4 replies to this topic

[krag96]

The EN-EL3 batteries, (new) don't seem to last very long in my D700's, mostly when using screw drive lenses I'm so fond of.  I bought an adapter door for my battery grip that allows the use of an EN-EL4 battery along with several batteries and a charger.  The question is, what kind of ''life'' can I now expect before changing the battery?  I believe I have to get into the menu and change to draw power from grip rather than camera battery? 

 

Stats say a D3s will get 4,200 actuations from a charge using an  EN-EL4 battery, a D700 using the smaller EN-EL3 battery, 1,000 per charge.  Can I look forward to 4X the life per charge using the converted battery grip?  Even 2X would make the conversion worth it.  I can go back to using the original power in the grip by simply reinserting the MB-D10 battery tray. 

[Merco_61]

The EN-EL4A holds 2.5X the energy compared to the EN-EL3E. (99900J compared to 39960J) The formula is C(in Ah)xU(in V)x3600(to convert Wh to J).

If you have an EN-EL3E in the body and an EN-EL4A in the grip, you will have 3.5X the shooting capacity of a single EN-EL3E.

 

To extend the number of shots between charging, turn the instant preview off and chimp as little as possible. The display draws lots of power.

 

The official number of actuations per charge includes a certain percentage of flash photos on a body with a pop-up flash. This makes the 4.2X number for the D3 compared to the D700 plausible although there is only 2.5X the energy available.

[krag96]

Thanks, Peter.  I was hoping you would drop in with a response.  BTW, I discovered yesterday why my new Nikkor 80-200mm 2.8 ED didn't fully engage with the screw at times was because at around a quarter of a battery charge the camera didn't seem to have to power all the time to drive the lens gears.  I discovered the same problem with my Nikkor 20-35mm f/2.8 D switching the lenses to the camera with the nearly depleted battery.  These are my two best lenses and I want to use them quite a bit.

[Merco_61]

The screw-drive pro zooms move quite heavy chunks of glass when focusing. The AF works much better @11.1V than @7.4...

[krag96]

That's the primary reason I'm going with the EN-EL 4 conversion in the battery grip.  Thanks again!