elenydd
Reged: 14/04/2005
Posts: 346
Loc: Never where I'm supposed to be...
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Off to Kenya soon and while I think it would be useful to have a back up battery, I don't want to pay Nikon prices! I have seen compatible batteries on sale on ebay for £10-£15 ish - have any of you had any experience of using non-manufacturer batteries on your Nikons. Hopefully I won't need to use a back up because I will be staying in hotels and lodges with plenty of opportunity to charge. I have already decided to switch AF off in order to make the most of battery life!
Cheers
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Rhys
I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the
morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day.
Elenydd on Flickr
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GeoffR
Reged: 31/05/2003
Posts: 5068
Loc: Bucks
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Kenya has a reliable 240V 50Hz power supply so don't forget your charger. I would leave the AF on, unless you are very practised at focusing manually there will be no major advantage.
You haven't said which Nikon you have but unless it is a D2 or D3 you should be fine with almost any compatible battery.
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elenydd
Reged: 14/04/2005
Posts: 346
Loc: Never where I'm supposed to be...
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Sorry, it's a D80. I definitely won't forget my charger, and I will be wanting to fire off a lot of shots, something I haven't done in such a short space of time with this camera
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Rhys
I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the
morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day.
Elenydd on Flickr
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Learning
Ethelred the Ill-Named
Reged: 26/09/2006
Posts: 3703
Loc: Nottingham
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I have a Nikon D300 compatible battery that seems ok. It did not come from EBAY. Considering the cost of your flights to Kenya I would think that the cost of proper Nikon kit would be sensible.
I worked in Kenya for several years and took a Pentax SP 2 round the country. I also got a hilariously snotty note from a camera repairer in beautiful East African Asian English(Peter Sellers could not have done it better) about how I should look after my camera. Take a sensor cleaning kit.
If you are 'doing' the game parks and haven't got a posh telephoto then I would suggest the f4.5-5.6 70-300 VR. I have one now but in my Kenya days used an f4 300mm Pentax lens. The modern zoom would have been absolutely wonderful.
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donny
member
Reged: 09/06/2005
Posts: 124
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I have used a 7DAYSHOP compatible, in my D80 , for the past year and I really can't tell the difference in use , in charging or in duration . The stock no. is 101547 but if I have got that wrong then look under their own brands
Don
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Nod
Carpal \'Tunnel
Reged: 08/04/2006
Posts: 5532
Loc: Devon, UK.
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I've used 7dayshop own brand compatible batteries in my D70 with absolutely no problems.
I would agree with GeoffR above when he suggests leaving AF on - MF isn't easy with plain screens and isn't made easier by the short focus throws of AF lenses. As long as you'll have access to mains power, you should have enough power in a couple of batteries for a full day's shooting, even with AF and VR.
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MATWSIJ.....
To avoid being offended, please insert apropriate smiley.
Books (It’s like somebody downloaded a web site and printed it out for you!)
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Garfield
Fanboy
Reged: 19/12/2007
Posts: 167
Loc: London
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I've been using a Hahnel spare battery for my D700 and it's absolutely fine. Works perfectly in both the camera and the MB-D10 grip.
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DaveM399
member
Reged: 27/01/2008
Posts: 111
Loc: East Kent
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Another vote for the 7 dayshop compatible batteries. As a result of the good performance with the one I got for my D50, I bought one for my D90 when I upgraded.
As mentioned elsewhere, no noticeable difference in life or charging times compared with the Nikon originals.
Dave
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IvorETower
Little Buttercup
Reged: 15/11/2006
Posts: 2312
Loc: Camberley, Surrey
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I was at London Zoo on Saturday with my D80 and original Nikon battery (plus 2 genuine Nikon spares). I charged the battery one evening in the week before I went (it's just over 2 years old); I took 444 shots RAW+JPEG; I leave the meter on 30 seconds shut off time and generally didn't turn it off much except when I stopped to eat. I got home and it is still over 2/3rds charged on the in-built meter. Most of the shots were taken on Nikon's own 70-300VR lens with the VR left "on".
To say I was impressed would be an understatement.
Sadly none of the animal shots I took shrinks down to under 100kB in size when I compress and reduce them to 66pix wide so you will have to make do with this "posterised" image; the 2 trails are genuine:
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Towershot
old hand
Reged: 19/03/2007
Posts: 927
Loc: Lancashire, U,K.
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Quote:
I've been using a Hahnel spare battery for my D700 and it's absolutely fine. Works perfectly in both the camera and the MB-D10 grip.
Me to, bought one for the D80 and it now works fine in the D300 
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Got a good camera, now to get a good photographer.:~<
Rick
My Flickr
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spangler
The Navigator
Reged: 04/04/2008
Posts: 799
Loc: Aylesbury
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If I use my compatible battery with a Nikon battery in the grip of my D200 I have problems with the camera freezing when one battery becomes exhausted and the camera attempts to use the other cell. I also note that the camera always "prefers" the Nikon battery. As a consequence I now use the compatible in my D80 and thus have a matched pair of Nikon batteries in the D200.
I do not know if this was really a problem with the battery or if it was a Nikon firmware issue as the problem was occuring before I updated both cameras to the latest firmware.
Andrew
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"Every silver lining's got a touch of grey"
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IvorETower
Little Buttercup
Reged: 15/11/2006
Posts: 2312
Loc: Camberley, Surrey
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Above should have read 600 pix, not 66 ! Just noticed
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Too many cameras, too many lenses.......
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Pastieman
newbie
Reged: 06/07/2009
Posts: 9
Loc: Cornwall
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Quote:
Another vote for the 7 dayshop compatible batteries. As a result of the good performance with the one I got for my D50, I bought one for my D90 when I upgraded.
As mentioned elsewhere, no noticeable difference in life or charging times compared with the Nikon originals.
Dave
Same here, and half the price of Nikon.
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Who ever said the camera never lies was wrong.
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