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EN-EL3e D90 Battery

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Ha ha, interesting, now we need someone to list the good and the bad options out there, does not take them long to reverse engineer.

Glad you retrieved your other battery :)

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Gerry,
http://gerryd.smugmug.com/ discount code on homepage

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I tried third-party batteries for both Sony P&S cams tha I own. Both worked great out of the box. A few months later, they would not hold a charge and were worthless.

Meanwhile, the original battery (6+ years old) that I got with my Mavica still works as good as the day I bought it.

Never again will I trust third-party junk. My gigs are too important to trust to junk, just to save $20. I ordered two Nikon batteries for my D90. The cam is scheduled to arrive tomorow!
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I got a spare battery from sterlingtek.com for my D90 and it works like a charm. I have ordered batteries from them for my G10, G9, D80, and my daughter's SD1100 and they are all top-notch. The cells are made in Japan.

I highly recommend Sterlingtek, and they are much cheaper (in cost).

--
Kind Regards,

Rusty
G10 & D90 - I guess I'm a Nikanion now.
 
I have a couple of 3rd party batteries for D200 where they work.
But D90 refuses to accept these.

I use 3rd party batteries a lot, especially in phones. They are usually OK in general. But the price difference of Nikon original and 3rd party ones is not that big. Original Nikon ones cost around $30 (shop around) and good quality 3rd party ones (not cheap ones) cost $20 or more. But beware of fake ones though. If the seemingly original one is cheap, then it must be fake!! You get what you pay for.

So it really is not worth getting a 3rd party one at such difference.
 
A bit on the sideline of the OPs question, but mentioned several places in this thread.

Take the mAh ratings claimed, especially by 3rd party batteries with a grain of salt. There seems to be a consistent trend to claim better ratings than the batteries are actually capable of, or, more likely, there are the result of different methods of calculating this. I have on many occasions bought 3rd party batteries for cameras, cellphones etc from serious dealers that did not live up to the performance of the original battery (much more rarely they might in fact be better) even if they were claimed to have higher mAh ratings. So, basically, it's common sense to employ a bit of healthy scepticism folks.

Mac

--
Visit my blog at http://www.mindovermadness.org

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Do Nikon actually make their own batteries? I suspect they are made by a third party and then branded by Nikon.

You can still buy a "branded" battery and not buy Nikon. Duracell, Uniross and Hahnel all sell ther own brand batteries for Nikon, Canon, Fuji, etc..

All these non OE brands sell for around half the price of the Nikon ones but may well be made in the same factory.

My advise is whether you are going to buy OE or non-OE get it from a reputable supplier as there are many fakes out there.
 
An interesting thread, which backs up my own findings. I use three non-Nikon EN-EL3e type batteries with my D200 (heavily used in pro' use) and my own D80, but I found that a D90 would not 'see' any of them.

I suspect the D90 may have more voltage sensitive circuitry due to the video capability (maybe the sensor could be damaged if a battery fails while filming). This may explain and justify the D90 being very battery selective.

But I certainly hope that Nikon is not using some kind of clever circuitry to 'force' users to only use their own OEM batteries. If a cheaper, but reliable Chinese factory can make EN-EL3e type batteries much cheaper, then so be it and Nikon must justify their profit margin.

A
 
I recently bought the Opteka Battery Pack Grip for Nikon D80 & D90 Digital SLR with 2 EN-EL3e Batteries from Amazon through 47th St Photo for use with my D90. the batteries are the "Power 2000" brand 1700 mAh.

The grip is like an MB-D80, but not quite the fit and finish of the Nikon part.

But the price was outstanding, $89.00 for the grip and the 2 batteries.

All the controls on the grip have a good feel and the shutter release has a good detent at the halfway point. That is something I have heard that people didn't like about the Nikon grip.

Both batteries work fine in the D90 and charge correctly on the Nikon charger.

Here is a link to the grip:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000Q7IA9U

Bill
 
Huyen Olson said:
I too have bought a battery from a 3rd party, it worked like a charm
on my D80, but when I placed it in my D90, it didn't recognize at
all.
Click to expand...
Doug doesn't respond to posts or questions regarding if he's ever used a brand-x battery in a D90. Look at the thread. Or the other ones that push this hot button of his. :)

--
Blinky
WSSA Life Member #105 --- http://thewssa.org
WSSA Chief of Staff and Alleged Treasurer

 
....just post on here the battery makes that are proven to work with the D90.

So far we have Nikon (obviously) and Optika. Has any one tried one of the other brands (Duracell, Hahnel, etc)
 
How do you measure that objectively? If you're getting the extra capacity I'm very happy for you but a 10% higher mAh number on the case doesn't always translate to 10% more pictures.

I agree with the up-post. Take mAh ratings with a pinch of salt, especially for small differences, and remember that they are not the full story. How will the battery perform after 100 charge cycles? There is some interesting info here for those who haven't seen it already:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/BATTS/BATTS.HTM

it compares AA batteries but the differences between them as well as his comments on test methods are interesting.
 
Another vote for just sticking with the Nikon OEM battery.

Third party batteries might be 100% fine, and I'll agree that the issue is probably overblown by the manufacturers who certainly love the profits they make on OEM gear. But you never know. And that's enough for me.

I've spent over $2,000 on my Nikon bodies. Peanuts compared to some, but a big investment for me. There's simply no way I'm going to expose a body to the potential risk (however small) of using a third party battery just to save $15.
 
Delta5 said:
Another vote for just sticking with the Nikon OEM battery.

Third party batteries might be 100% fine, and I'll agree that the
issue is probably overblown by the manufacturers who certainly love
the profits they make on OEM gear. But you never know. And that's
enough for me.

I've spent over $2,000 on my Nikon bodies. Peanuts compared to some,
but a big investment for me. There's simply no way I'm going to
expose a body to the potential risk (however small) of using a third
party battery just to save $15.
Click to expand...
What risk is that? And how do you know that a similar risk does not exist with genuine Nikon-branded batteries?
 
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