| Joined: | Sun Apr 1st, 2012 |
| Location: | Carthew, Cornwall, United Kingdom |
| Posts: | 6866 |
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The bars in the small LCD on the D3S top screen give me all I need to know. If I get less than 100 shots from a fully charged battery then I chop out the cells and replace them. Lithium batteries have a life of around five years if used and recharged regularly. There are two original manufacturers of 'reputable quality' 18650 Lithium batteries, Panasonic and Sanyo, but now also some others. They supply to Nikon, Canon, etc... I use these cells.
I have recelled Nikon batteries for the last 17 years and I am still alive. No doubt if a person with dubious technical ability does this process then there is a danger they get it wrong, but so is going swimming if you cant swim. Technically you can drown a person with a glass of water.
I Do NOT do..... software subscriptions (I purchase, I do not rent software), H&SE (good idea but shame about the execution), and games on computers! My three rules for myself. All the previous are a waste of (my) time. Others are allowed and entitled to their opinion on this.
AFAIK The Nikon EN-EL18 battery is just a EN-EL4a dressed up in different clothes. There was a huge fuss in the professional and technical forums when the D4 came out with a new/incompatible battery.
I believe it was produced by Nikon to conform to Japanese authorities who had stupid worries that the lithium batteries would exploded it accidentally shorted. All that was done was to shield the contacts more effectively. All batteries will catch fire if you short their contacts!!
I have never re-celled an EN-EL18 battery. If you have a dead one then I would love to have the opportunity to recell it for you so you can test.
If you could take a detailed photo of the D3 v D4 battery contact end that would useful.
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Still learning after all these years!
https://nikondslr.uk/gallery_view.php?user=2&folderid=none