extra battery?

[denise]

I have a Nikon D7000 and have had no troubles with the battery. But I am wondering if I should spend the extra money and buy a spare. The battery really holds a good charge, unlike my old Nikon D40x, and I might just be wasting my $$.
So my questions are:
1- do you have a spare that you keep charged all the time? And do you always take it with you, like you do memory cards?
2- is this a waste of $49.95 (Amazon, free shipping, no sales tax)?
3- should I do it? Yes or No, and why....

 

[smitch425]

I have a Nikon D7000 and have had no troubles with the battery. But I am wondering if I should spend the extra money and buy a spare. The battery really holds a good charge, unlike my old Nikon D40x, and I might just be wasting my $$.
So my questions are:
1- do you have a spare that you keep charged all the time? And do you always take it with you, like you do memory cards?
2- is this a waste of $49.95 (Amazon, free shipping, no sales tax)?
3- should I do it? Yes or No, and why....

Have you checked on Ebay? I have three batteries for my Lumix FZ18 and I got two of them on ebay. I think I paid about $10 for each and they were about $40-50 on amazon at the time. I have had them for a couple of years and have never had a problem. Just a thought!

 

[klmall]

I never take either of my cameras listed below anywhere for any length of time without an extra battery. Over my 9 years of digital photography and many cameras I have always bought extra inexpensive batteries from places like Sterling Tech for very good prices and found them to be dependable.

I went to the wedding of a good friend's daughter recently and his PnS battery died while his wife was shooting the father/daughter dance Luckily my XSi was going strong and I handed over my Canon G12 to his wife! The wedding photographer I'm sure will get great close-ups etc. but you always want to get your own pics too!!!

 

[rossb]

I spent two weeks in WDW back in November and my D7000 never needed an extra battery. I shot about 2500 images.

 

[Experiment_626]

While you'll probably be fine without an extra battery, I think it is a good idea to have one. The only time I went to shoot and found my battery dead was when I had accidentally put it back in the bag without turning it off (or I accidentally turned it back on a I put it away -- not sure which). If that ever happens to you, even once, you'd be very glad you had an extra. Of course, you'll have to try to keep both batteries charged. In a recent thread on this subject, it was noted by some that best practice is to regularly switch the batteries you're using. When you decide to charge one battery, put the other one in your camera, even if you'd have time to charge the first battery completely before you shoot again. Some people reported that a battery left unused over time might eventually have trouble holding a charge. A dead extra battery that cannot be charged is no better than no extra at all.

Scott

 

[SrisonS]

For my Canon, I bought an inexpensive knockoff for about $8 on Amazon. Never had a problem with it, and has the same charge as the $80 canon version. Definitely worth the small investment just in case.

 

[Gdad]

It's nice to have a backup- as the battery ages it won't last as long and things like long exposures, live view, or cold temps can wear it down even quicker. I've only had one photography outing wrecked by a dead battery but it really sucked at the time.

 

[Gianna'sPapa]

Funny you should bring this up. I normally have a battery in the camera and one in the vertical/battery grip. I know how long that lasts based on my usage. Today, I grabbed the camera to get a shot and as I turned it on, the battery died. Then I remembered that my grip is in for repair and not attached. Fortunately, I had extra charged batteries and carried on. I always have extra batteries because you never know when one is going to go belly up. Its always at the most inopportune moment!

 

[bob100]

I have a Nikon D7000 and have had no troubles with the battery. But I am wondering if I should spend the extra money and buy a spare. The battery really holds a good charge, unlike my old Nikon D40x, and I might just be wasting my $$.
So my questions are:
1- do you have a spare that you keep charged all the time? And do you always take it with you, like you do memory cards?
2- is this a waste of $49.95 (Amazon, free shipping, no sales tax)?
3- should I do it? Yes or No, and why....

wow, $49 ! that's crazy
the knock off replacement batteries for the Canon Rebel XSi/450D are only $5
it's always good to have a back-up so look on ebay, dealextreme, etc. for a second battery

 

[denise]

wow, $49 ! that's crazy
the knock off replacement batteries for the Canon Rebel XSi/450D are only $5
it's always good to have a back-up so look on ebay, dealextreme, etc. for a second battery

ok....I guess it's not important to say NIKON on it...
I will look on ebay.....

thank you everyone for your fast input...

denise

 

[boBQuincy]

ok....I guess it's not important to say NIKON on it...

Maybe, maybe not. *No one else* can make a battery that meets the Nikon specifications because no one else has the Nikon specifications. Whether that is important or not, no one knows outside of Nikon.

As for capacity, there is no specification for rating capacity so a battery supplier can claim what ever they want. As a result the ratings mean very little.

I work for a corporation that charges a big premium for our replacement parts and maintenance items. Many aftermarket companies make parts that fit, some are pretty good, some are complete junk, but *none* meet our specifications since (like Nikon) we do not share these with outside suppliers.

This does not mean that all aftermarket batteries are not good, just that there is a lot of variation.

 

[YesDear]

There are some things I will quickly buy an aftermarket item. The battery for my Nikon is not one of them. As Bob said not all are created equal. A $5 battery on Ebay is not going into my camera. I equate that to buying a $20 tripod for a $1500 camera.

 

[Theosus]

For my Canon, I bought an inexpensive knockoff for about $8 on Amazon. Never had a problem with it, and has the same charge as the $80 canon version. Definitely worth the small investment just in case.

+1 on this! I did the same thing. I haven't seen a difference between the two. I haven't put them through any sort of test, but they both seem to work well, and at 10$ it's an inexpensive investment.

 

[bob100]

There are some things I will quickly buy an aftermarket item. The battery for my Nikon is not one of them. As Bob said not all are created equal. A $5 battery on Ebay is not going into my camera. I equate that to buying a $20 tripod for a $1500 camera.

I've been using those "aftermarket" knock off batteries for years - - and they work perfectly!
But go ahead and buy only official Nikon batteries, Nikon (and Canon) appreciate the consumer that only buys the genuine high margin manufacturer's products.

 

[mom2rtk]

I can't imagine working without a net. Get a second battery if for no other reason than to have one ready to put INTO your camera the moment you take the other out to charge.

Heck, buy 2 so you can keep one in your bag and one at home. I hate to admit it, but my battery died at the tail end of my son's last track meet of the year. I have extras but was careless and just didn't have it in my bag.

The one thing I've noticed is that these new batteries last so long I get lazy and don't recharge it at the first sign of diminishing power. But that's how you end up with no power at the finish line of the District track meet.......

I've had no problem with the cheap generic ones.

 

[photo_chick]

On my last trip I was in HS and at the end of the day my battery died. I didn't have a spare on me (I was going light without a bag) and missed the shots I wanted. Never again.

I'm wary of off brand batteries. We're talking about something that's providing power to the electronics of your camera. It doesn't take much of an irregularity in the voltage to wonk things up. I'll pony up the cash even if it's only for my peace of mind.

 

[plyeng2ff]

I only have a point and shoots that takes AA batteries and I never leave without an extra set of rechargable and half the time a set of back up regular batteries. It only takes one miss shot and you will never leave home without a back up.

 

[Bongi22]

I've been using those "aftermarket" knock off batteries for years - - and they work perfectly!
But go ahead and buy only official Nikon batteries, Nikon (and Canon) appreciate the consumer that only buys the genuine high margin manufacturer's products.

I agree to a point.

While I have never had a problem with any battery IN my camera. I have always go ahead and buy backup batteries which are from Nikon, going all the way back to my first D1.
I see no reason why I should try to save $40 on a battery with unknown origins to use in a body which costs upwards of $1500. ( or even $400 for that matter ).

But, here are my three real world reasons for that.

1. I bought a battery on eBay for a point and shoot I had. It shipped directly from Hong Kong and the third or fourth time I was charging it, it caught fire... thankfully I was home and in the room at the time because I smelled it and unplugged it. ( Only to be inquisitive and move it outdoors off an extension cord to see just how bad it would get... it didn't explode, but it did actually have a small flame which could have easily ignited something nearby in my room ). Certainly, having a house go on fire isn't worth the savings.

2. I bought a laptop battery on eBay and it arrived D.O.A. as did it's replacement... After shipping it back the third time I got one that worked well enough, but in that case it was worth the savings. ( the ebay battery was about a third of the $100 that HP wanted for a genuine battery.. in a 3 year old laptop that cost $400 new... it wasn't worth it ).

3. A coworker bought a Nikon D-40.. got an eBay battery and it leaked IN THE BODY.... it wasn't a giant mess.. but it was enough that it caused problems. Nikon refused to fix it ( it was grey market ) EVEN if she was going to pay out of pocket.
She found someone who was willing to work on it, but wouldn't guarantee that it would be fixed and she had to pay $90 to do so. As it turned out, he did fix it and it still works today... but it certainly wasn't worth the "savings" she thought she was getting.

This doesn't mean that manufacturers OE batteries are always perfect. As I recall a story in which defective batteries were showing up in some APPLE stuff as well as HP over the years that would just ignite... but the difference is, it usually gets recalled and most of the time you get your equipment replaced...

Would I use eBay batteries? Yes... but not in my good camera bodies and I have made sure I charge all those batteries in an area away from anything that can catch fire... just in case.

 

[Evad]

Bought a knock off for my D80... no problems with it so far!!

 

[Bstanley]

Modern Lithium Ion battery packs are sophisticated and (as described above) potentially dangerous gadgets.

The Chinese manufacturers that produce the knock-offs are often the same folks producing the branded items and their off brand versions are fine. But enough people have had problems with the knock-offs that we all know there is risk.

Since I can't tell which is which from looking at them - I've got into the habit of buying off brand versions - but from a reputable dealer with history - Adorama more often than not. The theory being that Adorama has quite a bit of experience and actually has some 'skin in the game' if the products they sell cause problems. This way I save about half the price of a branded battery, but satisfy my individual level of risk aversion.