elmroc Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 That's a P.I.A. Kevin. I was messing around with mine last night in various settings. Mine shows as 8 fps and kicks over to 6 with AA's used first. Makes me think there's something wrong with mine now.:( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShunCheung Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 John, could you double check everything again? I don't think the EN-EL3e's 7.4 volt is sufficient to make the D300 shoot at 8 fps. That is why you need either 8 AA or an EN-EL4a to supply 11v. Somehow you are getting everything backward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elmroc Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Shun, You read my mind. Only trouble is, my battery is showing low, so i'm re-charging. But i'll get back to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elmroc Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Shun. let me ask this... When you press the key button, and it shows the FPS. In the same window on the rear display, it shows, the main camera battery status, as well as the grip battery status. I was set to run the Camera battery first, then the grip batteries (Double A's). The main battery is shown in bold, but the grip batteries are blued out (but shown). When i switch to the grip battery priority, the camera battery stays bold, and the grip battery is still blued out. This does not seem correct. SHould the grip battery status be not blued out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShunCheung Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Go to Custom Settings, d11 Battery Order. Verify that you have "Use MB-D10 batteries first." Press OK. Press on the key button, 2nd down from the column of 5 to the left of the back LCD, to show the shooting information. If you have 8 AA batteries in the MB-D10, that should be highlighted and the internal EN-EL3e should be grayed out, and it should show 8 fps.<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elmroc Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Well, I did all that. I am set to use the Grip batteries first, and it still shows the EN-El3 battery as lit up and the Camera battery greyed out. Now, i don't have my NiMh double a's fully charged, but i do have a full set of bran new, fresh out of the pack Alkaline batteries in place, and i did change the custom setting d10 to reflect this. Do Alkalines only give the 6 fps? Would Alkalines not show power in the Rear display? now i'm really worried there is something wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elmroc Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Interesting. I went into the Battery information in my settings menu, and it's not showing any battery information for the alkaline batteries that are brand new and now in the grip.I probably should try cleaning my contacts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShunCheung Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Ok, I tried 8 brand new alkaline AA's and briefly I had the same problem John had. I took the batteries out and re-inserted them (although they were put in correctly the first time), and it is working fine now. The 8 alkaline AA's is giving me 8 fps. I suggest buying some new AAs and retry. Also try removing the internal EN-EL3e to force the D300 to use the AA's in the MB-D10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elmroc Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 OK Shun, I removed the En-EL3e from the camera, Reattached the Grip wiht more fresh Alkaline double A's. I press the key button on the back. Shows 8fps, and the grip batteries being used. Seems strange it shows 8fps without the EN-EL3e in place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elmroc Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 Shun, Rinserted my EN-EL3e back in the camera, reset the battery order, now i get the 8 FPS when the grip batteries are first, and 6 fps when the in camera is selected first. I got these after i cleaned all contacts on batteries, and in camera, and in grip. (at least mine is doing what others is doing now. (not that it is necessarily correct) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kpataky Posted April 8, 2008 Author Share Posted April 8, 2008 Last night it got down to 36 degrees while I was shooting the <a href="http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080408&content_id=382069&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp">game in Norwich</a>. I took only about 350 pictures on a freshly charged set of AAs and the indicator started blinking that they were almost dead. So I switched the d11 setting to use the internal battery and shot about 50 more that way before leaving for the night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elmroc Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 AS i was going thru mine, i refrred back to my manual on page 77, it does say that temperature does play a part as to how many fps you could realize. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kpataky Posted April 8, 2008 Author Share Posted April 8, 2008 Yup...supposed to be up in the 50s at the start tonight in New Britain and at least tomorrow's game is a day game...should be close to 60 then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShunCheung Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 John, it sounds like your D300 and MB-D10 are now behaving correctly. And Kevin, I suggest getting some new NiMH AAs. I don't live in New Jersey any more, but here in California, I can easily get 700+ shots with a set of 8 and apparently there is still plenty of juice left. We must have exhausted all possible discussion on this relatively simple topic. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elmroc Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 I'd say so Shun. AS always Thanks!.....you are the Man! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trunfio Posted April 9, 2008 Share Posted April 9, 2008 Just FYI: I found a MH-21 charger used at adorama for $79. And found a BL-3 battery cap on ebay which is being sold by cameta (you can just call them and not bother with the auction) for $50. They seem to have a lot of these caps. I cannot understand why Nikon is not still making these accessories. They want everyone to power a $2000 camera with AA batteries? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trunfio Posted April 9, 2008 Share Posted April 9, 2008 Now to resurrect this thread: I will be having the EN-EL4a battery capability tomorrow. Do you think, then, with the EN-EL4a when it is exhausted it will automatically switch to the in camera battery? Or will I have to go to d11 menu? It seems poor design to not switch to in camera battery when the grip battery runs out. I also see a design flaw that perhaps could be fixed in firmware updates: If you have batteries in the grip capable of shooting 8 fps and you have the camera set in CH, then it should use the grip batteries. If you shoot in S or CL, then it should default to the in camera battery. This seems like the most efficient use of power: use the higher voltage battery only when you need it. Am I missing something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShunCheung Posted April 9, 2008 Share Posted April 9, 2008 The auto switch problem is likely related to "dumb" and "intelligent" batteries. Inside the EN-EL3e and EN-EL4a, there is electronics to inform the camera about current charge level and therefore whether the battery is exhausted. In fact, you can tell exactly how many images have been captured with that battery since the last recharge. Therefore, if you use either one of those in the grip, I would imagine that auto switching is not a problem. However, the AA batteries have no such intelligence so that while they are exhausted as far as powering the camera goes, there is still some remaining charge so that the camera is not switching. Personally, I just have the habit to change batteries and memory cards at regular intervals before either one of them is totally exhausted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dean_cookson Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 I stumbled upon this ( http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/001078.html ) discussion of NiMH rechargeable batteries the other day. The section in the middle about mAh ratings being (at best) half the story was very interesting, as was the recommendations for particular brands of NiMH AA's. Hope folks find it useful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcg Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 <p>I was wondering if there was an issue with the D300 in question?<br> I use 8 NiMH rechargables and when they are exhausted, my D300 changes to the internal Li ion no problem.<br> That said, I've never got 700 shots on my rechargables (think they're only about 2500 mAh though).</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
constance_cook Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 <p>The battery charger for the EN-El4a is the same as for the F6. I charge the batteries for both cameras and didn't have to buy another charger. So when you are looking for a used charger, don't pass it by.<br> Conni</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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