Author Topic: 2nd battery  (Read 12629 times)

Critters

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2nd battery
« on: June 19, 2017, 01:45:33 PM »

tesla500

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Re: 2nd battery
« Reply #1 on: June 19, 2017, 02:26:02 PM »
Yes, any EN-EL4a type will work.

Edit: We've since found out this is not true. There are two common versions of the EN-EL4A (other than the very expensive legitimate Nikon ones). When buying batteries, look for ones that have a grey connector, rather than black, and have a glossy case. These are the good quality ones.

Example of good battery here, and a bad one is shown here. The bad ones are very tight in the case, and sometimes won't insert properly or make proper contact.
« Last Edit: January 14, 2018, 11:42:39 PM by tesla500 »

Simon

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Re: 2nd battery
« Reply #2 on: June 19, 2017, 02:48:07 PM »
HighSpeedCams.com found that particular battery had good life too - see http://www.hispeedcams.com/chronos-camera-must-accessories/

Fyodor

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Re: 2nd battery
« Reply #3 on: January 14, 2018, 04:24:14 AM »
I have ordered two of these:
https://www.amazon.de/gp/aw/d/B015FXR6EY/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They do NOT fit the camera. The battery compartment in the chronos seems to be very tight, and these batteries are on the large side of tolerances. When inserting they shave off some material on the entrance to the compartment, and will not fully seat. I needed a screwdriver to get them back out, bending the tabs on top. Also the cover will not close on these batteries. One didn't even contact correctly and won't charge.

I tried to get the DSTE batteries like the one that came with the camera, but the website given on the battery doesn't seem to exist. AliExpress has products of that company, but this type is only available in a set including a battery grip for a camera I don't have.

Since the originally supplied battery also shaved off a little bit of plastic and the cover closes hard, I assume the battery compartment in the chronos just is a bit too tight. That should be addressed in later production runs.

Does any of the users here have any first hand experience which battery does actually physically fit inside the camera? I can't send back batteries with shaved off material and bent tabs, and buying a few types just to throw them away is to wasteful.

BiduleOhm

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Re: 2nd battery
« Reply #4 on: January 14, 2018, 05:56:09 AM »
Maybe it's the battery which it's out of tolerance. I guess there's specs for all of this so we can measure the camera and battery and see which one didn't follow the specs.

tesla500

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Re: 2nd battery
« Reply #5 on: January 14, 2018, 11:38:55 PM »
I have ordered two of these:
https://www.amazon.de/gp/aw/d/B015FXR6EY/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Look for batteries that have a gloss finish case,

Look for batteries with a connector portion that is lighter grey rather than black. There seems to be two different versions that you'll find (apart from the very expensive legitimate Nikon ones), a good one is shown here, and the bad one is shown here. Notice how the connector is grey on the former, look for that when buying batteries. It seems there are two Chinese factories making these, one much better than the other.

We got two batteries in for testing that are of the type Fyodor ordered, and found the same thing, they are tight, the connector is poor quality, they don't meet their capacity specs, and the cells physically rattled around inside the case. The other type are much better quality.


John Delonghi

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Re: 2nd battery
« Reply #6 on: January 15, 2018, 03:52:32 AM »
I thought about buying some additional internal batteries, but in the end decided to adapt some larger batteries I already had. I got a DC-DC converter which takes 11-18V in and pushes out 19.5V.

Just putting it out there as an option some of you might want to think about. Not necessarily cheaper than a spare EN-EL4A, but I didn't want to have to bother swapping batteries in the field.

Fyodor

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Re: 2nd battery
« Reply #7 on: January 15, 2018, 04:13:04 AM »
I don't have any larger batteries here, so I would need to add these costs, too. When I use the camera indoors, I always use the power adaptor it came with, but on the shooting range we don't have power.

Fyodor

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Re: 2nd battery
« Reply #8 on: January 15, 2018, 04:13:58 AM »
@ tesla500:
I just ordered some Akku-King batteries, and will try their fit. Will report back as soon as I got results.

Sorchey

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Re: 2nd battery
« Reply #9 on: January 21, 2018, 05:32:16 AM »
I've bought an expensive battery from Nikon, and it does NOT fit in my camera.

The problem is that the battery that came with the Chronos (DSTE) has, at least in my case, a slightly tilted connector (see the attached picture). The connector in the camera "adjusted" itself to this battery...

In the end i decided to buy an external power bank instead of extra batteries.


Fyodor

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Re: 2nd battery
« Reply #10 on: January 21, 2018, 10:32:50 PM »
As suggested, I bought the AkkuKing batteries in replacement. They have the same snug fit as the originally supplied DSTE battery. They look so exactly the same, that I'm sure they actually are from the same factory.

But still I need a tool like a popsickle stick to pry the battery out the first few milimeters. The cover closes hard on the batteries, DSTE and AkkuKing. The compartment does shave off a little plastic on all of these batteries.

I'm aware this was a first production run, but for a series production 4000$ camera this seems not OK. The battery compartment needs to be changed on the next batch. Even if the price of spare batteries is small in comparison to the camera value, any EN-EL4a should fit, not only certain brands, and not only when jammed in forcefully and extracted with the use of a tool.

I really like my camera and I'm very happy that I got mine from the kickstarter campaign. But the battery compartment is an annoying pain for me, where I film I usually don't have power. A conveniently changeable battery is an important point to me.

gyppor

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Re: 2nd battery
« Reply #11 on: January 21, 2018, 11:15:18 PM »
I have an ebay battery that has slightly better life than the one that came with the camera, and fits perfectly in my early bird unit.

It's labeled model no. : CS-ENEL4
and the label has "Cameron Sino" for a brand.
It has a stated capacity of 1800 mAh.

I believe this is it:
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Battery-fo-NIKON-D2Hs-D2X-D2Xs-D3-D3S-F6-D2H-P-N-EN-EL4-EN-EL4a-EN-EL4e/282563705208?hash=item41ca1bf978:g:vPEAAOSwgu9ZYXde

Hope it helps some of you. Not the best battery but it fits the camera very well and is inexpensive.

BiduleOhm

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Re: 2nd battery
« Reply #12 on: January 22, 2018, 03:46:45 AM »
Mine is very hard to pull (can't use only my fingers) but the battery doesn't rub on the compartment, it's the connector who has a high insertion force.

Maybe some compartments are misaligned with the PCB? (seems unlikely though).