Hahnel Ultima II charger.

[Nod]

Sounds like a good idea to me - a single "base" charger with assorted adaptors for different batteries that need charging.

I do have a couple of questions about it though. Does it come with both a UK plug and a Euro type plug - if not, can the adaptor bits be bought seperately? Can individual plates be easily obtained (I would be after one for the En-EL3(e) Nikon and one for Olympus Li-42B).

Richard Sibley's mini test of it in the Feb 28th issue of AP says that the Nikon version comes with 4 different plates to cover the majority of Nikon products - since I only need (and want!) one for the En-EL3 series, the other 3 would be wasted. (Unless it would be possible to swap one for the Oly one!)

[sillyconguru]

Does it come with both a UK plug and a Euro type plug?

According to Hahnel it comes with Euro, UK and US plugs.

Can individual plates be easily obtained?

Ask Hahnel (click the 'enquiries' link)

[Nod]

I cheated! I've been into the local LCE and they're going to do the phoning around for me! While I was in there, I had a look in the pack and saw that they do come with both UK and euro adaptors - all the Hahnel site says is "foldable US Mains plug and a slide on Euro or UK Plug." (my bold and italics). Just hoping that I can obtain only the Oly O1b plate rather than having to get the full Oly set since it's only the Li-42 battery that I'll be wanting to charge (pretty much resigned myself to having to get the full set of Nikon plates since they come as a set with the charger).

Oh, and yes, I will be getting the thing from LCE having used them as a research tool - only fair, I think. (Providing, of course, that they do ring me with the information I've asked for.)

[sillyconguru]

all the Hahnel site says is "foldable US Mains plug and a slide on Euro or UK Plug." (my bold and italics).

The page I linked to states: "Euro, UK and foldable US mains plug included". I'd take that as all three types of plug are included.

[Nod]

Still waiting for LCE to get back to me.

[nspur]

I think rather better is the Uniross "magic" charger which is a plastic spring clamp with two terminals (one pos, one neg) that can be moved on a slider so that they can mate with the terminals on Li-ion batteries. Provided the battery's terminals are exposed (and most are) it will charge any Li-ion battery from 4.2v to 8.4v and will also charge two NIMH AA or AAA cells. I think it was £16.

[Nod]

That does look very interesting. The LCE have had a week to get back to me so I won't feel guilty about going elsewhere to obtain a charger. Just have to see if I can find one of those Uniross ones locally!

[IvorETower]

Wish I had seen this last night and I could have checked (Hahnel ultima) before I left for work this morning..... I have the Nikon version. As far as I can remember it comes with UK, USA and euriopean plugs, also a 12 volt adapter so that it can be powered from the cigar lighter socket in a car.... very useful for when you are out and about. Will try to look when I get home and update this thread (unless someone beats me to it)

[IvorETower]

Just checked..... No European adapter; it's a US folding 2-pin device that fits into a UK 13-amp plug fitting.

[Nod]

Thanks for looking, Ivor. Apparemtly the original version of the Hahnel Ultima does only come with the UK adapter but the Ultima II comes with UK and Euro adapters.

Spoke to a very helpful chap in Jessops (who stock the older Ultima chargers) and he said that it was impossible for them to get just plates for the charger.

Had no luck finding the Uniross Magic charger in town, so am now clutching my credit card and searching for the best deal I can find!

[digitalmedia]

You're in luck.

The Nikon ULTIMA II charger comes with the plate N4 which is for the EN-EL3/e and EN-EL10 battery.

The EN-EL10 battery is the same as the Olympus LI40/42B so the charger should fit your need

Uniross Magic charger would also do the job, although it's a bit more fiddly - but on the plus side chargers virtually any Lithium Ion battery

Dave

[Nod]

The Uniross Magic charger arrived this morning, courtesy of MyMemory through Amazon. Seems to work just fine - easy to set the charging prongs and very compact (even including the leads, it's smaller than the seperate chargers for the batteries I want it for, although the lead for the seperate chargers is still needed for the lappy and the printer.)