ArticlesCamera and Photography BasicsThe forgotten battery

The forgotten battery

By Kodapixel | Published Aug 6, 2012 | Camera and Photography Basics

My newly aquired Nkon Coolpix P500. Finally, more megapixels. Bought used with no battery.

So far, this is the best camera I have owned. I started digital just this year. Yes I am old

school. Which is why my first digital was a humble Lumix FZ20. I was drawn to the Leica lens

rather than the electronics inside. So I was content with learning on the Lumix, but knew I

needed more megapixels.

Enter the P500. I paid $130 total with shipping. I bid on a site and won for $115 plus

s&h. It was a steal.It came with no battery, as was said on the site. So I took a gamble

that the camera wasn't trash. After searching online for the proper battery, I all ready

knew that there are after market brands that last longer. Can't be sure, but the original

EN-EL5 is a 800 mAh. mAh refers to milli amp hours. Excuse my spelling! So I ordered a two

1200 mAh batteries through Amazon. I have clicked over 200 shots and my battery icon hasn't

budged. I have upgraded in the past by doing the same for my cell phone. I believe that you

can even get a 1500 mAh battery for the P500.So it is simple math. The higher the mAh

rating, the longer the battery life. You do not have to be limited to the "stock" battery. Hope this helps

anyone on dpreview. The forums and

reviews here have sure helped this Newbie!

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Comments

Total comments: 3

It's all flowers and teddy bears until that elcheapo eBay special battery shorts out and fries your camera's mainboard. Nikon won't give a toss about your misfortune, eBay won't either, the reseller won't be contactable and the battery company refuse to return your calls. Looks like you'll have to replace your camera at your own expense.

But then, you bought it cheap anyway, so you can easily afford to buy another one.

1 upvote

Thanks for the info, guess I made the right choice. There are a lot of aftermarkets selling 800mAh and 900mAh for these Nikons.

0 upvotes

I checked on Nikon's site. The P500 came with a EN-EL5 1100mAh, same a my P510. Battery capacities are often generously over-estimated, sometimes a little, sometimes alot. My non-Nikon spare battery gave me 205 pictures in daylight and about 180 seconds 1080p HD video on it's first charge.

All batteries have a break in period, usually 3 or 4 charges, where its capacity reaches it maximum.

0 upvotes

Total comments: 3