doesn't count), all would be forgiven. More controls on the right hand, please, Nikon!

It doesn't hurt to have a 3rd party backup charger. I do that and don't recall any problem of real concern. Think there was one that would not charge the battery fully. Hwvr, for the price I did not even recall how I dealt with it.

I've got an 18650 charger that's very paranoid about how much charge to put in a battery - it tops out at "barely any charge". I'd have thought battery charger technology shouldn't be rocket science; who knew?

 

There are chargers which will just refuse to work with some batteries, but this particular one seems to have had a thumbs up from someone who's tested it. Otherwise, I just trust buyer reviews. Hopefully there aren't chargers on the market that would push the voltage high enough to cause damage, but it's hard to make guarantees about that. If we're lucky, the battery electronics might have a safety feature.

I've got an 18650 charger that's very paranoid about how much charge to put in a battery - it tops out at "barely any charge". I'd have thought battery charger technology shouldn't be rocket science; who knew?

 

There are chargers which will just refuse to work with some batteries, but this particular one seems to have had a thumbs up from someone who's tested it. Otherwise, I just trust buyer reviews. Hopefully there aren't chargers on the market that would push the voltage high enough to cause damage, but it's hard to make guarantees about that. If we're lucky, the battery electronics might have a safety feature.

 

- Apparently, if the charging voltage for Li-ion is kept at <= 4.2 per cell, then there's no danger of thermal runaway.

 

Indeed, some Li-ion cells contain their own circuitry to regulate charge and keep them safe. Not all. Most rely on separate circuitry within a battery casing, or within the charger.

 

As you say though, charger technology isn't rocket science.

That makes sense, Joe. My charger that actually does work properly keeps going until the cells are pushing back at 4.2V. There are protection circuits on some 18650s, but I was under the impression that they're more to do with limiting discharge current (I have a few that won't drive my flashlights, some of which I believe are pulling 7A out of each of four 18650s); I don't know the details though. My iffy charger, IIRC, only charged up to 3.5V (or maybe 3.3V) per cell, which is pretty close to empty. I was a bit shocked that it was possible to get this wrong!

"I was a bit shocked that it was possible to get this wrong!"

 

- Maybe I've got (more) cynical in my old age, but getting things wrong appears to be what most designers are good at these days!

 

Bus stops with 'seats' that you can't actually sit on, and with LCD information boards that become illegible in sunlight.... not to mention the route 'maps' that look more like the design for an insoluble maze. And that's just the first example that springs to mind.

 

WRT that under-performing charger: It wouldn't surprise me if there was a preset pot inside it that just hadn't been set up properly. If you're paying someone 20 pence a day, you can't expect skill and diligence from them.

I believe you, Joe. Although since I got a better charger, I'm not overly inclined to mess with it. (And if I get it wrong, blowing up an 18650 would cost a lot more than the charger if it took my study with it.) Still, battery tech is at least vaguely complicated (as the suppliers to my employers helpfully demonstrated a couple of years ago), but it's irritating that chargers can be.

 

I keep a list of things that need fixing in the world, just in case I ever become an omnipotent deity and get to go around fixing things. A recent observation: one of my local railway lines has shiny new rolling stock with a power socket at each seat, so consumers can use their laptops (among other things, presumably). They also removed the tables in the seat backs, so you now have nowhere to put said laptop (or drinks, or anything else).