A small review/test of aftermarket camera batteries ( Nikon EN-EL3e and equivalents )

Test objects.

Nikon EN-EL3e and aftermarket alternatives
  The original Nikon EN-EL3e at the top and the competition below.
  Original labeled 1500mah The Gray one from Camera devices labeled 1800mah
  And the Black NIK no name china battery not rated at all (Suppose to be 1400mah)

  First of all I did put them on the letter scale they measured as follows:
  Nikon original 80gram, Camera Devices 78gram, FOR Nik (Black one) 75gram  fully charged :0)
 Battery test rig EN-EL3e under test
  Test rig contains of a Velleman DVM345DI Digital multimeter with computer interface.
  The load I used is a 6,3ohm power resistor it will draw a current of just over 1amp from the
  batteries, this is of course a higher load than the typical camera would represent but
  I'm to impatient to wait much longer than about 2 hours/battery discharge and it still
  going to tell us which battery that has most juice inside!
 

Soooo is the aftermarket batteries crap then?

  I started to measure the original Nikon EN-EL3 battery voltage when in use in the camera.
  I also monitored the camera function and recorded the voltage at the point the camera
  battery symbol started to flash (Nikon D200) at this point the camera didn't operate.

  At the point of flashing battery symbol I measured 7,28v have that in mind when
  reading the diagram below.
 
Test chart EN-EL3e batteries
  Batteries was fully charged and unloaded at the beginning of the curves, unloaded voltage
  was measured to: Nikon 8,39v , Camera devices 8,37v , FOR NIK 8,38v.
  When load connected in 40sek i measured; Nikon 7,97v , Camera devices 7,91v , FOR NIK 7,96

  7v line vas reached after; Nikon 58:40,  Camera devices 1:10:40, FOR NIK 1:03:00

  0v line was reached after; Nikon 1:22:40,  Camera devices 1:28:20, FOR NIK 1:14:20
 
EN-EL3e replacement battery review
  Ok this curve shows how the different batteries manage to keep there
  charging level during a 1 week shelf storage after recharging violet,sky blue,orange.
  Compare to the other curves blue,red,green that contain the same data as the previous
  diagram above.


  To me it looks like they all have about the same after charging shelf life.

 
Camera batteries from Amazon.com here!
 
  There are measurable differences between those batteries, but the BIG difference
  is the difference in price, In Europe I paid 70euro for the Nikon Original EN-EL3e,
  35Euro for the Camera devices battery and 19Euro for the FOR NIK Battery
I will not decide for you which battery to use, but I know which one I will chose :0)
 
Discuss this review in the forum!
  
  If you are a battery guy and want me to include your brand of EN-EL3e in the test
  Please send me an e-mail to get the address where to send your battery!