NikonGear'23

Gear Talk => Camera Talk => Topic started by: David H. Hartman on November 28, 2020, 09:57:39

Title: EN-EL15 v. EN-EL15a v. EN-EL15b v. EN-EL15c?
Post by: David H. Hartman on November 28, 2020, 09:57:39: Where might I find a rundown on the differences between EN-EL15 family of batteries? ...or might I get one here?

Dave
Title: Re: EN-EL15 v. EN-EL15a v. EN-EL15b v. EN-EL15c?
Post by: Stephan on November 28, 2020, 12:59:03: In German: https://www.nikonimgsupport.com/eu/BV_article?articleno=000042103&lang=de

You might be able to switch language
Title: Re: EN-EL15 v. EN-EL15a v. EN-EL15b v. EN-EL15c?
Post by: janvaran on November 28, 2020, 14:37:02: Quote from: Stephan on November 28, 2020, 12:59:03
In German: https://www.nikonimgsupport.com/eu/BV_article?articleno=000042103&lang=de

You might be able to switch language

Search for the article no. on google, 000042103
Found the article in Norwegian, guess it's available in other languages as well.

/Jan
Title: Re: EN-EL15 v. EN-EL15a v. EN-EL15b v. EN-EL15c?
Post by: Birna Rørslett on November 28, 2020, 14:50:19: A curious mixture of languages on that page ....

My command of German suffices to read the relevant sections, though.

What isn't mentioned is that the old MH-25 charger will not in practice bring the new types (b,c at least) up to full capacity. You need the MH-25a for that.
Title: Re: EN-EL15 v. EN-EL15a v. EN-EL15b v. EN-EL15c?
Post by: Akira on November 28, 2020, 14:58:00: If you need to charge the battery via USB-C, you have to get the "c". Otherwise, the "b" would be universal enough.
Title: Re: EN-EL15 v. EN-EL15a v. EN-EL15b v. EN-EL15c?
Post by: MILLIREHM on November 28, 2020, 15:06:16: Thanks for providing the link with the overview

I'd like to add that the MH-25a is charging faster as well. And please keep in mind that the two Types of En-EL15 are significantly different. When the D500 came out Nikon started an exchange action as the older Li-Ion 01 type were draines rather fast. Took I while until i took notice of that and until I finally had three of those exchanged against EN-El15a for free.
Title: Re: EN-EL15 v. EN-EL15a v. EN-EL15b v. EN-EL15c?
Post by: Matthew Currie on November 28, 2020, 16:12:44: Here it is in English:
https://www.nikonimgsupport.com/eu/BV_article?articleNo=000042103&configured=1&lang=en_GB

I have both MH25 and 25a chargers, and the 25a is definitely faster on plain EN-EL15 and 15a batteries, but I haven't noticed a difference in result.

I've tried a couple of third party chargers and they seem to work OK but fail to reset the shot counter on the battery.
Title: Re: EN-EL15 v. EN-EL15a v. EN-EL15b v. EN-EL15c?
Post by: David H. Hartman on November 28, 2020, 23:30:28: Thank you everyone...

I did a fair amount of searching and finally found that the EN-EL15c has a capacity of 2280mAh but not much else. The D850 manual lists the EN-EL15b, EN-EL15a and EN-EN15 as acceptable batteries for the Nikon D850. The EN-EL15 series Rechargeable Li-ion Battery compatibility page list the EN-EL15c as compatible with the D850. I wonder what battery the D850 ships with at this time?

Checking what I own I have two EN-EL15 Li-ion20 batteries and a Nikon MH-25 charger. If not ideal I would think the MH-25 charger will not harm the EN-E15b and EN-EL15c batteries.

Thanks again!

Dave

In my searching I seem to lack knowledge of secret ritual words to unlock the information I desired. >:(
Title: Re: EN-EL15 v. EN-EL15a v. EN-EL15b v. EN-EL15c?
Post by: Bill De Jager on November 29, 2020, 04:59:55: Quote from: David H. Hartman on November 28, 2020, 23:30:28
I wonder what battery the D850 ships with at this time?

I bought a D850 on 30 Oct. from B&H and it arrived with the EN-EL15b.
Title: Re: EN-EL15 v. EN-EL15a v. EN-EL15b v. EN-EL15c?
Post by: David H. Hartman on November 29, 2020, 05:58:13: Thanks Bill for that information.

Dave
Title: Re: EN-EL15 v. EN-EL15a v. EN-EL15b v. EN-EL15c?
Post by: mxbianco on November 29, 2020, 13:49:06: I have several MH-25 and MH-25a chargers, so I did a little research to reconstruct what charger was coming with what camera, and I would like to share my results:
Cameras in D7xxx series: up to D7100 had the MH-25, from D7200 onwards they have the MH-25a
Cameras in D6xx series: up to D610 (all models sofar) had the MH-25
Cameras in D7xx series: (D700 had a different battery) from D750 onwards they have the MH-25a
Cameras in D8xx series: up to D800E had the MH-25, from D810 onwards they have the MH-25a
Cameras in Zx series: all models sofar have the MH-25a
Cameras in 1Vx series: model 1V1 had the MH-25, from 1V2 onwards had different batteries (and chargers)

Naturally, as stated previously, the two charger models are interchangeable. I have not done any research regarding the charging speed and the amount of charge given to the various battery flavors (15, 15a, 15b, 15c), but I haven't found yet a significant difference needing further investigation. Lithium-ion charging times are so much shorter with respect to previous NiMH batteries!

Ciao from Massimo
Title: Re: EN-EL15 v. EN-EL15a v. EN-EL15b v. EN-EL15c?
Post by: MILLIREHM on November 29, 2020, 20:54:24: I have several cameras using EN_EL15 type of batteries and several chargers. Just using the MH25a (there are at least two present). Havent ever measured it but chargign is noticabely faster - dont know whether this makes a difference in capacity. The 15b was the first able to be charged in (Z-) camera via USB and now I have learned that 15c (have none so far) has a greater capacity.
Title: Re: EN-EL15 v. EN-EL15a v. EN-EL15b v. EN-EL15c?
Post by: Erik Lund on November 30, 2020, 09:19:20: I now use EN-EL15c with my Nikon Z7 (With in camera charging possible) and D850 - They both work nicely without any issues!Nikon D850 came with EN-EL15b as well.
Title: Re: EN-EL15 v. EN-EL15a v. EN-EL15b v. EN-EL15c?
Post by: David H. Hartman on November 30, 2020, 20:57:25: Today as I type the Nikon EN-EL15c is priced at $72.95 (USD) and the EN-EL15b at $54.00 (USD), both are out of stock at B&H Photo Video in NY, USA.

Does anyone remember if the EL-EL15b sold at a higher price than today when it was new on the market?

Thanks

Dave
Title: Re: EN-EL15 v. EN-EL15a v. EN-EL15b v. EN-EL15c?
Post by: Matthew Currie on November 30, 2020, 22:00:01: The last battery I got was an EN-EL15a in July of 2017, and B&H got $59.95 then.
Title: Re: EN-EL15 v. EN-EL15a v. EN-EL15b v. EN-EL15c?
Post by: David H. Hartman on December 03, 2020, 08:28:37: Is it safe to use a Watson B-3410 7.0v 1800mAh 2.6Wh EN-EL15 replacement battery pack that came with my D800 as a throw in, in my D850. I was hesitant to use it with the D800 at first but others reported no problems with them. The Watson battery packs are sold by B&H Photo Video, NYC, NY USA.

Since I have two EN-EL15(s) and the EN-EL15b that came with my D850 I probably will never need to use the Watson in the D850. I'm wonder if it's safe in a pinch to use the Watson?

Dave

[I'm going to pack the Watson EN-EL15 replacement with the D800, outside the camera]
Title: Re: EN-EL15 v. EN-EL15a v. EN-EL15b v. EN-EL15c?
Post by: Erik Lund on December 03, 2020, 11:56:02: The only risk is that it might suddenly loose power,,, third party batteries has a tendency to be unreliable in that regard. Really annoying if it was on a day you depended on it,,,
Title: Re: EN-EL15 v. EN-EL15a v. EN-EL15b v. EN-EL15c?
Post by: Matthew Currie on December 05, 2020, 00:41:42: The Watson EN-EL15 that came with my D7100 in 2014 has lost about half its power over the years, wjhie the original Nikon one is down only a little. But that's still enough for an emergency backup to throw in a pocket. I think Watson is probably a little better than many third party batteries.
Title: Re: EN-EL15 v. EN-EL15a v. EN-EL15b v. EN-EL15c?
Post by: David H. Hartman on December 05, 2020, 05:11:20: The Watson and my D800 are resting peacefully in a box where they will remain until I figure out what to do with the D800. These days I don't need a backup on my person. The one time I needed a backup I was stuck scrapping an HP5 cassette spool on the curb. The cassette fit so tightly I was afraid of damaging my week old F2. I heard my editor saying, "Does this guy know what he's doing?" He loved the work so I got many more jobs.

Yes, I took a job with only one camera and it was only one week old. Not too smart!

Dave
Title: Re: EN-EL15 v. EN-EL15a v. EN-EL15b v. EN-EL15c?
Post by: Øivind Tøien on December 05, 2020, 08:57:26: I got 4 EN-EL15 (Li-Ion 20) and one EN-EL15b and both the MH-25 and MH-25a chargers (the latter came with the D500), which I use interchangeably and have not noticed any marked difference in the charging time. Both are rated for 8.4V/1.2A so that would not really be expected, although there is of course a possibility that the latter is smarter with respect to the reduced current output that is usually applied when approaching full charge.
Quote from: Birna Rørslett on November 28, 2020, 14:50:19
What isn't mentioned is that the old MH-25 charger will not in practice bring the new types (b,c at least) up to full capacity. You need the MH-25a for that.
Edit: I just checked my MH-25 and the EN-EL15b showed 100% just after being fully charged and voltage was 8.29V unloaded. This is quite reasonable for a battery charged to a cutoff at 4.2V per cell.

The first spare EN-EL15 for my D7100 stopped working after only 7 months - would not charge in the MH-25 and charged very little with a small Watson charger. It looked like one of the cells had gone bad - any of my attempts to revive it not to be mentioned here failed, so I put it aside and bought a new spare. This spring after it had been sitting in a safe place for several years, I thought I could just as well open it up to see if I could convert the casing to a spare power cable.

When I measured the cells, one was pretty much fully charged, while the bad cells was still at 2.5V, which my information searches at the time indicated was above the voltage (2.0V) where dendrites and shorts where likely to form and is considered unsafe. So I hooked that cell only up to a single cell Li-Ion charger designed for a smaller cell and endpoint 4.2V which is in the lower range for end point voltages, so currents should be very safe, and monitored the voltage as it charged. It finally reached very close to the voltage of the good cell. Apparently there is an internal voltage equalization that had a few mV difference in set point for the two cells, so at the end of the charging the good cell increased its voltage slightly. Temporarily closing the battery and inserting it in the mh-25 it would now charge for a short while, and worked normally in the cameras, so after running it though a normal discharge-charge cycle, and observing no significant drop in voltage of either cell over a few days, I decided it was working normally and re-glued it. It is currently dedicated to my battery grip. When I checked it now after sitting unused for several months it was at 92% charge and listed as new in the D500.

One could wonder why it went bad in the first place. Perhaps there could have been a glitch in the voltage equalization circuitry - possibly induced by a single recharge in the non-original dumb Watson charger although the latter does not quite make sense. I am still a bit careful where I store that battery - it will definitely be discarded if it shows a new failure again, but so far so good.