Giving up on Nikon batteries

[Matt Laur]

<p>It would be very interesting, indeed, to find out if the batteries in question pass the counterfeit tests or not. Having been stung with a counterfeit unit (passed along by a large retailer, now out of business), I would not be at all surprised to find that <em>replacement </em>batteries on the shelf at a local camera store could be of the not-real variety. Keep us posted!</p>

[pcnilssen]

<p>If you were to change the original Nikon batteries with third party batteries - which brand should you use for your D300? I remember that when the D300 was brand new, the only batteries that could be used were those originals from Nikon.</p>

[stephen_asprey2]

<p>First off, make sure you are on the latest firmware release. I believe we are on the third version now...v1.10. There were battery issues fixed in the second update.</p>

[sonja_greene]

<p>Lithiums shouldn't have memory. I agree with the charger. It's usually the charger not working correctly. I worked in a hobby store and we dealt with this problem and most of the time it's the charger. You'll know for sure if the new batteries are failing too. The camera shouldn't be the problem. If you overdischarge the battery, it is rougher on them over time, but I don't see it cooking them. Lithiums have the tendency to flareup or explode when extreme discharge is present. I've seen it happen. Are you shooting continuously a lot? if so, that could wear over work the battery and make their charge cycles shorter. I hope that kinda helps.</p>

[david_ralph1]

<p>Ditto to what everyone has said. None of my batteries has ever failed, in D70s, D300 or D700. I marvel at their longevity and reliability. This is how the world works. Just read above.</p>

<p>You have an empirical test going on. I conclude differently than you do. Either the dealer sells bad batteries, or you have a freak camera condition.</p>

<p>I suggest getting stubborn about all of the reality testing that has been presented to you on this topic rather than buying off brand batteries which are likely to be inferior than the real thing.</p>

<p>Buy a Nikon battery from B&H. You know something about batteries from your local dealer. Why know it again? Label the battery from B&H immediately on receipt. </p>

<p>Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.</p>

<p> </p>

[sonja_greene]

<p>What exactly are they doing to be considered failed? Not taking charge? After charging, use a volt meter to check it's voltage. The reading should be a bit higher than the rated voltage. If you get under so many volts, your charger may not be smart enough to read it and it will give you something called a "false peak". Meaning the charger thinks the battery is charged when it's not. This happens when you over discharge it, or leave it set on empty for a long period of time before recharging it. I've seen it happen to lithium polymer batteries. Lithium Ions shouldn't be any different. My D50 would sit for loooong periods between use sometimes, but it would only be on 3/4 charge or more. Don't let your batteries "bleed out" while empty.</p>

[tholte]

<p>"What exactly are they doing to be considered failed?" I put the battery in the camera and there is nada, zilch. That's my final test, I put it in the camera and NOTHING shows up. I appreciate all of the responses, believe it or not and I am going to try something. I am going to get a new charger. I am not going to send my camera to Nikon and wait three weeks for an answer. Three weeks without my camera would push me over the edge and I am already a little shaky to begin with. </p>

[sonja_greene]

<p>Lol, really, try charging it and hook up a multi-meter to it and look at the voltage. There is no way for you to hook up the meter while charging, but that would be a sure way to see if it's working. Good luck.</p>

[j.art.photo.]

<p>Tim. first I would sugest you make sure the firmware is the latest and also get an other charger. by the way do you have an MBD10? attached to the body?</p>

[aaron l]

<p>Have you cleaned the contacts of your batteries and camera with DeOxit? I had one battery read dead after charging on my D200 and after cleaning both, I've never had a problem again.</p>

[ArthurRichardson]

<blockquote>

<p>That was definitely one of my better acting jobs.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Yeah, especially since you played that role some two years before you were born and you changed your surname along the way. Pretty impressive! :-)</p>

[tholte]

<p>Geez you are cynical Arthur! Don't you ever lie about your age? Jose, I have the latest firmware and I am getting a new charger. Merci Beaucoup!</p>

[curritch]

<p>Tim I'm sorry to get you into all this hassle about your movie career. I suspected all along that you were not the one and same Tim Holt featured in THE BEST MOVIE EVER MADE. But I thought maybe you were a distant relative or something.<br>

But I'm still betting that the charger is your problem.</p>

[ArthurRichardson]

<p>Tim,<br>

I'm a lie and a cheat, so don't worry. However, I rarely say that I'm 40+ older than my actual age.<br>

I was just curious about the actor in the "The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre" and I had a big laugh when I saw that the movie was filmed before you were born.<br>

If I were cynical I would have congratulated you on being active on this forum some 26 years after you passed away, since Tim Holt - not Holte - continued his career elsewhere since 1973.</p>

<p>So keep on acting buddy, I'll be around to watch the show!!!</p>

[lou korell]

<p>Two things: Make sure your firmware is updated. As others have stated it was a problem early on with the D300 to get low battery errors. <br>

Second, try buying your batteries elsewhere. It could be that your local shop is buying from a distributor who is getting bad batches of batteries. (say that three times fast - bad batches of batteries!) :)<br>

I have been using nine Nikon batteries for a year now and have never had a single failure. I charge most of them more than once each week and I hardly go though a single one on a whole day's shoot. I just carry lots of backup in case of problems. I don't usually bring all of them but I take four or five in the bag.<br>

I don't think third party batteries will do any better. I used to buy third party batteries for my Canon system without issues but the price difference was incredible. The Nikon batteries are not too expensive to justify a third party product.</p>

 

[tholte]

<p>Curtis, Arthur and Lou, you guys got me! I am not the Tim Holt that was in Treasure of the Sierra Madre and want to fess up to that fact right now. I am going to get a new charger and see if that does the trick.</p>

[andrew_fedon]

<p>Tim, I hope you haven't slung out the batteries before confirming its the charger's fault. That would be a pity.</p>

[tholte]

<p>Andrew, I still have the dead batteries and if the new charger does the trick I will kiss all of you. I am a cheap skate extrodinaire!</p>

[rossb]

<p>If the charger thing does not work out then you would have to send the camera in to Nikon. 3 weeks without a camera is kind of tough. It is a good idea to have a second camera. Digital camera's are kind of expensive but a Nikon film body such as the N80 is only about $75.00. Pick one of those up and go shoot some film until your camera/batteries are over the swine flu. I have a D200 and a N80 and they are both fun to use. I think Kodak VC160 is amazing actually. Or you could just wait the 3 weeks and spend some time painting the kitchen or something.</p>

[tholte]

<p>ross,<br>

I have about ten film cameras laying around (about fifty if you count my old antiques). My film cameras don't fill the needs of my attention deficit disorder syndrome that my wife says I have. </p>

[ShunCheung]

<p>Could we all stay on topic only only discussed Tim's EN-EL3e issues? Earlier there was an off-topic question about my Antarctic trip, and I deleted that as well as my own short reply.</p>

<p>Whether Tim needs a backup camera or whether batteries are made in China have nothing to do with this thread. All genuine Nikon EN-EL3e batteries are made in Japan, and they can look like any one of the following three. (I finally have all three types to take this image.) Anything that looks slightly different or says made in China (but has a Nikon logo) is a counterfeit.</p><div></div>

[ShunCheung]

<p>Now over a month later, it looks like Tim's problem is resolved by using his older charger that came with his D70 to charge his new batteries. See this thread for Tim's follow up: <a href="http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00VJE9">http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00VJE9</a></p>