«

> But for ~$20, I can get 2 batteries, a stand-alone charger, and a car
> adapter:
>
> http://www.amazon.com/Wasabi-Power-B...6095727&sr=8-5
>
> http://www.amazon.com/EN-EL12-Lithiu...6095727&sr=8-3
>
> They claim to meet or exceed the Nikon specs. Are these safe to use?

Jennifer,

The likely answer is "yes". I've used 3rd-party batteries in Nikon and
other brand cameras and had no problems. I avoided the very cheapest
batteries sold on eBay, though.

It wasn't completely clear whether both of the chargers you listed would
work directly of AC mains, the first one listed an AC possibility, not the
second.

I have no direct experience of either brand or supplier.

Cheers,
David

> I wonder why these chargers aren't designed to work both as stand-alone
> and in the camera? Why can't they design a charger that plugs into the
> wall, has a cradle for the battery to charge stand-alone, and also a
> cable to charge inside the camera? Seems like that would be the best of
> all possible worlds.

Jennifer, the way I tend to work is to have a fully charged battery in the
camera at the start of the day, and one or two spares (also fully charged)
just in case. Typically I will be away from my base for the whole day
without the ability to recharge. At the end of the day I will take the
battery out of the camera and charge it overnight, and use the
fully-charged one I had with me in the camera for the next day.

Actually, the number of times I've needed to change batteries during the
day has become less and lees and the more modern cameras have lower power
consumption. So previously having an in-camera charging facility would
have been of no interest, but today perhaps you do have a point!

Cheers,
David

"David J Taylor" <david-> writes:

> Actually, the number of times I've needed to change batteries during
> the day has become less and lees and the more modern cameras have
> lower power consumption. So previously having an in-camera charging
> facility would have been of no interest, but today perhaps you do have
> a point!

A few weekends ago, I shot 1400+ pictures at an athletic event. I was
running VR constantly, and AF-C. I chimp fairly heavily, including
having auto-display on (I can glance down and see the histogram
instantly if I have even half a second).

I did that without exhausting the first of the three batteries I had
with me. This is with a Nikon D700. I really can't complain about that
battery performance!
--
David Dyer-Bennet, dd-; http://dd-b.net/
Snapshots: http://dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/data/
Photos: http://dd-b.net/photography/gallery/
Dragaera: http://dragaera.info

> A few weekends ago, I shot 1400+ pictures at an athletic event. I was
> running VR constantly, and AF-C. I chimp fairly heavily, including
> having auto-display on (I can glance down and see the histogram
> instantly if I have even half a second).
>
> I did that without exhausting the first of the three batteries I had
> with me. This is with a Nikon D700. I really can't complain about that
> battery performance!
> --
> David Dyer-Bennet, dd-; http://dd-b.net/

Most impressive!

What battery was that - the add-on MB-10 pack?

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond700/page3.asp
http://a.img-dpreview.com/reviews/ni...wMBD10-001.jpg

Cheers,
David

"David J Taylor" <david-> writes:

>> A few weekends ago, I shot 1400+ pictures at an athletic event. I was
>> running VR constantly, and AF-C. I chimp fairly heavily, including
>> having auto-display on (I can glance down and see the histogram
>> instantly if I have even half a second).
>>
>> I did that without exhausting the first of the three batteries I had
>> with me. This is with a Nikon D700. I really can't complain about that
>> battery performance!

> Most impressive!
>
> What battery was that - the add-on MB-10 pack?
>
> http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond700/page3.asp
> http://a.img-dpreview.com/reviews/ni...wMBD10-001.jpg

Well, I had the pack mounted, but with an EN-EL3e battery in it. It
didn't finish draining the battery in the pack and get into the battery
in the camera body (or I suppose I could have misunderstood the battery
status display, that's always an option).

--
David Dyer-Bennet, dd-; http://dd-b.net/
Snapshots: http://dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/data/
Photos: http://dd-b.net/photography/gallery/
Dragaera: http://dragaera.info

> Well, I had the pack mounted, but with an EN-EL3e battery in it. It
> didn't finish draining the battery in the pack and get into the battery
> in the camera body (or I suppose I could have misunderstood the battery
> status display, that's always an option).
>
> --
> David Dyer-Bennet, dd-; http://dd-b.net/

Thanks, David. Whether one or one and a bit batteries, 1400+ shots in
still impressive.

Cheers,
David