Camera Batteries

[John]

Hello,

In addition to the Nikon battery that came with my camera, I bought 2 x EN-EL9a batteries that are basically the same as the Nikon ones but aren't branded as Nikon so are therefore cheaper. Now, they've both worked for a few weeks... but now I cannot seem to recharge either of the batteries. When I insert either battery into my charger, the light doesn't flash on the charger. Similarly when I insert either battery into my camera, the battery indicator light on my camera doesn't flash to let me know a battery has been inserted.

I know why one of my batteries probably doesn't work - because I accidentally dropped it on concrete pavement. But the other one just stopped working. The Nikon branded one however, works a treat and I don't have any problems recharging it.

As I say both the batteries I bought as extras did work for a short amount of time but now no longer do.

Could there be any reasonable explanation for this? Could I have somehow damaged the metal receptors on the battery (on the one I didn't drop on the floor) somehow... would this cause it to stop working?

They were expensive, £16 for two batteries plus P&P so about £20 in total. Bit annoyed really.

Maybe I should only buy Nikon branded batteries but there were literally hundreds of these going on eBay from reputable eBay Camera Shops so I'm pretty certain I haven't bought anything dodgy.

I'm wondering whether battery protectors/cases exist.....

[ADIPaul]

Hi John,

I'd get in touch with the vendor and see what they say (hope they're not in Hong Kong or such like!). It might just be a case of a bad batch. If the one you dropped has scars from the incident, then you might have a problem with that one.

Maybe it's a problem with your charger? I recently bought an "intelligent" charger for the usual AAA, AA, and other sizes. Trouble is, it's not that smart because it refused to charge some cheaper (but newish) batteries. I found that putting them in a standard charger for half an hour did the trick. The "intelligent" charger then cycled them and put a full charge in.

I recently bought some camera specific batteries for my video and an old compact digital camera. I got them off ebay (UK vendor) and they've been trouble free - so far. They do need a charge if left alone for a while though.

Speaking of batteries going flat, I came across some "new technology" batteries that hold their charge for months. I have a set of these in both my Fujifilm cameras (a S602zoom and a S9600 - both use standard AA size) and my flash guns. It's great to find they're still ready to use after months of storage! All I can remember is that they are silver and green and are labelled "Instant". I got them off ebay also.

Just been browsing your Flickr page. You've got a good eye for a shot and there's some interesting pics in there. I've never really looked into Flickr - seems interesting.

Regards,
Paul.

[John]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for the detailed response, and nice to hear from another photographer!

Yeah, I did wonder whether it could be a bad batch that I've been the unfortunate victim of... and luckily I bought the batteries from a local UK store so will give them a bell and see what they say. Most likely they'll say that all batteries are tested and are in working condition when sent to the buyer, but there's no harm in asking.

I have two good photographer friends so could ask them to try out the batteries on their chargers. Problem is though that they both have Nikon D90s which take a slightly different battery to the D5000 (the camera I have). So not sure whether they'd be able to test them.

Can the batteries get damaged if they're just loosely slipped in the front flap of a camera bag? The main compartment has padding for the body and lens but the front bit is just a flap really and the batteries sit inside their little plastic cases inside the flap. I'd have thought they'd be sturdy enough to take the general motions of walking. I always put my small camera bag inside a bigger bag to carry also.

In any case thanks for your help Paul, I'll have a look into my charger and give the shop a ring where I got it as well. Those green/black energy saving batteries you mentioned... I don't suppose they do the EN-EL9a version at all? Don't worry I'm not expecting you to know! But you're right, often eBay is trouble free (as with the batteries you bought for your old camera) but occasionally it isn't.

A tough problem to diagnose, this!

Thanks for your comments on my Flickr page, much appreciated. I've just added a new set from my travels today at London Bridge / The Design Museum. Could have stayed in there for hours but unfortunately was racing against time!

Cheers :)

[TheOldhamWhisper]

I bought a spare battery for the Sony - there is always one in the camera and one in the pocket of the case (except when recharging) and have been for about 18 months. I know it's tempting to try to save a bit of dosh but I know that the camera will be covered in the event of any problems such as leaky battery which might not be the case if you are using 3rd party (check the T&C just in case!)

[John]

Thanks Oldham, never even crossed my mind to think that any problems with the camera could be obliterated if I'm not using Nikon-branded batteries to power it. Will have a gander and see what I'm covered for. I took out the extra 2 years free warranty for my camera so have 3 years free now. Pretty proud of myself for doing that since normally I think I'm invincible and I'll never have any problems... so don't really bother with extra warranty and the like. :thumbs

Is 2 batteries normally enough power for you, for a single session? Can I ask what mAh your batteries are? I exhausted one battery in my first day of shooting but then I was extremely trigger happy. I was shooting everything I saw. Now I'm more picky about what I shoot, and also more accurate with my choice of aperture/exposure time before I take the shot so less piddling about (technical term) is involved.

I've got 3 days in Paris coming up. I'm wondering whether to buy just 1 x Nikon battery or buy 2. They're about £25-£35 each I think. It'll probably be worth it but first I'll get in touch with the vendor on eBay.

[mathare]

For what it's worth John, I did what you did when we got our (point and click) camera and bought a spare unbranded battery of eBay. It's been crap, so poor in fact that we bought another proper (branded) battery last year instead. The unbranded one didn't hold it's charge, had issues recharging etc. It's a false economy to save £10 or whatever buying unbranded given the hassles they give you in the long run.

[lowe1]

John

About buying non Nikkon bateries I believe you will not be covered by garentee if you use cheaper batteries.

I recently bought my wife a new LG phone and after 6 months it stopped working , i took it back to the orange shop and they said it was the battery so we bought a cheap one form the market and it still didnt work so as it was just past the 6 months warantee from orange it was still under the 12 months from LG but they blamed the fault on the non LG battery and we cannot prove it was working when the LG battery was inside so they want near enough the price of the phone when new to repair it

Just be carefull

[TheOldhamWhisper]

My batteries are good for around 800 or so shots (I use a seperate flash unit so that doesn't add to the workload). They drain around 1% per fortnight if left unused but if I'm doing an important shoot, I charge them both to capacity the night before to be on the safe side. I could be more frugal and alter the settings to minimise battery use (e.g. turning the camera off between shots) but even after a full day, I rarely have concerns that I will run out of juice.

[John]

That's great - thanks for the advice guys. Really helpful. I'll get a proper Nikon one ordered and then if anything goes wrong with the camera I'm covered when they ask what sort of battery I'm using. The cheapest I've found so far is here, under £30: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&sku=635717&Q=&is=REG&A=details not sure where else sells them that cheap on the Internet. But then I haven't really looked that hard.

The unbranded sorts I'm using are obviously cheap for a reason... whilst they worked fine for holding their power they obviously aren't all that durable!

Will keep you posted.

I assume with chargers there is little difference also. I'm using the Nikon charger that came with my cam, but I'm aware that you can get all sorts of chargers.