Looking for Recommendations on D500 Battery Charger for Car

I am looking for a good recommendation on a battery charger for my D500 that can be used in a car. I have two batteries--one that I keep in the grip the other in the body. However, for some extended trips where I am likely to be on the road and camping I may not always have access to running electricity--not that batteries die at inconvenient times--so I was wondering what some of you folks may use. Also, what is the typical recharge time using the car charger? Thanks!

I don't know but I would look for those that uses the car cigarette lighter rather than the car USB port. Voltage and current capacity of the USB port is limited and may not charge fast enough.

Check out Wasabi Kits.

I have several Watson chargers which run on AC and come with a 12vdc cable for a car. They are very reliable, and the plates are interchangeable for other battery types. I have many types of batteries to charge regularly, and prefer to not swap inserts each time.

 

Watson Duo LCD Charger with Two EN-EL15 Battery Plates D-3410

 

Another alternative is to get a 120 vac converter for the car. Make sure it has a true sine wave output for compatibility with universal switching power supplies. They cost 2x or 3x that of chopper converters, but well worth it. A sine wave converter is essential for laptops and other sensitive devices.

 

If you travel to different countries, you can get outlet strips compatible with various outlets and up to 250 vac. I have one for UK and Ireland, and another for Europe. Most hotels have at least one outlet which is not switched off when you leave the room. Few have enough outlets for the number of things that need charging, especially if you travel with someone with their own things to charge.

Edited September 4, 2018 by Ed_Ingold

Most hotels have at least one outlet which is not switched off when you leave the room.

 

My strategy is to get two room keys, and leave one in the "put a key here to turn on the lights" slot. Shoving a business card in it sometimes works, too. I've lost work on laptops where I hadn't realised the power was going to go off after I left, especially since the laptop would be running for a while anyway.

 

Few have enough outlets for the number of things that need charging, especially if you travel with someone with their own things to charge.

 

I tend to carry a multi-international adaptor and then take a 4-way or 6-way UK adaptor strip that I plug into it. Then I just just use my normal cables for chargers (which admittedly would be smaller if they weren't UK plugs, but I tend to keep them in the strip in my suitcase which reduces the space requirements; I also have some folding plugs). So long as the room actually has room for the international adaptor; I've also been known to take a US 4-way strip so my adaptor doesn't block the limited available sockets. I always worry about US plugs bending.

 

I have bigger problems with hotel safes - few seem to be designed for camera gear (taking hoods off helps a bit). My most recent stay (Fairmont Vancouver) is one of the worst I've seen - one of the very thin safes that are normally installed in a drawer, but mounted vertically. I could balance some laptops on their side and just fit a dSLR in the base, but since I couldn't stack my camera gear on top of itself safely most of my kit stayed unprotected. I had one stay where everything actually did fit, and gave the hotel a glowing review. This is mostly an issue because I tend to combine photography with business trips, and I don't want to carry my camera stuff to meetings - although my 200-500 certainly wasn't a constant companion in Vancouver.

If you can afford the kinds of cameras we have, certainly a few extra batteries would seem affordable. I carry 3 for each camera. Starting a trip at full charge, I change at the end of the day and charge overnight - always 2 freshly charged. On rare occasions I need to change mid day, but still have a safety margin. The Wasabi kits come with two batteries, a small, excellent charger, European adapter and car charging adapter at a very reasonable price. The batteries have performed just as well as OEM.

As to Hotels, I tend to avoid the very fancy ones, but have always had adequate plug ins, and rarely encounter the Auto Power off. As to security for cameras, I always have one camera with me, if I leave the other gear in the room, it is insured, I have left it concealed and avoid destinations with a reputation for crime.

Edited September 4, 2018 by Sandy Vongries

LCD Double Battery Charger For EN-EL15 D610 D750 D7000 D7100 D800 D800E D7500 | eBay

 

I always has this in the car with cable for wall plugs and cable for the cigarette lighter, the latter did not come with the charger, and I had a challenge finding it.

This would work and allow you to charge most devices that have a 120v AC charger:

 

Are you a human?

 

I have no idea why photo.net change the link name (above to "Are you a human?". But yes, I am. <grin>

 

Amazon also has listings.

Edited September 4, 2018 by ShunCheung

Sorry I am unable to fix that link to New Egg:

 

• Are you a human?
  

 

It is for an AC inverter, but photo.net converts to "Are you a human?" Looks like it is some filter to prevent auto robot type posts.

Edited September 4, 2018 by ShunCheung

It's the mildly posh hotels with pass cards on the doors (as opposed to keys) that tend to have the power off thing. While it saves them a little power, I think it's mostly about stopping people from losing their cards (you have to have put them in the thing on the wall, so they won't get lost under the bed or in your suitcase). Mostly it's annoying.

 

I have a cheap inverter with a UK 240V output, but I assume it's not a very efficient way of going about things (mine offers not very much current - I used to use it with a small laptop with a dodgy battery), and they're quite bulky, so I'd tend to think of them as a last resort. But if you have a lot of different things to plug in, so be it.

 

This thread inspired me to discover that someone's doing a four-way UK adaptor cube with USB ports on the top, which comes with relatively small international plugs that plug in via IEC "kettle lead" connectors. They expect you to use a kettle lead for remote use, but I have a "kettle lead extender" at home (always historically useful for plugging in monitors that were just a little too far from the wall). So I think my travel power arrangement might just have got a bit less unwieldy. None of which remotely helps the OP if out camping and needing multi-day battery life, but thanks for the encouragement!

 

On the concept of grip batteries, the Nikon grips, at least, have the ability to run off AAs. It's neither a light nor convenient long-term solution, but as a one-off it might be affordable to pick up a multi-pack of AA cells and keep switching them out. Certainly there are cheap AA chargers which come with cigarette lighter adaptors. It's a pity I've not yet seen an EN-EL18 adaptor that takes 18650s (given that 18650s seem to be what's in them anyway); I have quite a lot of 18650s from my flashlight habit, and vapers have made them affordable.